Under counter Reverse osmosis filtration systems
 

Anyone have one? I was looking at this GE system:

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SPECPAGE&CHANNEL=CH0004&SITEID= DER&HEADER=N&FOOTER=N&SKU=PNRQ21LBN

But the ongoing maintenance costs (filter changes every six months) of about $80 seems kind of steep.

Anyone have a system they could recommend?

This is the one I have had for the last 8-10 years with no problems. We are very happy with it and put one in our second home about 3 years ago.
http://www.ecowater.com/EROR350.php

I get replacement filters here:
http://www.purewater4u.com/store/ecowater335.shtml

Mine says to replace prefilter and postfilter cartridges at 6mths to 1 yr and the RO cartridge between 18 and 36 months. I let mine go for about twice as long as recommended and the water still tests/tastes good.

How much are the filters (no prices on the web sites) and how much are the systems?

Filter prices are on the right side of the Purewater link. Next to the pictures of the filters.

Just know that reverse osmosis systems are very water wasteful. I think it takes at least 3-10 gallons of normal water to make one gallon of purified water.

Hey Mike,

I installed the Watts Premier RO system last month that I bought at Costco. The whole system was $200, and a year of filters was I think $70, and filters are really easy to replace. This is their "zero" waste system. I think it actually does have some waste so it is close to zero and not actually zero. It is a much better system then the one we had from Sears before, which gave us 1 gallon of filtered water for each 5 gallons of water used, and a year of filters cost $200.

I have always install Everpure's H300 system in people's home. Talk to your local designer kitchen places or plumbing houses. Synder Dimond or Pacific Sales should have them. It is not a RO system but a really good filter. The filter replacment cost is about 110 bucks once a year and it takes about 20 seconds. No waste of water at all.

Jeff

GE RO20 and 21
 

Mikester,

I work for the GE supplier that builds the particular RO unit you asked about. I'm also the guy that designed and developed it for GE. I'm not going to go into any great detail here but I will tell you that it is a great product that meets or beats the performance of its competitors in a smaller, more convenient package. Carbon filter changes are based on totalized gallon usage or a six month timer, whichever you hit first, and will run around $80 bucks for the pair. The RO element will be about $90 and will need to be replaced every couple years realistically. The RO element performance is monitored electronically. The unit actually tells you when to replace the element based on it's actual performance rather than just a couple year timer. Many units out there do this but the method we developed and employed is more accurate than the others due to the logic we used. Filter and element changes will be fairly steep but not out of line with the rest of the industry.

Great little product and I'd have one if I didn't despise RO units so much. Flushing 4+ gallons of water down the drain, as all ROs do, for every gallon of drinking water produced is just too wasteful for me. There are a few people in the US who actually need one due to health concerns and the state of their immune systems but most do not. A good carbon filter with VOC capability will be cheaper and take care of everything you're likely to run into.

More than you probably wanted to know. Bottom line. It's a good unit and isn't likely to be much more expensive than the others.

I've done the watts one in a few houses and would recommend also. Bottled water you have to recycle the plastic jugs.

I have a 5 stage RO\DI filter for my aquarium. I bought it from www.thefilterguys.biz for about $150, you won't need the DI stage for drinking water.

Can the GE model be used in the marine environment taking in seawater and making it potable?

Salt water?
 

No. Designed to work on tap water at inlet pressures below 120psi and use a cross-flow type membrane. Sea water ROs require some major pressure in order to generate any usable flow. They work by forcing the water molecules through the membrane and leaving behind the salts. The GE unit wouldn't do that for more than a couple milliseconds. ;)

Damnit! O/K, thank you.