PUR 3-Stage Vertical Faucet Mount Chrome FM-3700B
by PUR
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of PUR 3-Stage Vertical Faucet Mount Chrome FM-3700B
Customer Review: No problems
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I've been using a Pur 2-Stage water pitcher for the last 10 or 12 years. I have come to trust the name to deliver contaminant-free, good-tasting water. This is my first faucet mounted 3-stage filter.
If you poke around on Pur's website [...], you can find the "NSF Certified Contaminant Reduction Claims" forms (at the bottom of the FAQ) for Pur's pitcher and faucet-mount filters. They appear very similar but there are differences. However, without expertise in water chemistry it's difficult to know if one is superior to the other. I know someone who owns both types and fills the pitcher with water that has been filtered by the faucet-mount! Whether that is sensible or like wearing suspenders and a belt, I don't know.
Mounting the FM-3700B is simplicity itself with one caveat. Unscrew your current aerator from the end of your faucet, use the appropriate Pur aerator/adapter (they supply several for all types of faucets) and then slide the filter on to it. It will click when it has seated correctly. Installation complete. The aerator/adapters that Pur supplies are all made of plastic and I wonder if at least some of the complaints about leaks developing shortly after the filter is put into service can be attributed to that. You MUST be *extremely* careful when you screw the aerator/adapter onto your faucet that you don't accidentally strip its soft plastic threads or you will have leaks.
When you divert water to the filter, water pressure will build up inside the filter. This forces the water through Pur's filter media and gives you faster flow than the trickle you would get from a pitcher's gravity flow. But if there are any leaks in the system, that same water pressure will find them.
The filter housing is fixed in the vertical position. Older Pur faucet filters that I have seen diverted water to the filter or bypassed it by rotating the housing up or down. This is now accomplished with a lever on the filter's side. The filter can swivel 360 degrees on the end of the faucet. If you have a tall "goose-neck" type faucet, you can swivel the filter under the goose-neck when you want it out of the way - like for washing dishes. Alternatively, the filter offers a quick disconnect option. Just press 2 opposing buttons, and the entire filter can be removed. When you want to replace it, just slide it back on to the aerator/adapter until you hear the click.
My filter has been in use for almost 1 month. I have not had any leaks or difficulties of any kind and I am completely satisfied with the FM-3700B's performance.
Customer Review: Prefer this to the horizontal version
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In the box:
1. The silver-toned plastic apparatus you're expecting
2. One cartridge that goes inside it
3. Four adapters and accompanying washers, for different faucets
4. Instructions
I have never owned a Pur device before, though of course I've used them in other people's homes. (Update: I have now tried both the horizontal and vertical versions of this. I like this one better.)
Adapter A worked for me, with my entirely standard and boring stainless steel faucet.
I found the unit a little confusing to open at first, in an "am I breaking this?" kind of way, but the pictures were good in illustrating the unit and the way I was supposed to turn the cover, and all was fine.
Cartridge in, cover closed, snap easily onto the faucet. Run for five minutes.
Minor point of confusion: how high the flow of water should be for that five minutes. But I put it at a low-medium rate, and I assume the five minutes are overkill anyway.
Our municipal water tastes funky, and I'm delighted to have this and the better tasting water. (It DOES taste better!)
Pros:
1. Clear instructions and easy installation.
2. Unit has multiple ways to get it out of your way. You can swivel it around easily and can also easily just pop it off the faucet if it's seriously in your way. (I gather that this is different from previous Pur designs, but have no first hand experience. The swiveling seems great and is definitely different from what I've seen before.)
3. There is a colored light that comes on to tell you the condition of the filter and when you need to change it. It starts out green and progresses through amber and red (which tells you that you should change the filter). The light is very handy.
4. As you expect with a Pur, there's a handy switch to turn the filtering off when you don't need it. (E.g., for handwashing or dishes.)
Cons:
0. none yet observed. It's just what I was hoping for.
Notes:
1. There's a one-year warranty on the main unit (30 days for the cartridges)... so you're probably covered anyway.
2. I have now tried both the horizontal and vertical versions of this, and to my surprise, I prefer this one (vertical orientation). It feels less in my way when there are dishes in the sink and I'm trying to get some water.
3. In our household of two people who both drink a lot of water, the filter lasted for about 2.5 months.
Customer Review: Good at first but breaks after a year.
Summary: 1 Stars
So this is my second PUR water filter mount. Both were this same model. Right out of the package they work great. It's not entirely necessary as our water is already clean out of the faucet, but it does remove any particulates that may reside in the distribution piping and home piping, as well as removing the chlorine residual that is in most tap water. After about a year, coincidentally just as the one year warranty expires, the valve that bridges between the faucet and the filter begins to degrade. Now even when the filter is turned off, water still flows through the valve and through the filter thereby dramatically decreasing the lifespan of the filter since water is always flowing through it. This is a POOR engineering design that should have been addressed by this company. This is the reason why I'm giving it one star. I figured my first filter was just a fluke, but this problem was confirmed yet again on my second filter.
