APEC Water RO-90, 5-Stage Under Sink Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System, NSF Certified 372 & 58, 90 GPD, Reduces 99% of Impurities

Great product! Very high quality components. Easy to install. Great customer service. My local municipal water has TDS around 330. The filtered water comes out around 10 and tastes great! I am using the system without the tank. You can do this by modify the tubing and connect the filtered output of the ro-membrane to the 5th stage filter directly (bypass/remove the T that feeds the tank and the 5th stage filter, very easy with quick connect used on the APEC system). I use glass pitchers to hold the water. It takes about 5 minutes for the RO-90 to fill up a 2-quart ikea glass pitcher (half gallon). Why would you want to use the system without the tank? To get the best tasting water and not have to worry about whether the tank material is safe or not. For the RO tank to work, the water has to be held inside a bladder in the tank, so that the air pressure around the bladder can push the water out when you need it. For this to work, the bladder has to be a flexible material that can expand and shrink as needed. The type of food grade material that is suitable for this purpose is limited. The material being used is polypropylene and butyl. Now, while this should be a safe material to use, it does add an after taste to the water, especially if the water has been sitting in the tank for a while. That's why there's a 5th stage carbon filter, to filter out the tank taste. But having an after taste that needs to be filtered out does imply that the tank material affects the water. If you don't believe me, just read the Watts RO system reviews on amazon. Many are complaining about plastic water taste. The bladder also ages, and has an expected life of 8-10 years due to all the expansion and contraction. While I am sure the tank material used by APEC is better than the one in the Watts system, why get yourself into this situation at all? Just bypass the tank and store the filtered water in a glass pitcher. Glass is arguably the best material on earth to hold purified drinking water, and will not leach into or affect the water taste in any way. Bypassing the tank also allows you to have explicitly control over when to produce the filtered water. Tap water is generally better quality in the evening when everyone around is also using water. It is less good in the morning when the water has been sitting idle in aging pipes for hours. This is why when your local municipal utility conducts water tests, they usually flush out the water for a few minutes. My TDS test confirms this. Filtered water in late evening has TDS less than 10, while in early morning is around 20-25. I did contact APEC system and was very impressed by their customer support.

I previously have been using a Culligan H-83 system that came with our house maybe 16-18 years ago. The prior owners had it installed. That system worked ok, but never had enough water. It only had 3 stages too, a carbon, the membrane, and then a post carbon. I upgraded it by adding a wound pre-filter, and additional carbon post filters. It worked ok, other than the lack of the amount of water and the slow recovery time. But, the membranes were expensive. So this year I finally bit the bullet and ordered this system. It seems to recover fast, putting out more in an hour than my old system (my old one had a 50gpd membrane). When I purchased the system, I kept my old 4gal tank, used the included 4gal tank, and thinking I wanted to make sure I had plenty of water, I bought a 3rd 4 gallon tank. Holy macaroni batman, that wasn't necessary. Good thing it was only $49 for the tank! This a.m. I drained it completely and took probably 8 pitchers of water from the system and still didn't run out! Incredible. I am very pleased with the build quality. It is better than my Culligan system. The auto-shutoff works well too. I don't see too many ways they could improve this unit. I did not use the enclosed faucet or attach hardware, as I already had those. I think it'll be a great system. I bought the RO-90 instead of the RO-50 thinking that due to the longer Membrane life and longer filter life, that the $100 higher up front cost would probably pay itself back within 3 years, while also giving me 3-3.5gph recovery instead of 1.5gph recovery. So you get a better system and in the end you probably don't pay any more for it. I just wouldn't have bought the second tank, if I could do it all over again. Great system...took me maybe 30 minutes to get it all running, since I had the input and output hoses in place already and just needed to mount and organize. I like the included bracket. I know you can stand them on the floor or under the sink, but this is installed in my basement and it is very nice that I can wall mount it. Keeps it all out of the way real well. Very pleased.

