Best RO unit?

[Toongraeme]

Does anybody own one of these:

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...+-+100GPD.html

And if so, is it worth the extra money as opposed to a slightly cheaper one without the vertex name?

[monocus]

i bought a seven stage aquasafe for under $200 delivered off ebay with a three year supply of filters and a tds meter.if i would have gone to the company in west vancouver it would have cost me $80 more.a lot of the price is probably for the name

[mrhasan]

0 TDS water is 0 TDS water; brand got nothing to do with it. If a $100 unit produces 0 TDS water and a $300 unit produces 0 TDS water, there's no difference between the two output. Only thing that might be different is the rejection rate, the amount of waste and how often you have to change the filters. I found that in case of RODI, brand name doesn't matter, the output matters.

[rickcasa]

Originally Posted by monocus

i bought a seven stage aquasafe for under $200 delivered off ebay with a three year supply of filters and a tds meter.if i would have gone to the company in west vancouver it would have cost me $80 more.a lot of the price is probably for the name

I did the same thing only difference was I bought from their website first and found out later about the lower eBay price. Guess what, Aquasafe credited me the difference. Great company, best deal around.

[Toongraeme]

This one arrived today:

[davej]

The one thing I really like is the booster pump.
If your home pressure is lower it helps a lot

[Evilweevil]

I have had two units 1was a cheaper ro/di no booster pump no tds meter and none of the nice features this unit has ,when the filters prematurely exhausted because of the low water pressure ? ( I think) I bought a tds meter then looked at buying a booster pump and I would have ended up spending up around 200$ to upgrade ,I ended up buying the vertex unit instead of all the other stuff and I am so glad I did ,it just works so nice really it's just plug and play pretty much I wish I would have just bought it first I would have saved myself a bunch of money

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Toongraeme

Does anybody own one of these:

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...+-+100GPD.html

And if so, is it worth the extra money as opposed to a slightly cheaper one without the vertex name?

The Vertex is worth the money only if you truly need all the features included in this particular package. If your home's water pressure is 65 psi or better, you probably don't need the booster pump. Many homes on municipal water systems have sufficient pressure and they will also probably have a PRV (pressure regulating valve) in the plumbing not far from the main water shut off valve. These can be adjusted. And while the 'frequent automatic back-flush feature' may extend the life of your RO membrane somewhat, it will also use up your carbon & DI stages more quickly.

Most RO/DI systems are built with fairly generic components using the standard 10 inch canisters. It's nice to have the clear canisters for your pre filters to give a visual of their condition. Probably not needed for carbon stage. Most DI stages will have clear housing as well, so you can see the change in the colour changing DI media. However, the bottom line with DI, if you have a TDS meter, that's really your best indicator of when the DI media is exhausted. The white canisters are less costly & actually more robust than the clear ones. If you by a cheaper system, you will also more than likely not get the best carbon block. This is a fairly important stage because it protects your RO membrane from chlorine. Not all carbon blocks are created equal and it's worth it to spend a little extra there, for a good 0.5 micron that will treat 200,000 gallons.

A little research on your source water TDS & house water pressure should help you in your decision as to what you need. Yes, 0 TDS is 0 TDS, but with an overkill unit you may be wasting money. You could also be disappointed with the results of a cheaper unit if you don't have the right components. If you have to change your membrane frequently because of a cheap carbon filter......

Personally I prefer 75 gpd membranes since they have a better rejection rate than a 100 gpd. My source water TDS is close to 200. If I lived in Vancouver where their source TDS is 10, a 100 gpd membrane would be a better buy since I could produce water slightly faster. Then again, I'm a patient person most of the time.

[albert_dao]

Wellllll... In a phonecall I had with a customer who orders 30+ of these things every month:

"I feel bad for people who wasted their money on other filters."

[lastlight]

if you're ok with manually flushing your membrane (i do it before and after use) and prefer a more efficient ro membrane (75gpd dow filmtec is better than the 100gpd) I'd purchase any basic setup and fit it with the 75 gpd filmtec and a dual tds meter. i'm assuming your household pressure is already fine.