APEC Water Systems CB1-SED20-BB Whole House Sediment Water Filter 20" BB Home Filtration System

Just installed so this is based on first impressions. Will update with longer term review.Pull up a chair- this is going to be one of my longest reviews.First, I decided to get this system because it claims to have filters that only need to be changed once per year. Also it has almost twice the daily volume of the 50gpd system.Using a TDS meter, my tap water is around 360 to 340TDS. Ouch - that's very high. Min standards for city water is 400ppm for TDS so this is right below the limit. To compare, distilled water purchased locally has a TDS of about 120 ppm. Some bottled water I had handy was about 30 ish.Installation -Effort: I would rate this as easy for people who've installed things like a sink disposal. My only tools I needed were two adjustable wrenches. Make sure you have a stubby handle adjustable wrench with wide jaws. If one has never installed anything under one's sink then it might be seen as medium easy.What will make this more difficult is deciding and drilling the hole for the faucet. I have a corian/synth marble top so I'm nervous about drilling. Have not done it yet. Many people will have an existing accessory hole so that will make for a much easier install.Time: I took my time and double/triple checked for leaks. Very important. I found a few and had to make some adjustments. It took about an hour. But keep in mind I have yet to drill and install the faucet or waste line (more on that later). I did connect everything up and ran the waste line into a 7.1 liter bowl.The three large main filters need to be unwrapped and installed. All the other filters are pre-installed. What caused me to pause a bit was that the three main filters (sediment pre filter and the two carbon block filters) when placed in the screw on housings, prior to screwing them on; the filters rattle around. There's a good space around each filter. The filters are about an inch smaller in diameter than the inside of the housings. Also I was not quite sure how this would align to the inside of the top portion. I should have taken pics of this. Judging from how it operates after putting it all together I am thinking it must self align. Although there might be potential for mis-aligned filters.I hand tightened the 3 main filters and then snugged them with the supplied wrench.I opted to not use the wall mountings as I would like to keep the filter unit in a small basin as protection against any potential leaks and for monitoring such. That being said - I observed no leaking from anywhere so far. It's only been about 3 hours since I installed it.After assembling the system and connecting it to the cold water supply. One turns on the needle valve to supply and fill the filter and tank. I suppose one could pre-charge the system with filtered water but I let it fill as normal. There was quite a bit of air in the system and I bled that out through the faucet which I had connected but have not drilled and placed into the counter. The first liter of water was blackish due to the carbon dust from the filter.WASTE Water Ratio - OK this was one of my primary concerns. I read here and there people saying this system wastes water. Well, yes - but not on a constant basis. Here's what I found out. For me- as the system and tank filled, the Waste water ran out pretty quickly from the black tube. I timed and measured this. The manual said expect to take 2 to 3 hours during which time the waste water outlet tube will run constantly until the RO filter stops the flow when the 4 gallon pressurized tank is full.I started filling at 11:32 and the waste water tube was filling up 7.1 liter stainless steel bowls at a rate of about 9 to 10 minutes per bowl.At 12:36 the waste water stopped flowing into the bowl. According to the manual - if one has higher water pressure it takes a shorter time to fill/charge the system+tank. So, my water pressure must be a bit higher than 60psi. They also note that if one has lower than 40psi, the system could run all the time meaning waste water would continually drain out and that would be a huge waste of water.WATER PRESSURE NOTE- One should probably test their water pressure before buying this or any other RO filter. Also, if / when water pressure in the house supply drops that will cause the RO filter to open up and your water bill will go up due to water being constantly wasted through this system UNLESS you shut it off except when you are getting filtered water.ALL RO Filters have a ratio of filtered water to "wasted" water. This is because the filter lets by purified water and blocks the contaminants which are carried by the "waste" water.HOW MUCH WATER IS WASTED? So - manual says to drain the first tank. Don't drink the first tank of water. Says that will take