We LOVE this RO system, we bought and returned the big berkley water filter for our horrible Las Vegas water and was sadly disappointed in what the Berkley was able to do. After a ton of research on the web and reading reviews we decided to go with APEC because you never know what you will end up with some poorly made system in china system that might break a valve and flood your home while your at work. The clean sweet flavor of good tasting clean water this system delivers is amazing. It reminds me of the water I drank from the tap when I was a kid back in the 70’s....Fresh and clean! Been using this system for 2 weeks and I will never go back to buying bottled water again. They also give you an extra set of filters and water tester which comes in handy to test the quality and to know when to replace the filters which by the way is really easy to do. To clean the system and sanitize it a friend who installed about 500 RO systems recommended once a year when you replace the filters to pour a few capfuls of hydrogen peroxide into the 3 empty chambers and clean em out with the peroxide and water solution to get rid of any crud (2 carbon, 1 sediment) then disconnect the tube where it feeds into 3 gallon tank and suck out a little water from the feeder tube and replace that water with a little bit of peroxide and re-connect it to the tank so that the peroxide goes into the tank, thank you APEC! Update 3/16/2017: Still amazing water coming out with the same filters after 2 years, I tested the water purity with the electronic gizmo they give you to test purity and its still the same! The only issue I have had is the faucet on top of the sink leaks a little when you open it for water to come out but I was a little bit too hard on it with putting to much pressure on the valve when I opened the faucet ... it was MY Fault... just me being impatient...lol. I called customer support and they offered a new one for half the price on amazon. Incredible company, first class support, and the best tasting water ever!

Replaced a system that went bad. Easy Install - local company wanted $699 so I tried it myself. I'm NOT handy but all the harder work was already done at my house for the other system (drain hole to drain pipe/spigot install in the countertop/t connector and hose to my refrigerator). I feel I could have done a brand new install myself just watching the youtube videos that are easy to find. This was so inexpensive so I ordered the kit. Everything went smoothly except the prior install had a 3/8" hose coming from the spigot T valve because the prior system had a 3/8" connector on the system itself. Nighttime dash to lowes for a (SharkBite Push to Connect 3/8 in. PTC X 1/4 in. D PTC Polypropylene Coupling) and some extra 1/4" hose just in case... and I'm making water!

I have a well with around 650 TDS. Water tastes funny and leaves a brown stain where it evaporates and when used in my aquarium it kills plants. I got tired of having a garage full of full and empty water bottles so I got this system on a Black Friday deal. I chose the 90 instead of the 50 because I also wanted to use it for the aquarium and liked that the larger filters lasted longer. Install was straight forward and easy, instructions were clear. Took maybe 45 minutes and that’s only because I was taking my time. I didn’t do the faucet install because I didn’t want to drill my marble countertops so I just hang the faucet from a hook inside the cabinet door, works fine. The water coming out of the RO went from 650 to 13 right after install. I ended up adding the mineral 6th stage and I have clean, drinkable, great tasting water for the first time, I am so happy with this system and wish I would have done it years ago. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because the filters appeared to be used. None of them were wrapped and the sediment one was brown, not white as a new one should be and soaking wet. I emailed APEC and got an AI reply but no real person has responded on the issue. Not sure what happened as the rest of the system did t appear used but I think I’m owed a new filter set.

