APEC Water Systems WFS-1000 Super Capacity Premium Quality 3 Stage Under-Sink Water Filter System

I can only rate the taste of the water, not whether various impurities are gone. The water tastes very good. About as good as bottled water. We had been using a Brita pitcher which was working really good, but then the water quality in our area got a lot worse. I assume it is/was related to drought conditions. The water tasted horrible even with new Brita filters. This filter system fixed that, although I have to say that the water straight from the tap has improved some during the same time. Still pretty bad straight from the tap though. Our problem is with chemical tastes. I didn't want minerals removed, so reverse osmosis was out.This was extremely easy to install. A few people complained about the feed water adapter and I have to say that this is the weak link with the product. Mine didn't leak, but the needle valve was stuck. I did get the valve working fine, but I was a bit worried I was going to break the thing since it took some real effort. Other than the feed water adapter, everything was very straight forward to install and seems to be very high quality.Filter replacements are cheap and supposedly the filters last about a year. If not, I'll come back and ding this review a star.I recommend this product, but make sure you know if you just need a carbon filter (this system) or reverse osmosis (some other system) to address whatever problem you are having with your water. Note that this system uses two carbon filters. They are the same part. At first, I thought this is a gimmick. It is not. It results in the water having to go through more carbon area and improves the filtration results.

I'm experienced in using 2 to 3 stages and reverse osmosis systems going as far back as the 1990s. The key is to make sure to check your water district and the local municipal water supply consumer confidence report(s) yearly before determining to purchase the proper system. If you're using for your own well water supply, or tainted water supply from the water supplier, it's best to read up on the capacity of the models before purchasing. I'll dive right into things. The last model I had was the Aquasana 5300+ 3-stage. I purchased the unit 5 years ago, with spare new filters at $70 to replace. The filter cases leak due to warping. Not one, not two, but all three at the same time. What are the likely chances after the case replacement 2 years ago?Pros:1. 10% larger than the compact 3-stage Aquasana 5300+ unit. However, if you compare components side-by-side, you can see the robustness of this unit. The tell-tale signs are the metal mounting base and the thickness of the filter cases. You can see the differences immediately.2. Filters are larger and denser. Robustness is the word.3. Easy installation. The parts are practically married to the existing parts under the sink. I took it slow, used all the provided parts, and ensured total sealing during installation. Not even a drop of water dripped from any part. Knock on wood of course. It's been close to a month, and still not a drop of water anywhere. I learned my lessons from the Aquasana, and I placed a thin plastic bucket and water leakage alarm as I did for my water heater. Better to be safe than sorry with a tiny investment.4. The flow of the filtered water is phenomenal. Twice to thrice the volume of the Aquasana 5300+ in a given minute. I have to crank the cold water supply way down just to prevent the filtered water from jetting out like a hydrobeam.5. Long filters' lifespan. Aquasana's filters literally forced you to replace every 6 months, but I tend to delay things a bit longer after evaluating the filters for the prior years. The first stage filter turned completely yellow. Since the unit's filter is confident in lasting up to 12 months, we'll definitely need to see the claim. I'll be sending in the filters for testing to verify the bold claims.Cons:Yes, there are downsides to this but do read things through before making your decision.1. The faucet unit is not completely water-tight. What do I mean? The looseness of the faucet body is the downfall in allowing the water to bottom. When you plan on spraying down the sink to clean it, don't spray on the faucet body where the tube turns. A small amount of water will make it through the bottom. The base of the faucet body is not a problem at all. Perfectly sealed. I added silicone sealer to the base just in case during installation. No water can make its way through the bottom of the faucet unit's base.2. The higher the flow, the cloudier the water for the first few minutes. If you want that clear water without the cloudiness, turn the pressure down and allow the water to flow out slowly. We don't care. We just want fast water coming out. After sending the filtered water in for testing, we already know the filtered level.3. Taste can be a tad off for the new filters. Don't expect your water to taste plain and unflavored. It does have an odd light plastic and carbon (coal-like) taste at the start. However, that goes away in a few days of continual usage. We flushed the line for 15 minutes at max pressure the unit will allow (well below the 80 psi warning) before the first use as well.I'm happy with the unit so far. I'll update along the way if something goes wrong.

This is a decent water filter. This is the third similar filter I have purchased, the first one was a 2 chamber string/carbonunit that came from an eBay seller and it never stopped tasting like the plastic cannisters after several months.I replaced that with a Kenmore 2 chamber unit that worked fine but one of the chambers cracked and started leakingafter about 4 years. Sears discontinued that model.The Apec filter takes the same 9-3/4" cartridges that the othermodels use, which is nice if you have a stock of replacement filters like me. The installation was fairly easy, althoughthe adapters were not the same as shown in the manual. As with most plumbing projects, I had to go to the hardware store to buy parts to get it up and running. My setup already had a separate ball valve and 1/2" male pipethread connection, I had to buy a 1/2" female to female brass elbow and a 1/2" male to 1/4" brass compression adapter to connect to the filter's tubing inlet. I did not use the supplied needle valve.Compared to the Kenmore's 3/8" tubing, the water flow through the Apec's 1/4" tubing is a bit slower, it would benice if they used 3/8" tubing.The only other issue was mounting the filter, the flange had two slot-hole mounts, but they were behind thecannisters and mounted sideways. Vertical slot-holes would be much easier to work with since they could holdthe filter steady with gravity.I installed a small piece of wood that was spaced from the cabinet with washers and fits under the mounting flange.I installed another piece of wood that keeps the cannister bottoms in a vertical position. Now everything can belifted in and out with no tools, which will be nice when it's time to change the filters.Despite the various issues, the water tastes good and the quality of the filter is good so I would recommend itto others.