about 5 minutes. I drained the system by using the faucet in fully open position. It took about 9 minutes and filled about 2 bowls of 7.1 liters until the water from the faucet slowed to a trickle. So about 14 liters of filtered water. During this time I ran the waste/drain black line to another 7.1 liter bowl. The waste bowl filled up about 4 liters. I shut off the faucet and the system started to re-charge itself. During this time, the waste water drain line continued to flow and I kept close track of this. I ran my stop watch app. Each time the 7.1 liter bowl filled, I registered a lap. First lap / 7.1 liter bowl took about 9min33sec. The second lap / 7.1 liter bowl took about 11:30. Third took 12:07 etc. So the waste water flow was slowing as the tank filled.The waste water stopped flowing at 59minutes and some seconds. About 2:06 into "lap 6". SO - that means 5 whole bowls + about 1/3. Plus about 4 liters of waste water that was produced during the 9 minutes / 14 liters of filtered water "used".To sum up - for the first 14 liters of Filtered Water, my system "wasted" about 6x7.1 liters of water. So ratio is 14 Liters of Filtered Water to 42.6 Liters of "wasted" water. Remember, the system has stopped draining any water since the 4 gallon tank has charged.This means my system with my water pressure will use 3 gallons of water for every 1 gallon of filtered water. This sounds like a massive amount but consider that this is for drinking and most people consume about 1 gallon / person / day. So for an average family of 3 drinking 3 gallons of filtered water per day will also waste / use an extra 9 gallons per day x 30 days = 270 extra gallons per month. For me I use about 2 gallons per day for drinking and cooking so that's only 6 gallons per day more than normal use = 180 gallons extra use per month. NOT Bad and probably not enough to spike or increase my water bill. We'll see.UPDATE - Purchased a 1/2 inch Bosch BlueTurbo Granite Carbide bit to cut through my cultured marble top. WOW. This is tough stuff. Took about an hour to drill through about 2 inches of the counter top. TIP - use a smaller carbide bit 1/8 inch to start the hole to prevent any wandering of the larger bit. Then, use a 1/4 inch bit to widen the hole. Then I used the 1/2 inch bit to go about another inch. Then I went back to the 1/8 and bored all the way through. Then the 1/4 inch through and finished off with the 1/2 inch bit. The Bosch 1/2 inch bit cost about $10 so budget that into your installation and was worn out after. Drilling through a stone/marble counter top increases the difficulty of installation. I would not relish the thought of drilling any more holes through that stuff.

I am impressed we bought in January it took some time to find someone to install but it's in and it works so good i now have clear water when it was a iron rust brown it doesn't taste bad and we feel clean I did add a uv light unit too softner set up great product for your money 5 stars blessed

A lot of good descriptive reviews here, I'll add mine here but will focus on my perspective as someone living in Israel.Israel is an arid country which in recent years made a big transition to desalination. The national water company (called "Mekorot") is using >50% desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea mixed with about 25% water taken from the Galilee sea (which is actually a fresh water lake) and the rest comes from mountain and coastal plain aquifer. Water then travels in the "national conduit" to various regions in Israel.The water in Israel are heavily treated, mostly because the national conduit is an open system, i.e. water travel in big pipes that are open to air and elements (e.g. rain water), but also because aquifer can become polluted with industrial waster and fertilizers, so does the Galilee sea.Also chlorine is added and recently fluoride as well. not to mention whatever is picked up from pipes until it reaches the kitchen tap.Local mineral water companies (with strong brands) draw from fountains in mountainous areas and bottle onsite, but are exposed to the same contamination of aquifer. For instance, one very strong brand I examined had 3 times of what considered (in the U.S) the max safe concentration of nitrates.I hope I'm successful so far at convincing you why water filtration is important in Israel.Now comes the question, what are the options? for most people in Israel who don't want to research too much it's these:1. water pitcher filters, like Brita2. Tami4 - a water bar that combines carbon filter with UV lamp3. bottled water, e.g. mineral water4. there are some local vendors who install advanced water filtration systems like Everpure or some Reverse Osmosis systemsNext, why I think all of the above options are either not sufficient or cost effectivewater pitcher