Watts WP5-50 Premier Five-Stage Manifold Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment System
by Watts
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Watts WP5-50 Premier Five-Stage Manifold Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment System
Customer Review: Well Suited for Hydroponic Gardening, With Some Caveats
Summary: 4 Stars
For an aspiring indoor hydroponic vegetable gardener like Your Humble Narrator, a source of clean water is essential. Here in suburban Salt Lake City, we are blessed with some of the dirtiest water in the country. Using this meter: pH-EC-TDS Meter my tap water clocks in with a pH of 8.2-8.4 and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) reading of 300-350 ppm (parts per million). This review specifically addresses the suitability of the Watts WP5-50 reverse osmosis system to the task of providing a water supply for the home hydroponic gardener.
I've used other filtration devices, like straight carbon filters, and have been disappointed. Yes, they do remove sediment and some contaminants, however the drinking water never genuinely tasted "clean". Moreover, taking the testing meter to this water, and the TDS reading never went below 280 ppm which is unacceptable for hydroponic growing. After doing some research, I concluded that the only option was reverse osmosis.
Package Inspection
Out of the box everything looked okay with the exception of the faucet, which, as other reviewers have noted, is a cheaper version of the displayed product.
Installation
Installation was straightforward. The instructions, while not written by an English professor were sufficient albeit vague in a few critical places. I had the unit installed within two hours.
Waste Water, Output Water Quality and Quantity
My three biggest concerns with this product are output water quality, output water quantity and waste water production. Bear in mind that all of these are dependent upon the quality and pressure of your incoming water supply, which can change from season to season as well as from one time of day to another. Take a certain degree of comfort in knowing that my incoming water is probably worse than yours.
I have not yet connected the waste water tube to the sink's drain. Rather, the waste water tube is currently draining into an 18-gallon bucket so I can take measurements for the purposes of this review. To leave this setup in this manner is a code violation. I suggest that you connect your unit properly.
The amount of waste water this unit produces is staggering. For each gallon of clean water, I produce an additional 6.5 gallons of waste water. I have come to understand that I will experience a similar ratio regardless of the reverse osmosis unit I use. This phenomenon is a consequence of RO technology in general rather than a peculiarity of this particular unit. As I've suggested, the amount of waste water produced is proportional to how contaminated your incoming water supply is.
The output water quality is excellent. TDS (total dissolved solids) are 15-20 ppm, which is ideal for hydroponic growing. Any purer than that brings you into the realm of distilled water, which would need to be supplemented with minerals to be suitable for hydroponic use. Output water quantity is sufficient although disappointing. It produces one gallon in about 90 minutes. Higher water pressure and cleaner incoming water will decrease this time. The storage tank, although it has a physical capacity of three gallons, drains to empty after drawing two gallons. I consider this is a consequence of the technology, not a case of misleading advertising.
Summary
The Watts WP5-50 reverse osmosis water treatment system is well suited to the task of providing contaminant-reduced water for the purposes of hydroponic growing. It produces clean water in sufficient quantity for the purposes of a home hydroponic garden. Insofar as the waste water is concerned, for the time being, I'm leaving the waste tube in that eighteen gallon bucket. I'm using that water for my lawn.
June 20, 2009 - Important Update
Several weeks ago, our city's water changed for the worse. I'm assuming that it's because of a switchover to summertime procedures where water consumption is considerably heavier. Incoming water is now 800-900 ppm of Total Dissolved Solids. The unit's output water quality is 80-100 ppm which is still in the "good" range. It now produces roughly twelve gallons of waste water for each gallon of clean water is generates. The lesson here is that water quality can dramatically change from one season to another, as well as from one time of day to another.
Customer Review: Easy install, air gap faucet is loud though
Summary: 4 Stars
Installation was rather easy. Some things worth noting:
- Make sure your sink has a hole to accommodate the faucet before getting the unit. I thought my kitchen sink did, but it was just a cover for a 3/8" hole in the stainless steel instead. Not so useful. If you go with a knock-out hole punch for stainless steel expect to pay quite a bit. Harbor Freight has the cheapest one I've found, but it has very mixed reviews. You could probably also get by with a step drill bit, but again they have mixed reviews for stainless steel.
