Review on 🚰 Effortless Cleanliness: Auto-Fill Water Bowl with Indoor Install Kit & 25ft Poly-tubing by Vincent Poolaw

My wife and I have three dogs and six cats so keeping track can be a challenge. Having a self-filling water bowl seemed like a great way to have one less thing to worry about (don't worry we have multiple water bowls, that's just the main thing) so we bought this bowl. The shell itself is plastic and doesn't feel particularly durable or premium, but it really doesn't need to be. It comes with a very long 1/4 inch hose as well as a brass coupler so you can connect it to your fridge water line. This means you have to connect to your fridge's existing water line, but this part was easy. I disconnected the fridge water line, cut it in half and attached each end to the supplied brass standoff with compression nuts. I did NOT use the small brass tube inserts that come with the splitter; In the installation instructions there was a small note that the supplied hose was thick enough not to need the small brass tube inserts. I tightened all the compression nuts with an adjustable wrench, turned the water back on and voila! The bowl was filled with fresh water. Great success, very happy. The bowl does make a whistling noise when full which initially scared two of my three dogs when they were drinking, but after about three days all dogs got completely used to it. Most cats drink from it, too, but they don't lower the water level enough for it to begin to fill up. What I described above is the default setting. It was easy. I consider myself reasonably skilled and haven't had any major problems. The hardest part was moving the fridge to get to the plumbing. However, there is one design consideration that didn't particularly satisfy me, so I changed my setup; What follows is a description of it, but please note that this is my own modification and does not reflect the standard normal setup of this bowl. After a few days of use, I noticed that the bowl was a bit dirty. My cats especially like to dip their paws in the water and leave some dirt behind. Because this bowl automatically refills itself once the water level drops below a certain threshold, there's no good way to separate and clean it since the water is always on. You need to move the refrigerator, turn off the water supply, and then disconnect the bowl. Quite a tall order for something that needs to be done every few days (at my house). My solution was to purchase and install a 1/4" to 1/4" needle valve (1st and 2nd photos) **Only on the pipe going directly to the bowl. **I installed it about 1ft from the bowl. . The needle valve allows me to turn off the water supply to the bowl without moving the fridge, so I can easily turn it off to wash. This part was a little tricky because the special 1/4" needle valve I bought was designed for thinner wall pipe. turned the water back on. What I ended up having to do - and it's a bit wonky - is, taking a drill with an 11/64" bit and drilling through both ends of the pipe on either side of the splitter so I can actually insert the brass inserts. After doing this and using some teflon tape I haven't had any needle valve leaks. Now I can just shut off the water supply to the bowl with the needle valve and detach the bowl to clean it. As I said, this is not the standard or recommended installation. If you choose to do so, it is at your peril and risk! Photo 3 - ready to install with a needle valve. Picture 4 is our three dogs who regularly drink from a bowl. Overall I'm very happy with this bowl. It's good to know that our pets always have fresh water. I'm taking off a star because I think it's a design flaw and because it doesn't feel as solid or sturdy as it should for the price. But it still fulfills the needs of my household, which I'm very happy about. highlighted.