filter - relatively cheap but only filters chlorine and stops some sediments like dust. you're still exposed to a lot of chemicals and heavy metals in the waterWater bar vendors - VERY high initial investment (~$1000) and high maintenance (~$150 year), not to mention if their equipment breaks you have to pay for repair. Also it's merely a carbon filter with a UV lamp, with some cold/hot function. I really don't think it's worth the money, especially since the UV lamp is there to kill the germs that grow in the machine itself. important to realize the due to the chlorine and UV treatment by the national water company, small chance of bacteria to survive in Israel's normal tap water.Bottled mineral water - relatively expensive, need to carry from supermarket, or pay a monthly fee to the vendor to deliver to your house. Also not eco friendly (plastic), exposed to aquifer contamination (almost zero regulation and testing by government) and some say under heat conditions plastic can dissolve into the water.But most importantly, from TDS meter readings I've made, tap water and mineral water have the same TDS levels, while unlikely that healthy mineral concentration (e.g. calcium, magnesium, potassium) is any different. In some brands mineral water TDS was even much higher than normal tap water.Local Reverse Osmosis Vendors - at best they are importers who lock you in high maintenance fees. worst case they import cheap chinese systems. You pay a premium for them to import, install and maintain the system for you.I chose APEC RO-90 after hours and hours of research. It's very important for me to say APEC did NOT ask me to write this review and I'm doing it because I think their product and service is amazing and I'd like to give back.Even after shipping and Israeli customs fees, the RO-90 was cheaper and more cost effective than any of the alternatives I specified.What I really like1. packaging was excellent and the product is robust, The system was intact and I had no worry about that.2. installation was very easy, everything just connects beautifully. I installed it in a few hours (I like to read the manual very thoroughly)3. water tastes great, even my pregnant wife who is very sensitive to tastes said she liked it4. TDS went down from 260ppm (tap water) to 15ppm (after RO-90 treatment)5. the included tap is elegant and fits nicely on our kitchen counter6. system is VERY quiet, can't hear it7. customer service is really good, I already talked to them twice about questions I had, they respond really quickly and their reps are knowledgeable.8. maintenance is cheap considering the other options, and I have full control over the process.What I don't like1. the installation guides needs to be more specific about first run - you shouldn't drink first 2-3 tanks, open the tap and let them drain.2. the feed water adapter should come with more options, I had to buy 1/2'' to 3/8'' adapter to make it work with my pipes - cost me another $10What still needs to be tested1. my water bill, but I checked in my house water gauge that the system stops working once the tank is full, so I'm Ok for now.2. TDS measures at 15-25ppm at the moment, customer service promised it will go down even further, although I'm fine with that level as well.All in all, I'm am very happy with this product. water quality is excellent and it gives me peace of mind I've made a cost effective and healthy choice.Final note:During my internet research on the long term health concerns of reverse osmosis water I've made some interesting discoveries. This is a long subject and I believe I researched it well enough to make an educated decision. I'm tempted to post my thoughts about it here but this review seems long as it is. perhaps some comments might convince me to update this review with some key learnings. For the time being I would like to say this:Almost all resources you'll find on negative long term health effects of reverse osmosis water are based on the World Health Organization research from the 80's. That research had some notable flaws in it and it tends to dramatize concerns. I believe that for people living in western countries and use home reserve osmosis system most of those concerns are not relevant. Reverse osmosis water are safe to drink, especially if you consider the alternatives.

If you are looking for good value and great quality - you found what you are looking for. We bought this system after ours broke right after moving to our new home. This system was easy to install (we did it ourselves and saved a lot of money compared to the $6k quote we got from the water company).It’s compact as compared to our old system, and it works great to support our 3 bathrooms and all appliances.The osmosis system produces great tasting water (we have a well) and it truly takes away the taste of iron.