Cheapest Watts WP5-50 Premier Five-Stage Manifold Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment System
Watts WP5-50 Premier Five-Stage Manifold Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment System
Product Description
Sold as each. Revolutionary manifold design. Eliminates 17 connections to install. Larger filter capacity-Now 50 gallons per day instead of 24. Certified to remove nitrates. NSF certified standard 58. Includes air gap faucet to meet plumbing codes. Replacement filters-SKU # 4207106-3pk. Easy to install. Boxed . Manufacturer number: WP-5-50. SKU #: 4207098. Country of origin: (TBA). Distributed by Anderson Barrows.
Feature
- 5-stage manifold reverse osmosis water treatment system offers a continuous supply of water for the whole family
- Manifold design provides seamless water path, effectively eliminating 17 connections
- Nitrate reduction
- NSF tested and certified
- 3-year limited warranty
CustomerReviews
Good Water Filtration
I recently purchased and installed this filtration system to work through our refrigerator ice maker and chilled water dispenser. It installed easily and with a couple of extra parts was working to produce crystal clear ice cubes and very good water.
Noisy hissing RO
This unit replaced an older RO that was no longer functioning properly. My major complaint is the loud hissing/gurgling as the tank fills. It goes on for hours even if you only remove a quart of water from the tank. I have a tiny house with the living room and kitchen open. I have to schedule when I use this RO so it fills up when I’m not in that area. The unit was professionally installed and I have been unable to reach the company to make a complaint. My water pressure is adequate. If it were not so expensive to do, I would have it replaced with some other unit.
Too much noise!
We were very excited to install and use the filter system for our well water. The installation went fine, the storage tank does take up space underneath the sink area. But the noise, we were not expecting. After the initial fill up and subsequent refills to settle the charcoal dust, we were ready to go. Each time the tank needs to refill you hear the trickle of water down the drain, 4 gallons of water is processed to make 1 gallon of filtered water. Plus a hissing noise similiar to a pressure cooker until it refills. We called Watts, and while they were very friendly, the rep. agreed “Yes, it is noisy.” No solution was offered. We decided the cons outweighed the pros and uninstalled the system and sent it back. Had we known about the noise and the amount of waste water, we would not have purchased.
Well Suited for Hydroponic Gardening, With Some Caveats
For an aspiring indoor hydroponic vegetable gardener like Your Humble Narrator, a source of clean water is essential. Here in suburban Salt Lake City, we are blessed with some of the dirtiest water in the country. Using this meter: pH-EC-TDS Meter my tap water clocks in with a pH of 8.2-8.4 and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) reading of 300-350 ppm (parts per million). This review specifically addresses the suitability of the Watts WP5-50 reverse osmosis system to the task of providing a water supply for the home hydroponic gardener.
I’ve used other filtration devices, like straight carbon filters, and have been disappointed. Yes, they do remove sediment and some contaminants, however the drinking water never genuinely tasted “clean”. Moreover, taking the testing meter to this water, and the TDS reading never went below 280 ppm which is unacceptable for hydroponic growing. After doing some research, I concluded that the only option was reverse osmosis.
Package Inspection
Out of the box everything looked okay with the exception of the faucet, which, as other reviewers have noted, is a cheaper version of the displayed product.
Installation
Installation was straightforward. The instructions, while not written by an English professor were sufficient albeit vague in a few critical places. I had the unit installed within two hours.
Waste Water, Output Water Quality and Quantity
My three biggest concerns with this product are output water quality, output water quantity and waste water production. Bear in mind that all of these are dependent upon the quality and pressure of your incoming water supply, which can change from season to season as well as from one time of day to another. Take a certain degree of comfort in knowing that my incoming water is probably worse than yours.
I have not yet connected the waste water tube to the sink’s drain. Rather, the waste water tube is currently draining into an 18-gallon bucket so I can take measurements for the purposes of this review. To leave this setup in this manner is a code violation. I suggest that you connect your unit properly.
The amount of waste water this unit produces is staggering. For each gallon of clean water, I produce an additional 6.5 gallons of waste water. I have come to understand that I will experience a similar ratio regardless of the reverse osmosis unit I use. This phenomenon is a consequence of RO technology in general rather than a peculiarity of this particular unit. As I’ve suggested, the amount of waste water produced is proportional to how contaminated your incoming water supply is.
The output water quality is excellent. TDS (total dissolved solids) are 15-20 ppm, which is ideal for hydroponic growing. Any purer than that brings you into the realm of distilled water, which would need to be supplemented with minerals to be suitable for hydroponic use. Output water quantity is sufficient although disappointing. It produces one gallon in about 90 minutes. Higher water pressure and cleaner incoming water will decrease this time. The storage tank, although it has a physical capacity of three gallons, drains to empty after drawing two gallons. I consider this is a consequence of the technology, not a case of misleading advertising.
Summary
The Watts WP5-50 reverse osmosis water treatment system is well suited to the task of providing contaminant-reduced water for the purposes of hydroponic growing. It produces clean water in sufficient quantity for the purposes of a home hydroponic garden. Insofar as the waste water is concerned, for the time being, I’m leaving the waste tube in that eighteen gallon bucket. I’m using that water for my lawn.
June 20, 2009 - Important Update
Several weeks ago, our city’s water changed for the worse. I’m assuming that it’s because of a switchover to summertime procedures where water consumption is considerably heavier. Incoming water is now 800-900 ppm of Total Dissolved Solids. The unit’s output water quality is 80-100 ppm which is still in the “good” range. It now produces roughly twelve gallons of waste water for each gallon of clean water is generates. The lesson here is that water quality can dramatically change from one season to another, as well as from one time of day to another.
Dummy Proof Install
I ordered this unit with Free Super Saver Shipping and it arrived in three days. Amazon.com has yet to dissapoint me. Upon delivery I discovered that the second carbon pre-filter had been improperly seated before it was screwed in at the factory. It crushed the O ring on the plastic housing and gasket on the filter itself. A quick call to Watt resulted in a new plastic housing and filter being shipped out. The support rep was kind, friendly and extreamly helpful.
Install: The unit is easy to install, if your sink and fittings are equal to what is included in the kit. They make it so dummy proof that it makes it diffuclt to modify… To make a long story short, I had to purchase several 3/8 to 1/4 step down/up adapters to get this thing installed. Also, I mounted the water tank in the basment directly under the sink. This saved a whole lot of room under our sink. The only thing under the sink is the filter housing and it hardly takes up any space along the side of our cabinet.
Performance: I monitored the waste water output upon turnig the water on the first time. In my estimation, the unit sent 30 gallons of water down the drain to fill the 3 gallon fresh water tank the first time. That seems to be a lot of wasted water, so I will be looking into a permiate pump. To sum it up this RO unit creates some really fine tasting water. Over all I would recommend it.