My recommendation:
1) Go for a faucet mount that you don't have to physically turn to activate. I feel that the repetitive action of turning this up and down multiple times a day leads to premature fatigue of this product.
2) Don't worry so much about ancillary features like lights, etc. The filter is what you should be concerned about since this is what is polishing your water.
3) Look for NSF Certification. NSF 42 is for aesthetic effects. Even better is the NSF 53 is for removing health related contaminants. NSF 58 is for reverse osmosis filters which removes even more chemicals than the 53, however I feel this is a bit overkill for a home filter.
4) Go for a product that has at least a 3 year warranty. That way you don't have to keep spending $30+/- every year on the same darn product. I'm surprised that this product has a 5 year warranty when the same model in my local Home Depot only had a one year warranty.
After doing some more research, I've found this product here:
Bestfilters Countertop Superior Water Filter System - White - with 1 Micron Carbon Block Water Filter
Price isn't too bad and it is certified for NSF 53. The KX Matrikx PB1 filter has an ABSOLUTE pore size of 1 micron, which removes giardia and cryptosporidium as these guys are larger in size than 1 micron. Be careful of filters that claim a NOMINAL pore size of 1 micron as these can let 20-30% of particles greater than 1 micron through.
Hope this helps.
Customer Review: vertical or horizontal which to choose
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have tried both this vertical upright model and the horizontal low profile model. Both models offer the same great filtering and they do most definitely make your tap water taste much better. We have city water that is just horrible, I have trouble even brushing my teeth with it the chlorine is so strong. This filter made the water taste just fine, I was actually surprised how good it was.
As for which one to choose the vertical or the horizontal? I would only buy the horizontal lower profile one. My kitchen faucet is a moderately raised arch and I found that the vertical upright was in my way because the filter is too tall to swing away under the faucet, it only swings up to it leaving a big obstacle in your line of sight and in the way when washing bigger pots. I don't know of any faucet tall enough that this vertical model would swing underneath. Of the two designs I would only recommend the low profile horizontal model not this one. The horizontal offers the same filtration and actually seemed to have much better water pressure and best of all it swings away under the faucet so it is not in your way nearly as much. They both take some getting use too but the lower profile would be the one to get.
I like that a green light indicator flashes when you turn the lever on for filtered water letting you know it is still clean and safe. The filter is very easy to replace simply unscrew the capsule and stick a new one in. I was also able to find large discounted packages of filters at our local warehouse store.
We have been purchasing drinking water for the past year from a local reverse osmosis bottling place and while it tastes good there were some issues. Number one reverse osmosis takes everything out of the water which makes the water unusable by your body. My husband suffered a heat stroke last year shortly after we switched to r.o. water and was told by the doctor to add electrolytes because his body could not properly hydrate no matter how much he drank because all the minerals that make the water available to the body were stripped away. I had no idea why I was drinking so much and always still felt thirsty. I have not had that problem with this great PUR filter product!
Customer Review: 5 replacements-all broke
Summary: 1 Stars
Buyer beware! Theoretically the product sounds good. But when cracks developed within a couple months and water leaked/squirted out, we bought another one. We figured it was a fluke. We had not saved our packaging and receipt, so we could not get a replacement. (So be sure to save your package box and receipt, you will need them.) When the 2nd one broke too (more cracks, different place on the housing) we got a replacement (#3) that cost a little more from the store where we bought it. The replacement leaked right away and the lights stopped working. We thought maybe that model was inferior. We got another, more expensive model for our 4th replacement. It lasted 2 months then leaked, and the handle (on/off switch) broke as well. The leaks are in different areas, so I cannot say that there is only one problem area in these units. If hot water gets into the filter housing, your filter will be damaged. Now you've got a faucet-mount that leaks and your filter needs to be replaced too. In the 4th model we got that was more expensive -- the chrome plastic was flimsy, inferior to the cheaper model we had in white! Our attempts to contact Pur customer service got no answer. I am amazed we didn't give up yet; we thought the chrome plastic might have been the problem. We tried a 5th Pur faucet product, another white one, but then we started having trouble with our sink plumbing. Management sent a plumber and I took the filter off for the repair work. After the sink was fixed I left the Pur off for 2 months. Everything worked fine without the filter. I finally tried hooking up the Pur today and immediately there are 2 problems, 1 problem with hot water leaking into the Pur filter housing when the unit is "off", and the other problem is water leaking from the faucet when the Pur is supposed to be in the "on" position (when water should be completely diverted into the filter). The unit is installed "correctly" but these problems persist. I did a web search for Pur complaints and find there are years of complaints. Unfortunately it appears the Pur company owner (Proctor & Gamble) does not pay any attention to making their product work correctly. We will be lodging a complaint letter with the Better Business Bureau and ConsumerAffairs dot com. In my opinion a company should not be allowed to continue selling faulty merchandise to the public.