I have never had a reverse osmosis filtration system before and always used refrigerator filters. I didn't really have any problems with water filtered through those, although I knew it wasn't as pure as with other filtration systems. However, at some point I realized how expensive those refrigerator filters really are. My Kenmore refrigerator has a replacement indicator (I never figured out how it actually works). I have a household of 5 people, mostly adults, and the filters never lasted the promised 6 months. It felt like they were going out pretty quick, so I started to write down the dates with the intention to do the math. It turned out the filters had to be replaced every 2 months. And those filters are about $70 per pair, which came up to at $210 per year. With Apec RO it is $39 per year for stages 1-3, $75 for membrane each 3 years (or more), which means $75/3 = $25.00, and post-filter each 3 years, which is $15/3=$5.00. So the total per year (without any discounts) is $39 + $25 + $5 = $69. So Apec filters cost me 33% the price and much better water. Yes, there is one-time investment to buy the system but with my math above it would pay off in a few years. Another point which made me look into a reverse osmosis (RO) system like Apec was the concern around fluoride. It is rather dangerous chemical that gets added to city water system. You can search online and read yourself if interested (look up "fluoride action network"). Standard carbon filters don't filter out fluoride. RO systems filter out most of it, although not 100%. Once I had done all this research, it was a no-brainer I needed to get an RO system. Upon shopping around I picked Apec RO-90 for its design, clear information on the website, and good filter prices. I installed it myself, although can't call myself experienced in such things. I took my time, reading the instructions carefully. Overall it took me maybe 3 hours, maybe a bit more. The trickiest part was drilling a hole in the stainless steel sink. I actually ended up buying a step drill bit with a special alloy designed for metal. After the installation and flushing I tested TDS (total dissolved solids) with my HM Digital AP-1 meter. It showed 12 ppm, compared to 203 ppm in tap water. For curiosity I also tested my refrigerator water (still had one month old filter in it), which showed 205 ppm - pretty much the same as tap water. The water from RO-90 tastes great - if you can say that water tastes. It just feels really good and smooth. I drink a lot of water, and I can say I prefer this filtered water over bottled water. And it's definitely far and beyond better than fridge water. I have been using RO-90 for 2.5 months now. Just tested TDS today - it is at 7 ppm, even better than before. I'm really happy with how this system performs. No leaks, no noise (read the instructions carefully for proper installation to avoid the drain noise). It fits perfectly under my sink - even better than I expected when originally made the measurements before buying. A few nice bonuses over the fridge filters: 1) Good pressure, it fills up the glass a lot quicker. 2) Having the rotating faucet near the sink turns out to be a lot more convenient compared to the fridge dispenser. For example, filling up the kettle now is as easy as putting the kettle on the countertop and opening the faucet valve. No more intermediate jars. I also like that the valve is not of those types where you have to hold it to dispense the water.

Tried doing my best due diligence in choosing this RO system. Obviously, the revues on Amazon are stellar, and confirmed high ratings from Home Depot, etc. My tap water has high levels of copper in it, and I've had an RO under sink system (Whirlpool WHER25) for ten years now. The RO water has been independently tested twice a year for 10 years and has always tested 0.00 Ppb for copper. The sink water is generally 1,000 to 1,200 Ppb for copper (EPA action level is 1,300 Ppb). I wanted to buy another RO system for the guest house, and decided on the APEC RO-90. I had a plumber install the system over a week ago--he is a very reputable plumber, and has installed hundreds of RO systems over the last twenty years. The cost for the install was $270. The manual explains that the tank must be first filled and fully drained before the water is used for the first time. The 2nd tank of water "will be ready for use." Once the 2nd tank of water was filled, I tested the water with a Copper High Range Colorimeter HI702 Hanna Checker by Hanna Instruments. The reading came back at 200 Ppb of copper. I retested the water five times, and the samples all came back at 200 to 210 Ppb of copper. I then tested the water again from the Whirlpool RO system. All 5 tests showed 0.00 Ppb copper. I then used a JNW Testing Pool & Spa 7 in 1 test strip to test the pH of both of the RO systems. A proper functioning RO system should have a pH reading of approximately 7.0. The Whirlpool water was tested, and I got a 7.0 reading. The APEC was tested, and the pH was 8.2. The RO-90 water should have a pH of 7.0, like the Whirlpool RO. I called the company the following day and explained to the tech the test results. He agreed that "something isn't right", and he told me that the plumber must have somehow installed the membrane in the wrong direction. Called the plumber again, who came out and told me that the membrane came pre-installed. We confirmed that the membrane was in fact correctly installed at the factory. I called the company again, and this time spoke to a different tech, who confirmed that the membrane comes pre-installed. He then told me I should try flushing the system again to see if that would make a difference. I told him the manual states that only one flush is necessary. I did, however, purge the system again, and got the same results. Obviously, a defective product. The tech told me I would have to deal with Amazon about any kind of refund. He said APEC would not refund me the $270 installation fee of the defective product, that only Amazon could do that. Amazon did refund me the cost for the product itself, but could not reimburse me for the $270 installation charge. Obviously, I am not going to buy the same product again after this experience--I will probably go with another Whirlpool system, but I'm out $270, and will have to pay the same amount to install a new system. Really bad form for APEC not to cover this charge. I get that receiving a defective product can happen occasionally, but an honest company with integrity would never leave a consumer in the lurch like this. Shame on them!

