Review on Coralife 05692 Pure Flo 50 Gallon System by Alanna Scott

I have been using this product for 3 weeks. I have prepared about 100 gallons of RO/DI water for my saltwater tank so far and my only regret is that I didn't purchase a DR/DI filter a few years ago. I just plug it into the kitchen faucet. There was no need for crazy plumbing projects. I'm a bit worried about the durability of the filter system. The original batch had about 8 ppm Total Dissolved Solids (ppm TDS), but I'm up to 15 ppm. That said, it's still a pretty low TDS and I might even contaminate it just by measuring or something, so I'm not too worried just yet. I have a few tips that may make your purchasing or installation decision easier. 1) Unless you plan to install a holding tank and auto shut off, this filter will take time. Remember that 50 gallons per day is only about 2 gallons per hour. If you find you don't have the patience for this, consider upgrading to a higher GPD. 2) I read some reverse osmosis filter reviews where buyers were dissatisfied that the filtered water was acidic and/or rusted metal parts very quickly. This is not a defect in the filter - it means it is working. RO/DI water contains far less dissolved solids than most tap water. Without getting into the chemistry, this means that (1) water, when balanced by carbon dioxide in the air, is acidic and (2) has a tendency to oxidize (rust) the metals it comes in contact with. I use my filtered water to make homemade soda and ice cubes, but I find drinking pure reverse osmosis water pretty gross - it just sucks for me. I've also heard that it can be unhealthy, but I don't have much information about it. 3) This filter operates under fairly high pressure, so there's a good chance the connections will leak. If you're assembling it, I recommend buying Teflon tape from the plumbing section of your hardware store. Wrap the tape tightly around the threads 2-3 times before making any connections to keep everything tight and prevent leaks. 4) I am having trouble installing the reverse osmosis cartridge. The body of the cartridge doesn't show through, so I couldn't tell if I installed it correctly. I couldn't tell if it was assembled correctly until I reassembled it to test. But you should be able to tell if it's working by the amount of water it produces; When working properly, you should be producing clean water in just a trickle (50 gallons per day). If you have a filter installed and are getting a lot of flow out of the [blue] product hose, you can probably assume the RO cartridge is not installed properly. (You can also check the TDS if you have a meter.) It took me about four attempts to properly seat the reverse osmosis cartridge. The fact is that it had to be pressed very hard into the fitting. The resistance was so high that I was afraid of breaking it. 5) Many fittings on the block are pre-assembled. A few connections on my device leaked a bit initially. You may have to unscrew them, wrap the threads with teflon tape and reinstall. After spending some time with it, my unit was 100% sealed.6) The unit comes with an adapter that allows you to use it with a standard sink, but installing the adapter takes a few minutes or more and is quite a hassle . Also, the adapter is made out of fairly cheap plastic, so it's prone to leaking and can chew if you don't install it carefully every time. I solved this problem by permanently replacing my faucet head with one that I can screw the filter directly onto. it only costs about $3. I didn't have to replace the entire faucet, but the end is threaded like a garden hose. This made connecting and disconnecting the filter much more convenient. Also keep in mind that the adapter may not work if you have a decorative sink faucet. You may need to get creative with the installation. I live in an apartment so I can't do any major plumbing; However, if I were indoors, I think it would be worth installing a filter with a reservoir and a float valve so I always have a supply of filtered water on hand. 7) I also bought a TDS meter. (HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester) and was glad I did. It's very convenient to be able to test your device and see how it works. My tap water comes out around 500ppm. My filtered water comes out between 5 and 15 ppm. Being able to check the TDS at any time makes it much easier for me to know when my filter needs to be flushed or replaced.