APEC Water Systems ROES-50 Essence Series Top Tier 5-Stage WQA Certified Ultra Safe Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System

This is an absolute must-have during our unfortunate period of being forced to stay home (forced in a sense, but you know what I mean). Given, our install was within the breakroom at the office here, but some of us will be buying into these for our homes as well as it keeps us from having to worry about finding water in stores with so many hoarders selfishly taking all of the bottles for themselves. Why bother when you can have unlimited clean water at home without ever having to leave the house to buy more?For one, the price of this is pretty good for what you get. It is going to cost you less than subscribing to a Sparklets delivery service, while not much more than filling your jugs up manually at a local water store (I won't compare against the vending machine fillers as those are just plain nasty). Now, add the fact that you don't have to drive anywhere for it, or have to wait for a truck to bring it to you. The water is simply always there.Also, the price of the filters is quite reasonable. Don't get me wrong. They aren't incredibly cheap, but their quality thus far seems to be quite good and we appreciate that they aren't gauging customers like refrigerator manufacturers do with their (useless) filters (these are far better since they actually work).We had to take a (very detailed) vote with an email passed around, on which model should be installed in the breakroom. It was a toss-up between this one and the 6-stage option, which simply added alkalization. However, the final vote leaned heavily toward the 5-stage as the body needs some of its acidity to function properly. Thus too much (drinking nothing but) alkaline water could actually be a bad thing. So 5-stage option it was.Installation isn't too difficult, although it was a little more for our situation since 80% of the space under the sink (the only place we were allowed to put it) is located behind the guts to the sink without any way of actually getting back there (an odd design but looks nice on the outside). So we had to remove more than half the plumbing down there in order to get to the valves/supply in the back. Regardless, with 2-3 of us helping at any given time, he had the entire project (and the extension kit to the fridge, seen running through the cabinets in a frew of the attached images) done in around an hour and a half or so. This included a number of social distractions. As long as you are confident in yourself, you will be fine. Just remember, don't be shy with the teflon tape. If you see threads where something screws together, go ahead and apply some (even if the instructions don't say to). You can never be too safe when it comes to preventing leaks! They also give you enough, which is nice.It asks you to flush the system for the first time by letting the tank fill for 2-3 hours and then flush it out the faucet for 5-6 minutes. This is because the carbon filter initially causes the water to gain some blackness to it. This is true, although you will want to do this twice in our opinion (maybe even three times to be sure). After that, things seem nice and pure. Regardless, after the first flush, it is safe even if you see a little of the black dust left over. It's just the carbon dust from the filter and harmless. If you see what looks like tiny white residue floating on the top, that is also harmless--those are just micro-bubbles caused by the air/pressure in the line (they eventually go away).The PPM (parts per million) of the normal city water coming to the tap was close to 500 PPM (Las Vegas tap water is a bit nasty). The (useless and expensive) fridge filter lead to around 460-470 PPM and similar taste. The RO processed water is around 9-12 PPM. So this seems to be working quite well so far. As mentioned, we also got the additional kit to break off to the fridge as well. It took a little while for the fridge to flush things out so it was only using the new water, but now it has the same PPM.We will make sure to update if anything changes, but so far, we are loving this and there is many of us who plan to buy into one at home.-- Update 05/07/2020 --So far, everything has been working fantastically. No complaints from anyone, including on the taste. We have also uploaded a few images now that Amazon has returned the option for customer reviews.**If you have found our review helpful, please vote it as helpful below so I know. This helps me provide quality feedback in the future.

This is my second system, we purchased a vacation home and wanted to enjoy the same quality water there as we do at home. Our area has very hard water and requires frequent cleaning to remove deposits. This system has had a deposit free faucet for 9 years while I have had to replace shower heads 3 times. This system is identical to the one we purchased in 2016 and installation was very easy. The hardest part was drilling a hole in the granite counter top then cleaning up the mess. The instruction book is easy to follow and provides the list of tools you'll need. There isn't any real plumbing experience needed just review the instructions carefully first and follow them and it will go smooth. The kit comes with feed line adapters for most installs so confirm before beginning. Having the under sink space and planning where the lines will go before you start is also a very good idea.The only tip I can come up with is to use the right amount of teflon tape on the storage tank and tighten the top valve until snug and then when the system is on come back and check for leaks and tighten the top until the leaks stop. Installing the filters into the manifold was easy, just follow the order. It is easier to tighten the filter housing with the unit on its side. I opted to mount it on the wall across from the dishwasher about 1/2 inch off the cabinet floor and this was easy but the instructions say its not needed, I just like it being off the counter floor. I was concerned with over-tightening so I had to tighten it over a few hours but once water stopped showing up I knew it was good to go. Drilling the hole into the drain line was easy enough but removing it really helped out. The instructions state the tank is already pressurized so no pump is needed, just don't open the faucet until you are ready to begin flushing the filters. I opted to add the ice maker kit to this and installing that at the same time was very easy and no mess. Over the years we have measured the water quality from this RO system and am still amazed and how low the TSS readings are compared to tap or even fridge filtered water. The water purity isn't even close, this system removes everything. The PH filter adds back in the right amount to give the water a pleasant taste that everyone prefers over plastic bottled filtered water. We have never had to run vinegar through our coffee machine, tea kettle, and the rice cooker/instapot are easier to clean up too. Given some of the problems with water in the news I wanted to be safer than sorry as this is cleaner, more cost effective, and better all around than getting filtered water delivered or plastic bottles of water.