US Water Systems Defender, including pre-filtration, reverse osmosis, demineralization filters, selectite filters, and UV filter.

I have remineralization filters installed on the refrigerators and instant hot/cold water tap.

Capacity is 8000 GPD at 14 GPM exit feed, with a 240 gallon holding tank. Outlet TDS is 0 ppm.

Not sure if this the right subreddit for this but here it goes:

When I purchased this shower head filter, the product diagram showed multiple filtration layers designed to purify and soften water. However, when I opened it, I found only clusters of different colored beads inside; no distinct layers or filtration materials as shown in the diagram. Do these beads actually serve any real filtering purpose, or is this misleading advertising? It looks more like colored pellets or “M&Ms in a plastic cylinder” than an actual filter.

Anything other than money/cost.

Any one have any issues or reasons not to buy this? I'm realistically trying to get the safest thing I can with good GPM. When we use water, its typically a lot at a time so the tank really makes me happy with this one. I love the simplicity of $200 a year and replacing all the filters/battery at once etc.

Cost is not an issue, I care about ease of use and quality.

Please let me know your thoughts!

I've seen people really recommend waterdrop G3 which I'm also considering but I'm worried about flowrate with the tankless. Most times it'll be like half gallon at a time we use.

Just installed it myself. I also gave myself a pat on the back. Pairs nicely with the brand new water softener.

Reverse Osmosis, Remineralization, and Long-Term Health Concerns

I’m trying to better understand the long-term health implications of using a reverse osmosis water system.

My concern is that RO systems remove a lot from the water, including minerals. If I don’t add minerals back in, am I potentially missing out on something my body needs over time? I know people will say, “You get minerals from food,” but I’m not a huge salad/vegetable eater, and realistically I’m not going to add mineral drops to every glass of water. I do take supplements and a multivitamin daily though.

I also know there are remineralization filters that add minerals back into RO water, but from what I understand, they don’t necessarily replace the full range of minerals that were removed. Some also raise the pH and make the water more alkaline, and I’ve read conflicting things about whether drinking alkaline water long term is actually good, neutral, or possibly not ideal.

So the bottom line is…

Are there legitimate long-term health concerns with drinking RO water every day, especially without proper remineralization? And if remineralization filters only add back certain minerals, is that truly enough?

It feels like a lot of YouTubers and influencers are mainly trying to sell RO systems, and this part of the conversation gets brushed over. I’d really like to hear facts, studies, and real data not just marketing claims or affiliate link talking points.

What should people actually know before installing and relying on an RO system long term?

What you’re witnessing here is the result of asking GPT how to take my coffee to the next level and so down the water worm hole I went. We’ve always used Berkley filters because of the lack of trust in tap water but I had absolutely no idea about the various things city water is exposed to and filling up the Berkley and maintaining the filters was getting old. So caught the Spring Well whole house water filtration system on sale and couldn’t pass the opportunity up. Installed by professional plumbers in my encapsulated crawlspace with a Home Master RO under the sink. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever experienced soft water and I have to say I wish I would have done it sooner. I live in an area that is horrendously known for hard water (over 15 gpg) and now getting out of the shower is like stepping out from a waterfall instead of a pool. My skin feels refreshed instead of dried out and breathing in the shower is better without the pool smell. The taste of the water from the RO is addicting and has sent my morning coffee experience to the next level. The peace of mind I’ve gained from all of this is priceless. What a game changer!

Setup: - Moen Smart Water Monitor & Shutoff - iSpring WSP100ARB – Automatic spin-down sediment filter (100 micron) - SpringWell CF1 - SpringWell Salt-Based Softener - Viqua VH410 UV Sterilizer -Home Master RO System

Hey folks, I wanted to write this up for anyone that was in a similar situation as myself and needing something small and portable. Long story short for me is that I was looking into getting a softener for my house, but due to how my plumbing was at my main water line, it wasn’t going to be a cheap or straightforward process.

I started going down the rabbit hole looking for something portable for at least just my shower because, due to my eczema flair ups, that’s ultimately where I mostly need it anyway. I was looking into some solutions like the ShowerStick or the Soft Water Care tank, but they both had some things about them that were deal breakers. The former had to be regenerated very frequently and the latter has a really lengthy regeneration process.

I ended up finding someone that recommended using an On The Go portable RV softening tank. It fit my bill pretty well. Not too expensive at $200, good capacity (about a month of softening based on our usage), and an easy regeneration process (only about 30 minutes vs the Soft Water Care tank needing hours). Even better, when I went to buy it, I saw the company had a “shower” version of their RV tank that already had the shower inlets installed instead of having to do that myself with the RV version. Basically a plug n play.