- The main directions claim you need a 1 1/4" hole for the faucet, but the directions on the faucet box state you only need a 7/8" hole. I decided to do something in the middle and created a 1" hole which worked just fine and gave me a little working room.
- The faucet directions mentioned a rubber gasket for the underside which my box did not have. It did instead have a lockwasher that was not mentioned in the directions. Not a huge deal since I know what's going on and got it secured either way.
- Besides making the hole in the counter top and one in the drain pipe, a screwdriver and a pair of wrenches everything else needed is in the box (including some teflon tape, which is only needed on the tank threads).
- When tightening everything it seems very arbitrary how tight to make a number of the connections. Some say tight, others say not too tight. It all seems like a bit of guesswork.
- After getting everything connected the first time pressurizing the system I found that the o-ring around the first stage had not been properly installed and it started spraying water rather quickly. After a quick decompression I used the included wrench to remove the stage, dump out the water, and situate the o-ring properly and retighten. That was the only leak I encountered with the unit.
I also purchased the Rainbird water pressure gauge and measured just over 70psi at an outdoor faucet. These systems seem very dependent on water pressure so it made sense to spend a bit more and deal with the pressure accordingly earlier rather than later. Fortunately for me I have the ideal pressure already so now I just have another tool I'll probably rarely need.
After pressurizing the unit and it started producing water from the faucet I noticed the air gap is VERY loud, well very loud to me anyways. The best description I have is it sounds like someone is frying something in a pan with a lid mostly covering it. I currently put a piece of tape over the gap and it pretty much muffles all the noise. I know the gap is there to prevent siphoning, but that's only if the drain was clogged (and mine definitely is not). I read elsewhere that it sometimes helps to tip the unit so that the output is toward the top to purge any air from the system to reduce the air gap variability in sound, but this didn't seem to make any difference. I also read another possible solution (that may or may not meet code) is to instead install a check valve and pipe the output directly to the drain. I think this will be my long-term solution once I get around to buying the parts to make the change.
So far this unit seems to live up to its capacity claims. Within 2 1/2 hours the first cycle had completed and the tank was full. I emptied maybe a cup under 3 gallons before the pressure dropped to a trickle for the second cycle. Took between 2 and 2 1/2 hours for the second full cycle and again just under 3 gallons. Didn't get to it as often to check the third full cycle, but I measured the same volume again from the tank. Overall the volume and generation rate is acceptable for my use. The system comes with one water test kit for nitrates/nitrites and my water measured 0 for both (almost too good to believe). Water tastes great, but I'm mainly using it for a couple humidifiers I got tired of dealing with scaling.
Overall, installation was easy (after you get over the fact that you're drilling a hole in your perfectly good sink), it's worthwhile to check the stages for proper assembly before pressurizing the first time, the air gap could be improved for less noise, and at least in my case with proper pressurization I get reasonable output from this system.
Customer Review: I hate this system!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have had this system for several years and I urge you to consider whether you want to be as miserable as I am using it. It is difficult to install, costs at least $50-$75/year in new filters and makes a huge mess every time you change the filters, which must be done twice a year on average.
Picture this - to change the filters, you have to shut your kitchen down to make room for all the flooding water and mess that is about to take place. You then take the housing off 3 separate filters which are full of water and immediately spill all over your cabinets and floor. The filter package may come with a cheap plastic wrench to get the housing off, but mine broke last week in the middle of my trying to replace the filters. I called Watts Premier and they offered to send me out a replacement cheap plastic wrench - in 2 weeks. Since my kitchen was torn apart and I needed to replace the filters NOW, Watts suggested that I use an oil filter wrench, which I was fresh out of.
I went to Lowes to buy one and it worked, but it ruins the plastic filter housing by cutting into the housing to loosen it. I'm sure your wife will be as pleased as mine is with frequently having her kitchen torn apart, water soaked cabinets, water soaked towels used to attempt to limit the water damage and the huge mess it creates in the kitchen as mine is every time I do this.