Used this to replace an apec 45gpd system that I had made some changes to, to up it to 90gpd. That system was 10 years old. Over the past year I had problems with tds going up and it would cycle on and off. I had to replace a broken auto shutoff valve. That fixed the tds, but it still cycled on and off. I changed the check valve, and flow restrictor. That helped for a while. But the issues reappeared. I would turn off the tank and it would stop cycling. Now 4 months later then the cycling began again but the tank wouldn't fill all the way and then it just would not turn off. Apex was always helpful over the years and during the past few months they went beyond. I would send videos and they would spend the time helping troubleshout over the phone. Everything was replaced. Everything checked out but the issues continued. They even offered for me to ship this old unit back so they could see what was causing the issues. Everyone was baffled. I even went as far as checking the water pressure which was 80psi internally for the house thinking It was a pressure issue (I have public water). I want to add I always change the first three stages yearly and always had to change the membrane every three. Our public water is full of chlorine and the first two stages is always filled with rust after a year. The membrane did its best but after 3 years it would creep up in tds. Well the new system I am glad to report is working flawlessly. No less I transferred the only 4 month old membrane and 5th. Even though apec was going to step up with a ten year old system, they didn't have to, I got my monies worth. Now I am all new and back to a tds of 4, (with the recurring issues the water would be at a 15). When I transferred the membrane from the old system to the new, it came out easy and went in hard. What I think was the issue was the plastic of the membrane housing has deteriorated from the harshness of chemicals in the water supply. The internal plastic was stained and felt a bit rough. I was probably losing pressure internally in the membrane housing at the top and the bottom. I was getting contaminated brine in the mix... There are many companies that sell RO systems, but I and our extended family have been happy with Apec... Now for over a decade.

Excelente aunque en mi ciudad necesito ayuda de una bomba presurizadora pero más que eso funciona muy bien

Waited a few weeks before reviewing... now I have been drinking the water for a few weeks, I must say I really like it. I am on a well that was dug last year at 160ft. My water is very hard and has over 700ppm of minerals but is otherwise great quality, no bacteria, no iron or other difficult to treat problems, just very mineral like it was expected in my area. So I installed a water softener to get the hardness down to less than one grain...in order to get ready for RO. I was looking for a good quality RO system with made in USA or Canada filters. My most important criteria was to get a real Dow membrane which this model has. So, on to this RO unit... Installation was done in about 2 hours. I am very handy and this was very easy. No leaks, no fuss... clear instruction (which is a frequent complaint with cheep systems). Every thing is high quality, the filter holders, the faucet and all of the hardware is very good... Water tasted a little metalic the first few days... figure it was the system flushing out (tank and filters). Now don't worry about some black stuff in the first few flushes as this is the loose carbon in the carbon filters, they all do that (all those I have owned...they flush themselves...) . So what I did was drain the tank every time I passed by it in the first few days... then the water taste cleared up real nice. It now tastes like bottled water... Now, my input is over 700ppm of dissolved solids (varies between 700 and 720)... when I measure the output of this system, it hovers around 20ppm... now that is a 97.3% rejection by the membrane... good job Dow Filmtec ... That is why I wanted an American made membrane... Now I am not worried about chlorine as I get my water from a well but I also liked the fact that it has 2 carbon stages for other agricultural chemicals... I would definitely recommend this unit... I am very pleased with the value and ease of installation...

Alles Tip Top

Fácil de instalar, pero asegúrate de tener la presión adecuada (50 - 80 psi) para que se llene el tanque que viene en el sistema de purificación, de otra forma tienes que instalar una bomba para pecera que aumente la presión que entre al sistema. Las partículas por millón que recibo en Cuajimalpa, marca 96 PPM, después de filtrarse el agua, me marca 03 PPM. ¡Increíble!. Incluso el agua embotellada marca 50 a 60 PPM y el filtro sencillo que instalé para los hielos del refrigerador, solamente reduce la mala calidad a 70 PPM. En resumen, vale la pena invertir en este sistema.

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