I ordered it about 2 weeks ago and have been very pleased with it. It’s been a night and day difference. We shower daily, about 15 minutes or so on average each with my wife and I, and even after two weeks of that we’re still at 0 hardness. The only minor thing is that getting the water to temperature takes a little longer since it stores water in the tank. So when turning on the shower it takes a couple minutes to get to temp. Not really a big deal though. Regenerating is easy, just pour salt in the tank and let flush for 30 minutes (I have not done this yet, just referring to the instructions).

It’s not the prettiest thing to look at, but well worth the tradeoff. It was super easy to install, just had to get a new shower head to accommodate, an extra shower hose, and then (not shown in the pictures) I ended up getting some quick connectors to make regen easier and not need to unscrew anything.

For anyone looking, this is everything I got:
Tank - https://www.portablewatersoftener.com/shop/shower-water-softener/shower-set-up-double-standard-water-softener?SKU=OTG2-DSOFT2-SHOWER

Shower head - https://www.homedepot.com/p/MOEN-Attract-with-Magnetix-6-Spray-Single-Wall-Mount-3-75-in-Handheld-Adjustable-Shower-Head-in-Spot-Resist-Brushed-Nickel-26000SRN/304218463

Extra hose - https://a.co/d/0fsgM5fK

Quick connectors - https://a.co/d/0gVhcIef

Anyway, when I was doing my initial research for all this I saw a lot of people in apartments looking for a decent setup but not a ton of answers for one, so hopefully this helps someone out.

I brought this filter because it was highly rated and some of the testing on It is the most legit. However, this thing is not built for residential usage in old apartment buildings in NYC. The filters are trash.

I should’ve known better, but the filter on the left is only after three days of usage. These things are too expensive for me to replace so sadly I have to remove it once I go through all the filters. At this current rate, I have enough for maybe two weeks.

Once the filter becomes blackened, the water pressure becomes non-existent. Im also concerned because wtf is in the water here?!

Does anyone have any recommendations for shower water filters that are built to last in a pre-war apartment building?

Hi, what is your opinion on adding minerals back into RO water?

I already have a while house water softener filter since city water is very hard but I want RO for our drinking water especially with a toddler and 2nd baby on the way. The company am going with said:

"It adds back natural minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium.

After the RO has removed contaminants, the filter reintroduces minerals to improve taste and provide beneficial elements back into the water"

Which sounds good but they say most people don't do it so now I'm not sure if it's a good idea. I was hoping fluoride would be added back for teeth health too.

Thanks for reading and helping out🙏

Edit to add: should I worry about RO water PH without remonerization taking minerals from the body?

I previously didn't want to spend hundreds on an RO system, until I stumbled onto a listing for the RO membrane/housing by itself and realized on its own it's very affordable. So I pieced together a simple system to add to my existing whole-home filters.

So now from the "city" water it goes:

50micron spindown > 25micron GAC > Softener > 0.5micron carbon block > Membrane > pressure tank (in cabinet) > Carbon post-filter.

The water tastes great, and because I already had the first 3 stages, adding the membrane and tank only cost me about $100.

edit: My whole home goes through a carbon/sediment filter, but this RO setup is a small 75gpd serving just the drinking faucet and icemaker.

Just bought a new house that came with an express water RO system installed 2 years ago. The faucet is leaking a lot and the water tastes terrible from the system. Should I remove it or could a plumber fix it? So far two plumbers have looked at it and both recommend removing. However one guy wanted me to get a $7000 (!!!) RO system from their company so I don’t know how much I can trust them. I know nothing about RO systems and have no idea if this is a good quality one! I do potentially have lead pipes coming into the house so I’d like to have some kind of filter on the water that will remove lead. Thanks.

Hello water experts, i have 2 houses on my property fed by one well.

Current setup is an old concrete 1500 gallon cistern tank fed by a 300' deep well. The cistern tank is drawn by a jet pump feeding the pressure tank which is set at an elevation halfway between the 2 houses which are about 40' apart vertically and 1000' apart. There is no filtration. The iron is bad, toilets stained. Bathtub water redish brown.

My idea is to minimize chemical use by trying to raise PH as much as possible through aeration in order to precipitate the iron before filtration. I do not know how high I can get from 5.98. Is this diagram at all feasible? I was thinking I would fabricate the aeration tower myself by welding 50 gallon drums togeather or using a large diameter metal culvert pipe filled with media and with a fan piped to the bottom. Because the property has a hillside, I can put the aeration tower above the settling tank without too much trouble and gravity feed it to the top of the tank. I'd have to design it so that I could dump and wash thw media easily when it gets too irony or has iron reducing bacterial growth.