Frequently, the water line clogs with junk and must be snaked with a wire coat hangar. Of course, when this happens, you have to shut your kitchen down again and make a huge mess. Also, the alleged 3 gallon storage tank loses air pressure over time so that you get almost no water out. The way to fix that is buy taking apart your kitchen again and shutting it down, and using a bicycle pump to repressurize the tank.
Guess what, kids? It doesn't repressurize! Why? Because the air bladder inside the tank has too much water in it and the bladder can't be filled with air. So you have to disconnect the tank, take it outside and drain it, reconnect it and try putting more air into the tank. This is so much fun that I can't wait to destroy the kitchen again, but I'm sure that it won't be long before something else breaks down and i will have another chance.
The maintenance on this imbecile-certified design in unending. I am so sorry I bought this dysfunctional piece of trash and I hope that if you want a system that works, you will look elsewhere. I have complained repeatedly to Watts Premier, but they don't care. They won't replace this with something that works nor will they give me my money back.
I tried posting a similar review on Watts' own website, but they refused to post it because they only want you to read favorable reviews. Even if you read their favorable reviews, if you read between the lines, you will see that this system requires constant maintenance and plenty of Valium to deal with the mess and destruction.
Customer Review: Exactly what we needed
Summary: 5 Stars
What my wife and I were looking for was a system that would filter our well water so that we could actually drink it. Like many areas, we had a fairly heavy smell of rotten eggs and it was impossible for us to drink our water out of the tap. This system really did the trick. My wife says that it tastes better than bottled water and no more rotten egg smell. So on that basis, I give it 5 stars. I should also tell you that we use about 2 to 3 gallons a day between beverages, water for the dogs and cooking and we have never run dry.
However, there are a few things to be aware of and our experience was not flawless. First, when I installed the system as instructed and turned the water on, water spewed everywhere. It turns out that both 1/4" tubing push connectors on the system were missing o-rings. So check for o-rings before you turn the water on. However, Watts Premier CSR was easy to contact, responsive and immediately shipped out replacement parts. Within a week, we were up and running.
As I said, I installed the system as per instructions. You need to be aware that whenever the reservoir tank is filling, the unit discharges some waste water into your drain. The instructions have you installing it above the trap under your sink. I did this and the trickle echoed though the entire first floor of our house. It would have driven us mad I think. Fortunately for us, I was able to run a length of tubing to a waste line in our basement and the problem was solved. All we hear now is a barely audible gurgle at the faucet itself.
My last comment is about long term maintenance. Unlike many other systems on the market, this unit requires very minimal maintenance. I could have gotten a system for $100 less at our local home center, but I would have been changing out filters every month. I don't mind doing the work, but when you add up the cost of all those filters (not to mention the environmental impact), it gets pretty expensive over the course of a year. This system recommends doing maintenance every six months. I estimate that in two years I will have made back that $100 and then some.
Customer Review: Practical things to know about this and other RO systems
Summary: 4 Stars
The only major problem is that the faucet is cheapo chromed plastic. I bought a nice brushed nickle one at Lowes.
Filter price is nice. $40 on amazon for a 7 filter pack good for one year. They are standard filters too so you don't have to buy Watts replacements. You will have to spend $65 more every 2-5 years for the membrane.
Not too hard to hook up if you don't have to cut a hole in your sink. Lots of connections to make. Make sure you only use teflon tape where the instructions specify it.
Fast water flow. Tank takes hours to fill. Unless you need more than a bucket full within a few hours you wont run out of fast clean water.
Tank is a little shy of 12" x 16". It fits behind the drain pipes of my sink, but I had to remove the bottem of the cabinet (which was warped and water damaged anyway so due for replacement) to get it past the pipes. Would have fit in front, but didn't want to loose the space.
Wattspremier web site has a FAQ if you need more info:
RO wastes water, but I used to waste water by running the water for a bit before filling my glass.
Iron is bad for a RO membrane. You can buy a TDS water tester on ebay for about $20 to monitor how well the membrane is doing.
Water pressure should be 40-85 psi. Pump or pressure relief valve may be required otherwise.
You should sanitize an RO system yearly with a little bleach.