Do you have a link to this filter?

bob...

Bob, this is it:

http://www.aquasanastore.com/aq-undersink.html

Here is a link that might be useful: the filter

Boy! I had a lot of trouble logging in for a couple of days now.

I have seen these filters in a few locations in my area. I have never seen the technical details of what these filters are able to do and when someone asked if we can provide replacement filters, I have not been able to find them locally.

Below I have extracted a few States from the FAQ web page you provided.

Every 500 gallons or six months.
How do I know when to change the cartridge?
The cartridge needs to be replaced at least every six months, regardless of use, due to potential bacteria growth in the filter. >>

500 gallons is a typical duration for a drinking water system. However, on one hand they say 500 or six months and on the other they say six months regardless of water use...? This is a bit of a contradiction. There is no metering system or exhaustion indicator to determine the filters abilities to do as designed. The filterÂs source water at one location (city) can be vastly different from another (untreated well water). Therefore, the filters capabilities and duration are not assured.

Bituminous and coconut shell carbon blocks with ATS ion exchange resin. >>

Carbon blocks are a standard feature for drinking water systems, It doesnÂt say whether they are activated carbon or not. Activated carbon is super steam heated to create a surface on the carbon that attracts elements out of the water more effectively. Activated carbon filters are normally more expensive and more effective.

"ion exchange" ? This is a curious media for a drinking water filter. The use of an ion exchange media is a great method of water treatment if you CAN REGENERATE IT! Exchange here meaning regeneration with sodium or potassium chloride, strong or weak acids or bases. I donÂt see that happening and find it dubious.

I would imagine that it was a cation resin to remove positively charged ions typically found in hardness, tannins and iron. I doubt it is a mixed cation-anion resin, which would make it behave as a deionizer or demineralizer. This is not likely as it would remove the very minerals it claims it leaves behind.

Without a softener ahead of it, the ion exchange portion would be used up very quickly, well within the 500 gallon range, I suppose. With a softener, it would be redundant. I will need to see what "ATS" indicates, before I could conclude what kind of effectiveness it would have.

The Aquasana process is far superior. The AQ-4000, unlike reverse osmosis, is a selective filter that removes chemical and metal contaminants while leaving in good, healthy minerals for pH balanced, great tasting water. >>

A quality RO membrane removes or acts as a barrier for elements down to 0.001 microns, which is slightly larger than the molecule of water itself. This includes bacteria, cysts and viruses. The AQ-4000 filters down to only 0.5 microns. ThatÂs a big difference.

Yes, an RO membrane does remove minerals (as well as metal ions, sugars, amino acids, colloidal silica, atomic radii, and aqueous salts). The human body uses minerals such as calcium but only effectively when they are of organic forms such as those found in milk, cheese, coral, etc.

The calcium derived from limestone and marble layers found in the crust of the earth are inorganic... dead cells... rock. One might as well grind up some gravel and sprinkle it into a glass of water and stir it with a rusty nail. Nearly all beneficial minerals we consume come from our foods or quality mineral supplements. The minerals found in drinking water are either insignificant or in such minute quantities, that professing it as a benefit is a moot point.

>
The AQ-4000 will remove sulfur odor in most locations.>>

Boy, be careful here. Carbon can control the odors of hydrogen sulfide but within a very limited range. If you are buying this to handle specifically the sulfur odor, other methods may prove far more valuable. Carbon can be quickly exhausted with sulfur gas and filter changing will be done much more often.

Both the AQ-4000 and the EQ-300 will help to stabilize the pH between 7.25 and 8.5. >>

I am not sure how this does this. Uhmm. Does that mean it raises pH if it is low? If so, then there is likely some kind of expendable media such as soda ash or Calcite that needs to be replenished. Not likely. Curious. The EQ-300 is needed to do this and it uses KDF. I am not aware that KDF is used for pH "stabilizing" whatever that means.

AQ-4000 does state that it carries NSF certification but doesnÂt illustrate the seal of NSF which is done only under permission from NSF.

It will, no doubt, cast some improvement on your water. But, for $54, it probably means you are getting what you pay for. Anyone in the water treatment industry should agree that a "one-cures-all" water device is not the best way to go. The literature and drawing show that it comes with a TEE bracket (good) to affix lines to source water, but the picture shows a C-clamp saddle valve (so-so).

I am not discouraging you from improving your water and I admire your wanting to learn more. But itÂs funny how many people place more value in a quality motor oil than the water they provide for their families.

"If you are happy with half-way measures, then be satisfied with mediocre results."

Andy

PS. Speedbump, you an still like me, I won't bite..not hard, anyway....;->

Thanks so much Andy, I DO care about what I drink. I have been using a Brita pitcher for a long time and now doing a kitchen remodel and would like to get rid of that and put a filter under cabinet. We have well water and hard water. I am the only one in the family who drinks alot of water. I put a serch in for filtered water and came up with a chart that compares many filters. I admit that I am totally ignorant on how to choose a decent filter. Anything else out there I sould consider? Barbara

Barbara,

You say you have hard water. Have you had it tested? If so, what details were given. If not, it is necessary.

