THE GOOD
Just moved to a new town. Anywhere else around the area, my Britta would clean up the taste of bad water, but not here. Here it's SO chlorinated, I needed something better.
After a lot of reading and research I was down to the Filtrete Under-the-counter unit and this unit. The Filtrete pro sounded like it had a strong flow and filtered down to .5, but after looking at it closer, it would be just my luck to have a connector pop out and cause water damage without me around. So, I decided on this.
I had it connected in under 5 minutes. I just needed a pair of pliers to loosen the faucet part which needed to be removed. The unit came with a needed adapter which worked perfect. I turned it on and after letting it run for a few minutes, I tried the water. AWESOME!!! Clorine smell and taste was GONE!
This thing works, and works well and I don't have to worry about broken lines under the sink. The water flow remains good through the unit as well. I can also find many options in replacement filters because of its standard size. I love the quality and functionality of this unit.
THE BAD.
The problem was, upon closer inspection, there was a small bead of water coming from the units water output. At the bottom of the metal output piece (Which you can just pull out) there are 2 small, round O-rings, and one was pertruding. It was cracked, so only one O-ring was ok, and when I moved the water output, it beaded up.
I called the "Manufacturer", which sounds like it isn't REALLY the manufacture, but a distributor, and was told they don't have any parts, they get the unit assembled. The parts they DO carry they said, are all given to Amazon. SO.... they told me I should pack it back up, and send it back to Amazon.
What?!? I am suppose to ship the whole unit back, at MY expense, and have another unit sent, when a 5 cent part could be mailed out to me for the cost of a stamp. RIDICULOUS!!! Not too bright, or environmentally friendly. This is the problem with buying some things over the internet, from a place without a local retail outlet, but to save, we gamble...
Now I either ship it back, hunt online or drive to local hardware stores and look for something that COULD work as a replacement. Grrrrr.....
I finally went to Home Depot and found that they carried a package of #47 O-rings for a couple bucks that fit fine. All better now.
THE UGLY
This Item is Ugly as sin. It reminds me of my pool filter. I am going to make or find something to cover it.
OVERALL
For this price, it's an AWESOME deal!!! Watts 500315 Counter-Top Drinking Water Filter
This unit is just what one would expect. There's nothing fancy here, just a good solid unit. Installation was easy. The unit came with a couple adapters so that it should fit most faucets. No tools were required to hook it up. The diverter valve is a little nicer than I've seen on some units.
The only downside is a trait which is shared with all counter-top filters and that is that it takes countertop space and can be knocked over if one is careless.
For the price and Amazon free shipping, I'd be hard-presed to find a better unit.
I received this item and connected to faucet....water is coming out all around connection...not where it is suppose to come out!!!!! I called the company to see what to do, the woman I spoke with was trying to help me but when she realized this was an item from Amazon.com she couldn't help me!! She transferred me to someone else, I just got a voicemail....I left a long detailed message but have yet to hear back from anyone, this was 5 days ago! I will try again next week to see if I can get this resolved before returning this item. Hopefully I will have better info next week and will write another review.
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Tried several more times to call Watts (they never returned my call). Each time I called I would get put on hold for 15-20 minutes and was never able to talk to anyone about problem with unit..so I have returned item. Really was hoping to resolve this, I live in the country and on well water....guess I will continue to purchase bottled water!
:( ........
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I read all the wonderful reviews and for its price it was a terrific choice ...at first. It's very easy to install but after 6 months of use the water diverter valve no longer snaps back into place. But that's minor.
Now after 6 months is time for the replacement filter. The wrench that's needed to open the canister was not provided. Based on other recent reviews there's no way to get it from Watts either. We don't have a monkey wrench at home that's large enough to fit around the entire canister.
I gave it a one-star because a good water filter shouldn't be this difficult to replace a simple filter.
Either way I'm very disappointed that I now have to replace the entire unit after just 6 months of use.
Sidenote: I looked on the Watts website in Nov. 2009 and they still offered support for this unit. I looked in Jan. 2010 they no longer list this unit on their website. I wonder why?
This filter is fast, and I'm glad to have found a counter top filter system.
The down side? I struggled to open the system to install a filter. The design is very, very poor since there is very little to grasp onto without damaging the exterior of the filter.
I purchased this product in April of 2009 and I can say that out of the numerous water filtration devices that I have purchased over the past 3 years, this one is the simplest and most convenient to use and provides great tasting water instantly without having to wait for the water to filter through a pitcher.
I live in an apartment complex and I've had to move four times over the past two years due to different circumstances. Installing this countertop device has made it so much easier for me to disconnect/reconnect and move it with me with ease. I worked with my dad to install a 5 stage reverse osmosis system at his house underneath his sink and it was a very tedious process. Not only that but he has to get down there every six months to change several filters. I did not want to this given that I rent a place and move frequently and the complexity of the installation of an R.O. system. With this filter, it makes a simple connection directly to the faucet and I only need to pull a pin to transfer the water through the filter. My dad's R.O. system also has a 3-5 gallon container to store the filtered water in but the water pressure coming out of the faucet is great at the beginning but near the end of a gallon, the water is trickling very slowly due to diminished water pressure. It will take him 4-5 minutes to fill a gallon jug of filtered water. This is not true with my countertop filter, If I turn up the water faucet pressure, the water comes out faster, and if I turn it down, it comes out slower. It doesn't take me more than 45 seconds to fill a gallon of filtered water into a pitcher, which I then store in the refrigerator or put directly into a glass with ice for instant cold drinking water.
I have one filter to change when I need to change it (and I still haven't needed to change it yet). Unlike brita and pur pitcher filters, there's no waiting for the water to filter into a pitcher and hassle to get it under my faucet in my sink to refill daily. I have even tried the PUR faucet mount filter and the water quality is disgusting tasting. PUR's water is so bad they have to sell flavor shots to mask the foul odor and taste of its filtered water. This is not the case with the Watts Countertop system. Only fast, clean water comes out from this filter.
I have one caveat with countertop filtration systems and that is the water hose that leads from the faucet to the filter. It gets in the way and moves unless it is tied down to the faucet. This is not a major issue because it can be zip-tied down to the sink faucet and routed behind the hot/cold handles over to the filter. The pros outweigh the cons so I can live with that. The other thing that I didn't like was that Watts did not include a tool to open the filter housing when I need to change the filter. I went to Lowe's hardware and bought a tool to open it. Even Home Depot didn't carry this in stores (useless store!)
I really love this filter. I've finally found a product that is versatile to meet my needs, simple and convenient, and provides great tasting clean water instantly! And the cost of changing filters every six months will only cost about $20-$30 anually! Get it! - Water Filter - Water Filters - Water Purifier - Watts'
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