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By OR1ON
Posts:  276
Joined:  Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:53 pm
#69122
I just saw a commercial for this filter jug thing called "Zero Water" It really caught my eye because supposedly it filters water up to "0" ppm with a tds meter.

THis is their website... http://www.zerowater.com/

I haven't read everything about it and i dont know how much it costs plus how often/expensive the filters are but it looks like a bit of a cool idea for people that have lotsa VFT's but not much rain water around. Im gonna go and read all about it now.
By OR1ON
Posts:  276
Joined:  Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:53 pm
#69124
OK apparently theyre only $35 AND they come with a TDS Meter too! I think i have a next buy on my list...
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By Steve_D
Location: 
Posts:  3913
Joined:  Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:06 pm
#69132
The filters of ZeroWater have a limited lifespan. How expensive are they? In my location (220-250 TDS in the water) the ZeroWater website says to expect the filter to need changing after only 15 to 25 gallons of water, so it seems to me that the ongoing cost of filter replacement might be more of a concern than the initial cost of the ZeroWater unit.
By OR1ON
Posts:  276
Joined:  Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:53 pm
#69133
I looked it up and they sell 2 filters for 29.99 or 4 for 55.99 and it goes all the way up to 16 for 159.99
By OR1ON
Posts:  276
Joined:  Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:53 pm
#69134
It also says that you should replace the filter after the tds meter reads 006 but... isnt that still safe for VFT's? as along as its under 050?
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By Matt
Location: 
Posts:  22523
Joined:  Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:28 pm
#69144
OR1ON wrote:It also says that you should replace the filter after the tds meter reads 006 but... isnt that still safe for VFT's? as along as its under 050?
Yes, anything under 50ppm is definitely safe for VFTs. In fact, I think you can get away with 100ppm or so as long as you top water and let the water flow out to bottom of the pot (not into a tray) to minimize the amount of mineral build up in the soil.
By OR1ON
Posts:  276
Joined:  Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:53 pm
#69152
Hmmm... Well, it also comes with the TDS meter with it which alone is about a $20 value so... i just might head on over to wal-mart and probably buy me one of these babies. Saves me the trouble of having to drive to the water store to buy RO water. I made my calculations and it'd be a bit cheaper this way.
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By Steve_D
Location: 
Posts:  3913
Joined:  Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:06 pm
#69155
Here's are several of the many negative reviews of the ZeroWater pitcher and filters from a customer at Amazon.com. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from buying the ZeroWater system, but it doesn't hurt to read a few comments from people who have already bought one, right? :)
Each filter only lasted 5-6 days (8-10 gallons of water filtered) and then the water started to smell and taste like fish. If I had continued using zero water, it would have cost me $60-70 per month. I threw the zero water system away and am installing a reverse osmosis system.
You can get great tasting water with this for a few days. The filter started cracking after making a few gallons of water. The filter is very heavy. The reservoir is very small. You can filter water in small portions, and that takes for ever. Life span alone is enough to make you think twice about paying almost $40 for this product. Needs improvement.
I emailed them and let them know about the cracks, but no one responded to my email.
Don't buy. $38 pays for a lot of refills at the vending machine!!
We purchased this pitcher 3 weeks ago and it worked great! We were so excited that the meter read Zero.... for about 8 days. Then we noticed that the water started tasting rancid - sort of sour with a mild fishy smell. We were disgusted and thought that something was wrong with that particular filter. So we tried another... it too lasted about 8 days before we got that same horrible taste and smell again. We tested the water: 482!!! That was worst than our tap water! So we went online and finally began reading some reviews.

The ONLY people who rave about Zero Water are folks who only just bought it and have been using it less than a week. Everyone who has had this product for more than 10 days has complained about the very same sour taste and fishy smell. Don't waste your time or especially your money!!! You've been warned.
By Hayden
#69168
Hi Orion,

As Steve said, there are many bad reviews about 'zero water'. My ro unit cost me about £60, that means you wouldnt even get 3 goes with it, without paying up the cost of a zero water filter.

My ro gives me 0ppm, and only needs filters changing around every year.
By alabama
Location: 
Posts:  312
Joined:  Sat May 15, 2010 6:53 pm
#69182
alabama wrote:hate to agree but for the price of the zerowater + 2 filters you can get a 1 year setup on this baby it says a properly maintained one being 100 gda could go for 2 years before filter changing but the filter changing is only $40
http://cgi.ebay.com/100-GPD-Reverse-Osm ... 5adb8be53b
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By Steve_D
Location: 
Posts:  3913
Joined:  Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:06 pm
#69188
OR1ON wrote:It also says that you should replace the filter after the tds meter reads 006 but... isnt that still safe for VFT's? as along as its under 050?
That's true, but the TDS readings may go from 006 to over 050 to over 100 very soon after the filter has reached the limit of its short recommended lifespan.

From what I've read so far about the ZeroWater filters, they do a very good job at filtering out dissolved solids for the first few gallons, but when the filters are saturated, they may begin to dump some of those sequestered dissolved solids back into the water, which may mean that once the TDS reading begins to go up in gallon after gallon, they may go up very quickly until the total TDS might actually be higher than the tap water that goes into the filter because of all the previous soluble material that is introduced into the new, "filtered" water.

Just something to think about, that's all. :)
By masmith
Location: 
Posts:  190
Joined:  Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:02 pm
#69197
OR1ON wrote:Saves me the trouble of having to drive to the water store to buy RO water.
Yall have a "water store"???
By Hayden
#69214
Ive got a petrol station that sells it for £1 a litre, my Ro unit cost about £60. So I think ive worked out what the better deal is! Thats about $1.35
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By Jaws
Location: 
Posts:  1304
Joined:  Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:11 pm
#69226
masmith wrote:
OR1ON wrote:Saves me the trouble of having to drive to the water store to buy RO water.
Yall have a "water store"???
Most aquarium shops sell it (UK they do)

Local one to me 10p a litre

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