What part of the country are you in? I always recommend a whole-house water management system. this means both POE (point of entry) and PUO (point of use) systems.

That usually means a softener and a reverse osmosis system. Without knowing more about your water it is hard to recommend any particular size or type.

POE is aimed at your working water. This is about 99% by volume the water you use for utility purposes (outside the body) and POU is used for that 1% for consumption (inside the body) use.

Both are important and in many cases a quality POU product will suffer greatly if source water is untreated and in poor condition. Water treatment products range from department store generic brands to high quality specialty products produced and manufactured for serious consumers.

Quality will often be reflected in price but not always. There are many economical products that work effectively and some really expensive junk. It's always difficult to know which way to turn.

Make an actual list of all the objects, things, devices, appliances, surfaces, fabrics, consumable (edible drinkable) items, and fixtures that come into contact with your water. Chances are you can list nearly a hundred. Look at that list and ask yourself how serious you want your water treatment to be.

Barbara, keep asking questions, consider alternatives and define your needs. Remember that going cheap can be very costly. Treat water as an investment not an expense.

Take care of your water and your water will take care of you.
Take care,
Andy

aquasana drinking system is the best system for the users who are health counsious. i have also purchased a water filter system from the very good resource who are dedicated to aquasana filtration system.

you can also take a look at the resource to get a maximum information about aquasana filters.

Gelfrey,

It seems as though are a big supporter of Aquasana and mention here and elsewhere how it addresses health concerns. I am curious about an explanation on how that is accomplished.

I might disagree on matters considering it the "best" as how can it be better than an RO, UV, and various other treatment methods.

Just curious about your opinion.
Andy

Houston, we have no problem...

Sorry 'bout that.

thank you very much for your detailed and professional response. I was looking for some of those answers in the web page.

I have always wanted to field test a Rhino unit because I really like many of the features it offers.

I do deal in water treatment products for residential, commercial, small systems, surface, well and municipal waters.

If the AQ-4000 raises pH, what happens if the pH is around 7.6 - 8.4 as my area? I don't suppose it raises it any further, right? Water in Maryland was around 5.0pH. How far will it raise it. The contact time is quite short in that mall filter, right?

I'll read the article.

thanks again,
Andy Christensen, CWS-II

aquasana wrote:
You may think that our 500 gallon claim is a lot of water for an ion-exchange resin, but you're comparing our ATS (anamorphous titanium silicate resin, made by BASF) to softener resins. Our resin uses a potassium zeolite to take out +2 ions like lead.

Does it remove all +2 ions? Which BASF resin?

Never mind. Apparently just another fly-by sales pitch.

Alice,

ATS is a selective resin that primarily targets lead, but it will remove a small amount of all +2 ions. ATS is very similar to ATC (used in granular filters), and ATZ (designed for extruded block filters). All 3 are made by Engelhard, a recently acquired division of BASF.

Andy,
With a pH of 5, you can only expect our system to bring it up to 6.5. Depending on what is causing the low pH, the actual results may be higher or lower than 6.5. At 7.6-8.4, you will not see the pH move very much, if at all. Like you know, it all depends on what is in the water. Thanks for letting us know about yourself! I hope your sales are growing as quickly as the rest of the industry's are. We'd love to let you field test our Rhino whole house water filter (there's your drive-by sales pitch Alice:)).

Sincerely,
Houston Tomasz
Vice President
Sun Water Systems, Inc
http://www.aquasana.com

I have an Aquasana and am pleased with it. The first day or two there was a somewhat salty taste which quickly goes away as the materials in the filter flush out. I had an RO system before. The fact that an RO uses several gallons of water to make one turns me off. I don't notice any better taste quality. I'm confident that the water in my municipal system is safe, this is extra insurance. Auto ship of refills every six months is available. One thing, you cannot hook it to refrigerator for ice maker. The plumbing is set up so pressure is only on the filter when you turn the spigot on. Ice maker lines are always pressuized.

It seems as though this type system is mainly for "municipal" systems and not for well systems. Is this assumption correct? I am more concerned with an organic or bacteria problem that might arise in my well. I don't have much worry about VOC's or CL2 etc. Is my thinking correct, that I would be better off with a different system?

we have well water and are going with a whole house distillery (that's water, not the hard stuff!). distilled water is the cleanest, safest and purist hands down.

Healing with Water
or here's the link:
http://www.guidetonaturalhealing.info/#_Toc179001886

The average person needs at least a gallon of pure liquids daily. This can be in juices, in herbal teas, or in plain pure water. Drink an 8 oz glass every hour or half hour for a total of at least 16 glasses every day equals 132 oz or one gallon. Never miss or if you do take extra to catch up. Dehydrated is a major cause of disease. All of the internal organs get clogged with waste materials and they must be flushed out. The body tissues cant be rebuilt when they are dehydrated.

