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!!!

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!

It looks like this is identical to the Crystal Quest unit I bought almost a year ago, except this has a much better valve for re-routing the water to the filter. The Crystal Quest valve began leaking early on and gave out completely a few months ago. I bought this filter to replace the valve, because the old filter is still running cleanly. So now I have a back-up filter for when I need it later, and a good quality valve that works with both.

I got this filter about 1 month ago. Construction: well made and finished. Diverting valve is made of metal, and pops itself back to off position when you turn off the water. This is a nice function, since you don’t have to pop the valve back manually when you stop filtering. I had a previous counter top filter Kenmore with a plastic valve, which broke, making that filter useless. The watts valve is metal and I suspect should last much longer. The filter casing is a standard size, and can use any brand that fits in it. The base has a extra height that makes fitting bottles underneath the spigot better than other filters.

Installation is very straightforward and simple. Although I was left wondering with what to do with the “spare parts”, those probably would be useful if my faucet’s mouth was of a different size.

Water tastes really good after passing through the filter, and it is very easy to switch between filtered and unfiltered water which I highly appreaciate.

A few suggestions: on your first use, let water run through the filter for a whole minute at least to clean it up. Also, if you are letting the filter stand idle for several hour, drain about one glass of water before getting some for drinking: because the water sitting in the filter for a few hour tastes like carbon. What I have done is that I bought a water dispenser separately, and fill that up with filtered water and thus reduce waste.

I picked this product because as a renter I wanted an easy to install filter that I can take with me when I move. This is much better than the type you attach to the faucet itself as it is larger and will filter more water before needing to change the filter inside. I like that ANY 10 inch replacement filter may be used when it’s time to change it.

Water taste good with the whole house filter it came with, but when the time comes I’ll probably buy a better replacement filter that will remove more of the things you can’t see or smell.

Good as the under the sink type filters, but installs in seconds. Definitely a step up from Pure!

Does what it is supposed to do. Easy to connect and supplies good, clean water in an Eco-friendly way. Would highly recommend to anyone! Excellent value!

Fast shipping, filter works very well,. The water now tastes like water.

Great product at a great price.