ZeroWater 32-Cup 5-Stage Water Filter Dispenser with Instant...

Most Helpful Review

"After doing the research, this was the one which I found to have the maximum filtration while I am living in an apartment. In a home you own, your best bet is an under the sink or whole-house reverse osmosis system. However, for a whole lot less, you can get this with pretty much the same water quality! That's quite astounding given the price differential (thousands versus a hundred or two). Nevertheless, this system takes more work in terms of:* Vigilance - you'll have to use the TDS monitor provided with purchase to see how the filter is doing* Keeping the water levels full in the container as you use it* Keeping new filters on handAfter reading the reviews, I realized that the filter would last maybe a month given my usage (about 1 gallon a day for one person). I use it for both drinking and cooking. Before this I was lugging multi-gallon containers from the water store to home every week. The price was okay though has been going up. I was paying may $400 a year for water. Now it's more like $250 in the first year, and it will be less in ensuing years because I won't be buying any new pitchers, just filters.My tap water here in Florida tests out at 300 particles (ppm). Anywhere you live, there will be additives, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and heavy metals - even on well water because the aquifers are now contaminated. Flouridation (terrible for the organs), is another factor if you use city water. I have used filtered water exclusively for 30 years. I had a very good Culligan system installed under my kitchen sink at home, but as I have moved, I have gone with a portable setup. Zero Water eliminated the need to lug heavy water containers, which is wonderful. But I wasn't going to compromise. Turns out, the filters are exceedingly effective. I won't go into it here, it is covered extensively in other reviews and on YouTube, this system far exceeds other gravity systems.One thing that struck me, though, was how to maximzie usage of the filters. At my current rate, I'd use 1 filter a month. Not at all a bad thing. However, I have brought that down to 1 every six months. Here's how.I have purchased two pitchers, as shown. On the right is the 10-cup, my first pitcher. At center, the 12-cup. On the left is a 2 gallon glass container with spigot. I do the following.1. Fill the first pitcher with tap water. Use it exclusively for a month. (I pour the water into a glass container almost immediately after filtering. That's just me.)2. Once the TDS monitor tells you that the water has more than a safe number of particles (6 is the recommended number), start using the second pitcher. Your first pitcher becomes your dirty pitcher.3. Pour the water from the "dirty" pitcher to the second pitcher (the clean pitcher). The clean pitcher's filter will have to do much less filtering because the dirty pitcher's filter is still picking up most of the particles.4. Keep testing the water from the clean pitcher. Once it reaches the maximum of 6 or more, (which takes 6 months in my case), throw away the filter in the dirty pitcher and replace it with the filter in the clean pitcher. Install a brand new filter in the clean pitcher.5. Repeat steps 1-4.Doing it this way, your filters should last a lot longer, depending on your usage. If you are a family of 4 or 8, and use 2-4-8 gallons a day, you may get 1 week out of one filter, but you will get much more out of each filter doing it this way.I like to use glass for holding the water longer term. But if you are using all BPA-free plastic containers, which all the pitchers ZeroWater provides are, you should be ok.Which ContainerZero Water offers several options for containers. I chose the pitchers because they are small enough to lift, while still having a spigot on the back end if I want to use them directly to fill a glass. But pouring the water is faster than the spigot, so a pitcher is more versatile than the larger container. I chose different sizes in the pitcher mainly to be able to differentiate which is the dirty and which, the clean. Personally, I prefer the 12-cup - the top fits better than the 10-cup, and is molded to prevent leakage from the water that is still filtering through if you happen to need to pour it before it's all drained down.TDS MonitorThe TDS monitor comes with each unit. It is accurate. I tested it on various water sources. So I trust it when it says my filtered water is zero. They are sensitive enough to detect 1 ppm. These monitors work on batteries. They should last quite a while. I called customer service about this because one of the TDS monitors stopped working. They were very informative and helpful.I have taken the monitors out of the slot where they can be carried on top of the pitchers. The possibility that water will fill the top is too great. The TDS monitors are actually not waterproof. They will die if submerged fully in water. You should only submerge the bottom where the sensors are. Put about an inch of your filtered water in a clean"