Aqua-Pure 3M Whole House Sanitary Quick Change Water Filter System AP903, Reduces Sediment, Chlorine Taste and Odor

The 3M Aqua Pure whole house water filter is a well-regarded option, particularly for those living in urban areas with municipal water supplies. It is recognized for its ability to filter out chlorine, improve water taste and odor, and remove larger particulates like sand, dirt, and rust. However, it's not as effective for households with more severe water contamination, such as well water with heavy sediment or other harmful pollutants. Key highlights include: While installation can be DIY for those with basic plumbing skills, it may require professional help due to the absence of some key components like bypass valves and connectors, which need to be purchased separately. The system’s design includes a stainless-steel head for durability and an easy-to-use Sanitary Quick Change feature, which simplifies filter replacement. The system is easy to maintain with the Sanitary Quick Change design, allowing for tool-free cartridge replacement. In summary, the 3M Aqua Pure is a solid choice for improving water quality in urban households using municipal water, but it may require additional filtration solutions for homes with more significant water contamination issues.

Our municipal water tasted like dirt and had a strong odor. Everyone in my family complained. It was quite disagreeable. After installing the AP903 our water was delicious and odor free. Installation wasn't very difficult on our PEX water lines. The local plumbing store had the adapters and tools to get the job done. Once installed we noticed no reduction in water pressure in our household. It's just like it was before except our water is now drinkable.

So far so good. I purchased this to cut down on the chlorine in the shower. We would constantly get burning eyes and then go into an endless bought of sneezing. Now it's night and day, we are able to have comfortable no chlorine smell showers. I will update if filter life does not live up to it's promise. Two months post install. Going strong. Had to change out the clear housing with a blue one for the pre-filter as algae was growing on the filter media. I did a test on the water quality and posted it to amazon for anyone wondering how the water quality is doing. I will continue to do the quality tests and see how long the filter is truly good for and post updates. ******* Update********* Okay so its been 5 months. I test my water regularly with professional equipment. My normal average water chloramine level is 3.95 and this has been doing a pretty good job at taking almost all of it out. However this is now climbing and is now only filtering about 75% of the chloramine out of the water so I am going to replace the filter with a new AP910R. I know this has a stated length of 1 year but again my chloramine level is a bit high and we have a family of 4 with 2 little ones that can take some time in the shower. It does not help that we have an instant hot water heater that prolongs that use as well as a RO system in the house that burns thru a lot of water. Will all that said I added up all the water we had used and we have used approx 25,000 gallons. I imagine without excessive use of the water we could get 8 months out of the system but as it stands with the pre-filter we are looking at $454 dollars a year to change out with new pre-filter and this filter together once the system looses 25% efficiency every 5 months. Update 11/10/21 We stopped using the 3m brand filters and now use American Filter Company and they have lasted an entire year. I am not sure if they are just using more carbon or what but they have been fantastic and in a 3 pack cost 90 dollars a filter. This has been by far a better filter and has been no issues attaching it.

I installed this with a Rusco 500 micron spin down pre-filter. Rusco 1-100ST-F Polyester Screen Sediment Trapper System Our well system has a lot of sand, so make sure the micron size is small enough to get the sand or your aqua-pure will clog quickly. The instructions for back flushing are only a guide and back-flushing only works if you do it like once a week. Instead I manually clean about once every 6 weeks. Make sure you add by-pass plumbing to allow water while you clean and change filters. Installed in April 2015 and the Aqua-pure filter is still giving pure, clean and odourless water from a well that has sand, sulfur and who knows what. No bathtub, sink or tap build up. Connected to hot water and laundry plus garden watering. No pressure drop (except if the spin down gets plugged) even with showers, baths and garden watering going on at the same time. This has been continuous use for 15 months now. replaced filter in December 2017 - no signs it was not working as designed but after 32 months I figured it should be changed because the manual says at least once a year. I think the spin down makes a big difference leaving other stuff to the 903, When removed it was significantly heavier than new, so it was trapping stuff. Had my water tested - hardly anything in it, all way below acceptable even minimum range standards. The one thing within the standards was sodium, but I live 150 feet from the ocean.

Had a plumber install with gauges on both sides so that we can more accurately monitor when the filter is ready for replacement, and two shut off valves. Took about 3 hours so factor that $ into your budget. So far, does not work as well as I anticipated because we just noticed that we still get the orange colored ring around toilets, too early to tell for shower grout. Figured the iron or whatever causes the discoloration would be gone! Big disappointment because apparently the water still not as pristine as we wanted for shower’s etc. The water smells clean, much better than before it was installed, but for drinking it’s not as pure as our counter top reverse osmosis so without testing professionally, it’s impossible to know how it really performs. I’m rating a 4 for now but that’s kind of arbitrary without the water test.