The water in fresh squeezed juices is pure and clean. Besides the water in fresh juices we need water for drinking, for making herbal teas, and for food preparation. There are two methods of water purification which really get the water clean: steam distillation with carbon filter and reverse osmosis with carbon filter. It is best to purify all of the water coming into your house or apartment removing most of the impurities at the point of entry. A whole house system will avoid getting chlorine and other toxins in through your skin and lungs while you are taking a bath or shower. In addition, water for consumption should be purified 100%. Sears sells a good quality one gallon steam distillation unit with carbon filter for about $120. This unit works fine. I have used the Waterwise one gallon size and it is about the same but more expensive. There are many choices available in the Yellow Pages and on the internet.

Dont be fooled by claims that mineral water is good for you. The minerals are inorganic and dead and of no value at all. You get plenty of minerals from food and juices and dont need any more in the form of mineral water. Mineral water just calcifies your arteries, brain, and all of your internal organs...

--------------

we've considered reverse osmosis as well, but distilled seems to be much less upkeep. nutritionist anne louise gittleman recommends distilled as do many other health professionals. good health everyone.

"we have well water and are going with a whole house distillery"

You can't possibly mean this. No way are you going to put a whole-house distillation device in your home. I think what you mean is a distillation drinking water system (DDWS), which may produce a gallon or more per day, right?

Putting a whole house distillation device on well water will be disasterously expensive, time consumming and your maintenance will be astronomical. HOW MANY GALLONS PER DAY PRODUCTION DO YOU FORESEE?

Although distillation is an excellent water treatmetn device and has its place, it is not a cure all as no one method of water treatment normally is.

Compared to ROs, DDWSs are very high energy consuming (heat from electrical or fuel sources) and require for more maintenance (getting rid of precipitants and solid, scale bulding minerals). Their daily production is very low.

You have used the 'pure' above. Water treatment professionals rarely use this word because it is usually inaccurate and reserved for marketing purposes. How can water in juices be pure, it's in juices? And how can you purify 100% all the water coming into your home? Water is the universal solvent so it rarely exists on planet earth even in strict laboratory conditions.

I emphasize this 'pure' concept because you are talking about distillation which get water closer to H20 than most other methods.

Why not use an RO with a post mixed-bed deionizing filter. This will remove both the few positive and negative ions from your water that manage to pass through the membrane. Again, this quality of water is reserve for labs and industrial production more than household use.

Yes, distillation a fine and ancient water treatment (sailors-n-sponges) menthod and has its place in today's world. But like with all treatment methods, its advantages must be balanced with its shortcomngs. Dollar for dollar, hour for hour, drop for drop, I still prefer a high-quality RO.

And what maintenance issues did you have with your RO that were so inhibiting? Maybe you had a 'budget' RO that required 6-month filter changes?

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

you're right... i wasn't clear. it was very late when i decided to surf the boards here. we will have the distilled water on all of the taps for drinking water. not sure what we'll do with the showers yet, since the well water frequently smells of sulfur. the whole water issue is overwhelming since i have no idea (obviously) about all alternatives.

"we will have the distilled water on all of the taps for drinking water."

NEVER put distilled water in regular plumbing. First of all, you will need to have a pump to supply pressure. Secondly, the water will be extremely aggressive and corrode the faucet metal, thus adding to the water elements you didn't want in the first place. Just keep it in an approved container and rink it when you need it.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

I was looking on eBay for replacement filter cartridges for my Aquasana system, and I found this "Buy It Now" auction that seems too good to be true. This guy has lots of perfect feedback (300 and some) and is selling 3 sets of new cartridges for only $60, when they retail for about $48 per set elsewhere. Can this be real? What do you think?

We recently (four months ago) installed the Aquasana under the counter system for drinking water. The change we observe is in the electrical kettle where the calcium build-up became enormous, we can see it on a daily basis. I e-mailed Aquasana and they said "...Our system doesnât remove calcium and once the chlorine is removed the calcium reacts differently. over time it can build up in the tubing and the Diverter. Of course the calcium is not harmful in anyway whatsoever but It certainly can cause that build up in the glasses and in your pots that you boil water in."
I also need to mention that we have a whole house Pelican water softener (after having it for three years I still do not know if it does anything).

I would appreciate any advice on dealing with calcium - from need to remove it to products to add to Aquasana or to replace it with.

Thank you.

romig - Did you figure out how to deal with the calcium buildup?

I'm looking at this sytem for removal of chlorine mainly and secondarily to remove chemical toxins such as prescription drugs, etc. We're on city water so luckily I have that as a backup also. But really want to get rid of the chlorine. (I have lots of skin problems - one gets 80% of their chlorine from the shower, not from drinking, I've heard.)

I may start a new thread. Though Aquasana seems a bit expensive, it seems to have more positives for us than the other systems. But still looking.

I got a response back from romig when I sent him a personal email asking for the status on the cacium buildup problem. He was not happy with the product.
After doing enough reading on this subject and finding a lot of advertising on Aquasana, and finding that they are changing the way they distribute their product. It's been a while since I came to this conclusion - my memory is not the best but I do remember that I decided to "hold off" making a decision on this. From what I can tell Aquasana may not be any worse than any of the other products but I have a sense that "water filtration" has become a meal ticket for many small entrepreneurs - just doesn't pass the "smell" test right now. I'm going to check back in a year or so.