EXPRESS WATEREZRO5 Countertop Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System, Simple Set Up Faucet Filter, White

I live in an area with very poor water quality. The unfiltered water that comes from the tap has a TDS rating of 575. Absolutely hideous tasting tap water.My first attempt at cleaning up my water was a Brita pitcher. It did absolutely nothing to improve water texture or taste, but it may have been effective in filtering various unwanted particles, etc.My second attempt was a PūR faucet filter. Again, it did nothing regarding improvement of taste or texture. I did however like the convenience of the faucet attachment, and I was impressed with the amount of potentially harmful elements the manufacturer claimed it could remove.My third attempt was a Zerowater pitcher. Wow! This was the first time my tap water ever tasted as good as bottled water. I'm not sure how each of the three mentioned filters compare concerning the removal of harmful contaminants, but I do know that the Zerowater filter produced the best tasting water. Using the included TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, Zerowater delivered a zero reading just as promised.If Zerowater is perfect, then why am I here discussing an Express Water system? The expected lifespan of Zerowater filters is dependant on initial water quality. My TDS rating of 575 means that I would only get 8 gallons or less per filter. Even when buying filters in a bulk pack it would be MUCH more expensive than buying bottled water. It's simply NOT cost effective.Finally, my last and best solution: An EXPRESS WATER countertop Reverse Osmosis system.The Express Water system is incredibly easy to install. A simple to understand instruction sheet is included. (1) Remove the blue lock pins from the connector on the SED filter and also from the connector on the black hose coming from the ROM filter. (2) Pull out the protective pins, insert the two color coded hoses (that lead to the faucet connector), and then put the blue lock pins back on. (3) Attach the faucet connector and you're ready to go! It took me about 10 minutes to set everything up.It's recommended to let the water run through the filter for roughly two hours before you'll achieve the best quality.My results:Express Water fills a 64oz (half gallon) bottle in 13 minutes. One gallon in 26 minutes. It reduces my 575 TDS rated water to a rating of 9 and delivers water that has a very pleasing texture and taste.* Your results may vary depending on water pressure and quality.How I use it:I fill a couple of 64oz bottles with filtered water and keep them in the fridge. I also still use the Zerowater pitcher. The water going into the pitcher now has a TDS rating of 9, so the Zerowater filters last much longer (40 gallons or more) and the filtering process is much faster.No more carrying multiple bottles of water home from the store each week, and I feel better about not generating so much plastic waste.If you live in an area with a relatively mild TDS rating, the Zerowater pitcher may be all that you need. But, the only cost effective solution for those in areas with a high TDS rating is to use a Reverse Osmosis system. The Express Water is one of the least expensive to buy, maintain, and operate.I highly recommend the Express Water countertop system.Special Notes:Make sure the faucet attachment is correctly on the threads and tight. If too much water is leaking you'll reduce water pressure and end up wasting water.Even though the overall build quality is excellent, my ROM filter is leaking (directly under the large side of the filter on the left). Initially it was losing about a drop or two a minute, which adds up quickly. I was able to turn the large portion of the filter clockwise which stopped part of the leaking (now it's a few drops an hour). I'm going to give Express Water customer service a call to see if I can get it resolved. I'll update this review after I go through that process.Some people claim that it's not healthy to drink water with a low TDS rating. In my opinion that's nonsense. You don't have to suffer with foul hard water taste and a heavy texture just to get minerals and nutrients in your diet, you'll get plenty from other sources. Plus, there are simple methods to add minerals back into the water should you wish to.Keep in mind that the process of Reverse Osmosis generates a lot of waste water. It isn't like a pitcher or faucet filter system that only outputs clean, filtered water. With Reverse Osmosis you have a special faucet that outputs purified water, and at the same time you have another outlet that rejects the "bad water". For every one gallon of filtered water you're going to create a few gallons of "bad water". Probably a 3:1 ratio. You CAN collect the bad water and use it for watering plants, cleaning floors, etc. But it definitely should not be consumed. You may need to consider the extra usage of water in a Reverse Osmosis system if you have concerns about your overall water usage / water bill.If you plan on using filtered water in an aquarium the manual recommends that you add the DEIONIZATION filter upgrade.Required water pressure: Minimum 45 PSI / maximum 80 PSI. If your water pressure is too high you can add a pressure regulator to make it work.Beyond the brands that I mentioned, there are many other very effective pitcher filter systems available. Some do an amazing job of removing very specific elements (like Floride) and some remove a broad range. Most are incredibly expensive to maintain and in most cases they don't reduce TDS levels (which may not be an issue for you). My advice is to research the quality of your tap water and decide what is most important for you to remove. Then seek out the filter system that best suits your needs.

***Final update***It never did recover from the last C3 issue. I left it unplugged for 6 days and it still has the C3 issue. On top of the busted functionality, it started flashing the filter 1 and 3 lights a few months ago and I replaced them but it would never stop flashing those lights. We just learned to live with it. This is the worst POS I have bought and I can't begin to express how disappointed I am with this purchase. It almost lasted 7 months. What a waste of money.***Update #2***I have run into this same issue a few times and figured out that it happens any time there is a power disruption. We are prone to brownouts which makes this especially annoying. Anyhow, once there is the slightest power flicker I have to unplug the filter for 3 days (has taken up to 5 before) to let the internal charge fully dissipate. Then it will start over like a brand new OOTB experience and run through all it's cycles eventually heating up the water and clearing the C3 lock on dispensing. A reset button that clears any residual charge would help greatly. If I had known all of this previously, I would have never spent this much money on the thing and just stuck with a pitcher filter or made my own gravity filter. This is utterly ridiculous. knocking stars off again.***UPDATE #1***Customer support did get back to me with some steps to try. I had left it unplugged for several days by then and when I plugged it back in to try the steps, it was already working. I am not sure what went wrong in the instruction code but letting it sit long enough for any residual charge to fully dissipate seemed to fix it.I have bumped it back up to 3 stars. The whole event was a pain and I had to buy a Brita filer in the interim. There are a few other annoyances that stopped me going up to 4 stars. It is very slow to dispense. Given how long it takes to filter and how little it has available to dispense, using it for anything other than just a drinking glass of water is a pain. I prefer to use filtered water when cooking but that is not feasible with this filter. So I keep the Brita pitcher ready for cooking and this for drinking. It seems silly to need 2 solutions, though. I have used under-sink filters before and both of them had catastrophic failures that ended up flooding my downstairs and resulting in ceiling damage. So I will not be using one of those again, but the counter top solution is a big step down in performance.I bought this item just shy of 5 months ago and for the past 24 hours it has been stuck on the C3 UV lock screen which means it is UV sterilizing the water. This process is supposed to take ~15 minutes. For a $300 filter, I would expect better than a few months of service. I have reached out to the MFG for a warranty claim. Will update with more info as that progresses.