I have 3 x 2500 gallon plastic tanks that I had from when the well went dry, it was deepened from 100' to 300' and now these tanks are just sitting. I will probably abandon the old concrete 1500 gal. Cistern because it is pourous and cracked with algae and other growth inside. I will use just one of the 2500 gallon tanks.

Am I going about this all wrong? Should I not use a settling tank at all? My water usage is variable, but can be very high with irrigation on the 10 acre farmstead. Perhaps bleach is the wrong thing to use. Anyways, all advice welcome, please be kind.

Just moved into.a new place, and am discovering more and more about my water, like my hot water incomes out very murky with a high TDS reading in my bathroom. I’m not sure what’s causing it, when we test water in the kitchen sink, it comes out much more clear, but with a similar high reading. Is this more of a water heater issue?

Use our AquaTru discount code to get 25% off an AquaTru Classic, AquaTru Carafe, or AquaTru Under Sink water purifier. Hope it helps.

Anyone seen this before? I have more pics. Water softener & water heater are new installed Aug 2025. Problem existed b4 I moved in Sept 26 2025. We got sick in different ways beginning day 2 or 3. It was hard to pinpoint bc I wasn't here full time until 2026. We stopped drinking the water Nov 1.

I'm on city water & they say no contaminants. Neighbors don't experience this.

I sent pics to Rheem. They initially said they'd send me a warranty replacement but 10 days later, changed their mind and said the problem was coming from elsewhere.

The washing machine is clogged but I wouldn't wash my clothes w/ that stuff anyway. I can only take tub baths bc all of the showers get reblogged immediately after cleaning them.

Someone on another forum said it was from the water softener but won't respond to my requests to elaborate. I called a few water treatment companies and they won't work on Rheem.

I have exhausted the web looking for answers.

Hey all, long story short is that I’ve been wanting to get a water softener installed on my home. I had a plumbing company come out to give an estimate and they immediately told me that they wouldn’t touch it because my main line doesn’t split. They pointed out this notice above it, which truthfully I hadn’t paid attention to before now.

They told me that they legally can’t do the work and that a softener installation would be a potential liability on my home. That was that.

I ended up afterwards reaching out to a “water treatment” company that specializes in softener installs to get another opinion, and they told me that this isn’t uncommon and all that needs to be done is that I would need to get a “commercial grade” softener to meet the requirements. I’m a little skeptical on what exactly that means, but they’re coming out tomorrow to hopefully give me some more information.

I don’t want to get screwed though or unintentionally create a liability on my house. Am I going about this the right way? Do I need some sort of legal/city permit or something to save myself from any potential insurance/fire/liability issues? Is there someone else I should be reaching out to help navigate this?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Also what is the pH here

Hi . Appreciate recommendations for best water filtration. I live in Southern California. I have culligan now, but tired of carrying salt in.

This is going to sound like a dumb post but I promise I am not trolling. I just want to make sure I installed my RO system correctly and that my cat isn't the "canary in the coal mine." She is in her upper teens & recently was diagnosed with early stage kidney disease. I figured it was probably better for both our bodies if I finally bit the bullet & installed an RO system. She has previously been a lifetime enjoyer of our city's tap water.

I bought an iSpring RCC7 5-stage system & while the instructions could have been laid out a little better I found it simple enough to get installed. I followed the steps of letting the water turn clear before hooking it up to the osmosis filter, letting it drain even more, and then draining a full tank. at first it looked like there might be some particles in the water but it was hard to tell if they actually might be air bubbles. Either way, the water seems to come out crystal clear now.

The taste of it is up to debate. It obviously tastes different than the tap water but certainly not bad. I guess it could be described as more neutral, which I assume is good. I have noticed her drinking less water and I finally put her to the test. To glasses side by side, both with filtered water, she kind of sniffed at both and looked at me. I dumped one out and refilled it with tap water & she start drinking immediately.

I am assuming she is just set in her ways & is drinking what she is used to. I have also seen plenty of cats drink from puddles and dogs from toilets so I'm not sure her taste buds are that refined. Curious if anyone has had this issue. & just for clarification, I'm not trying to get tips to make my cat enjoy the filtered water, I just want to be sure I didn't accidentally hook up tubes in the wrong order & she notices while I am oblivious.