ZeroWater 22-Cup Ready-Read 5-Stage Water Filter Dispenser with Instant Read Out - 0 TDS for Improved Tap Water Taste - IAPMO Certified to Reduce Lead, Chromium, and PFOA/PFOS

Wow. So I live in Orange Country and just my entire home re-piped less than two months ago. I know that our water system here in SoCal especially in Orange is apparently terrible- which shocked me to hear! Sure enough when I tested the water with the TDS meter provided with this unit, it read at over 460!!!! Omg. I had no idea it was THAT BAD! But this water filter works AMAZING and got my water down to 0 TDS! Yes- it takes FOREVER to filter, and the top reservoir only holds so much water, so if you have more than 2-3 people in the home who regularly drink water, or you want to use it for cooking/boiling, this size probably is not for you! I’ve found it almost impossible to keep the unit in our fridge because it constantly needs to be filled up, so that’s a bummer. HOWEVER- it’s the only water filter (that I know of/is low cost) that will remove the particles from your water. Previously I thought a simple Britta filter/regular brand water filter was enough- but nope. I even tested BOTTLED WATER- and it read 24 TDS! So if removing the micro prices is important to you, I’d definitely get a TDS filter. Maybe a bigger capacity one than this though! And if you’re not patient you must decide to either invest a lot of $$$ in some very fancy one, a bigger one, or not remove the TDS because wow it does take a LONG TIME. But overall the quality of water is great!!!***Update after using it moderately for 13 days***Once the water level reaches about 1/2 full in the basin, it STOPS FILLING!!! When I picked the filter up out of the unit, the water flows, however once the filter is back in place under the water, it is BLOCKED!!!! I just opened a ticket - * i think* (I called the support phone number and a very helpful AI bot told me he would create a ticket to the manufacturer for me), and the AI told me it could be a defective filter…… I did mention to the AI that my sink water (the only water I have) I use to fill up the unit was reading at above 450 TDS, and inquired if possibly that was simply * too extreme* of an amount of TDS for the filter to handle, and that’s why it stopped working properly, but I was told by the AI that even if very high TDS water is used to fill the unit, the filter should be just fine for at least a month, and that this one is defective… hmm… I just feel like the pressure of the water coming from the filter is SO SO LOW (literally a veryyy slow stream with low pressure/ slow expulsion into the basin) so I think maybe it is getting “stuck” in the filter and is unable to “push itself” into the basin once the basin reaches half full due to the amount of underwater pressure.ZERO WATER, PLEASE HELP! Thank you! I want this review to be 5 stars and I ABSOLUTELY WILL RATE IT 5/5 STARS DESPITE THE SLOW FILTRATION (because I am realistic and know that this is a budget friendly unit doing a great and difficult job - removing TDS).I just would like to know that it can, in fact, be able to successfully add the filtered water to the basin even if the filter which is dispensing the filtered water is underwater. Which it absolutely should be able to do, or else this product would be a sham because what’s the point of having a “basin” if the filter can’t even fill it up more than halfway…? I tried so many times to upload a video but Amazon is not allowing me to. I tried even a 13 second video of low res still didn’t work. Wish I could share the video.THANK YOU!

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 cup to test it.The TDS monitors have a "hold" button and an "on/off" button. If you mistakenly press the hold button, your monitor will not read the water levels and will say "000". This may be incorrect if your monitor is on hold. Just press the hold button a couple times and test the water, and whatever number it reads will be accurate.Customer ServiceZero Water has its own website. They can be contacted by email and phone. They are highly responsive, knowledgeable and friendly. This speaks volumes about the product, because they back it.Water TasteThe water tastes like a spring-fed stream. It's great. At one point, when I was still getting used to how to use the equipment, I was drinking water at 55ppm and it still tasted very good. When I caught this and started using a clean filter, bringing the water to 000 ppm again, the taste improvement was noticeable, though not as dramatic as the difference between tap water and purified.I've read on here that the taste becomes sour or metallic when the water purification levels drop. To me, it has not been that noticeable. I would suggest replacing the filter in such cases as it might be faulty.Camping OutI would take this with me on a camping trip. But I would use an initial filter designed for camping first, then put it through the Zero Water filters. This system is not really designedf for pond water that has mud and algae. However, once you filter those out, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.Overall, I am pleased with this system. As long at the quality of the filters stays the same, I plan to use it until I get another home.Stay safe and be healthy. I will update this review if my experience changes.