4-Gallon Countertop Gravity Water Filter System - Portable Alkaline Filtration System - Enjoy Clean and Mineral-Rich Hydration at Home, Office, or Travel

At first assembly looks a bit complicated with all the parts but the diagram shows where all the components go, so it is really simple to put together. Just go one step at a time. Have some tips at the end of this review. I live in the city with chlorinated water but the filtered water tastes great. I drink more water than I had before. I don't use the mineral rocks because I prefer the taste of the water without them. Price is reasonable because it's BPA-free plastic and not stainless steel but I don't move it around much so no problem. If the tank was glass, it'd be more expensive; glass is more fragile than plastic; and the unit would be heavier to slide. The clear plastic it looks better than steel and the filter price is reasonable as well.There's a great review at http://www naturalnews com/047620_water_filter_lab_tests_arsenic_removal.html (if you copy this address, insert periods where there are blank spaces.) and Zen water was one of two water filter systems which tested out best by far! Zen filter performance was excellent and took out almost all of the bad contaminants. I was shocked at the results of Pur & the other name brand filters since their results were poor! Since the Zen filter doesn't take out fluoride, I checked the source of my water thru EPA gov and found I had no worries about fluoride levels here.TIPS: To take the mineral rocks out of the plastic container, use a flat head screwdriver and push it into the edge of the cover and the plastic will bend so you can easily pry the cover off. When following the instructions, do several things at once and you'll save time: Boil the mineral rocks for 15 minutes, pass faucet water thru the 5 stage filter (save the waste water for plants), and soak the dome filter (put something heavy to sink it because it floats) at the same time. Doing those steps all at once might save you 1/2 hr. Scrubbing the dome filter takes only a 2 or 3 minutes. After the rocks boil 15 minutes, take them out to cool. While they are cooling, wash the containers and parts. Then take the dome filter out of the water and scrub it well under running water (a few minutes should be enough) Assemble according to the instructions/ diagram. First time filtering the water may take 4 - 5 hrs but the filtering will go faster. Filter one or two times and water the plants with that water. (eventually filtering will take about 2-4 hours for a full tank) If you CAREFULLY lift the top container up, you'll see the water will drip 1 and a half drops per second. It seems crazy but the dripping is fast enough once the bottom container of filtered water is full because you develop a simple routine of filling the top container once a day BEFORE the bottom one is half empty. (I fill it approximately the same height of water that is missing from the bottom reservoir.) The 4 gallon container should be plenty for a family of four (there are bigger sizes you can order.) If the water filter slows down, scrub the dome filter again and the filtering will speed up.You'll figure out when to top off the top tank. Keep tanks out of the sun. If the Zen water system is too tall to fit under the cupboard cabinets with the bottom ring, simply take the ring off and the bottom tank will sit on the counter. You can order replacement parts directly thru the company or Amazon. Improvements: put a rubber band on the faucet lever to prevent slipping. Wish list: wish there were gradients of water volume on the tanks so you can gauge how much water is present and how much water is left. (depends also on whether you add the mineral rocks or not)

I will start by stating that I am not an employee of Zen, nor do I have any affiliation with them and am not receiving any form of payment or renumeration from them.I have well water which contains iron particles and sulphur (rotten egg) smell at times. The water is pre-filtered, as it comes into the house, using a 5 micron sediment filter, then through a water softener. The water at the tap still contains small particles of iron (which does not get trapped by the 5 micron sediment filter) and occasional sulphur smell. The PH of the water at the tap is acid, in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 on the acid PH scale. The reason for purchasing the Zen water condititioning/filtering unit was because of the obvious iron residue after pre-filtering and softening and the metallic taste in the tap water, which affected coffee and tea making and made the tap water unpleasant to drink. The unpleasant metallic taste in our tap water affected the boiling food items such as pasta and potatoes, which absorb a lot of water. Because of this, we began using bottled water for cooking, coffee and tea making and drinking. This was getting quite expensive as well as the monumental hassle of carrying several gallons of water from the store to home each week. This is what prompted us to investigate water filtration systems. After thorough evaluation of many different systems, we decide that the Zen or Berkey would suit our needs. We opted for the Zen because the only difference seemed to be the fact that the Berkey would filter viruses (and the obvious cost difference). Since we don't live off-grid, nor drink from streams, lakes or ponds, we decided that we did not need the level of filtration from the Berkey. Our water is potable, except for the above stated reasons.After our Zen filter arrived, we thoroughly read through the instructions. The set up took about 30 minutes or so. We flushed through two full cycles of filtered water as instructed then tasted the water. There was no iron taste, nor was there any sulphur smell. The water was very good. The Zen filtering system worked exactly as advertised. In days subsequent, we used only the filtered water for drinking, coffee and tea. Also, we used only the filtered water for cooking. The taste of all items was definitely improved and no longer had that unpleasant metallic flavor. Even the our cake, bread and pizza dough (a major ingredient is water) was greatly improved to the point where we could taste the difference in the finished product.There are some reviews which complain about leaking spigots and 5 stage filter. In the case of the spigot, I'm sure it's possible to receive a faulty product, but I have found that dealing with Zen directly, they have a great customer service department. I was careful to assemble the spigot using properly the gaskets supplied. I have no issue with a leaky spigot. It does not leak.In the case of the 5 stage filter leaking, Initially, I had some difficulty in screwing the filter on to the filter ring so that it would not leak. I used some plumber's teflon tape. While it made screwing the filter onto the filter ring much easier, it did not totally prevent leaking. I thought that some type of washer or gasket between the filter and ring would work, however, since I was not able to find a pre-made washer or gasket of sufficient size at my local hardware store, I purchased a small sheet of gasket material. Using the filter as a template, made a gasket to fit the filter. Now it seals perfectly. The only other way the filter can leak is the following: The water in the top tank must be filtered through a .2 to .5 micron ceramic filter, which drips the water into a recess in the top of the 5 stage filter. As long as the water flows through the 5 stage filter at the proper rate (more quickly than the ceramic filter) the recess in the top of the 5 stage won't over flow and cause a leak around the filter ring. The flow rate through the 5 stage filter can be slowed by the small particles inside the filter settling, thereby causing the water dripping through, to become restricted. When this happens, I simply remove the 5 stage filter from the tank and rap it against my hand several times to shift the granules. When I do this, I notice an immediate increase in the flow of water through the 5 stage filter. Other than that, I have had no negative issues with the Zen filtering system. It works exactly as advertised. After using it for a few weeks, I am very happy with it. My water no longer has a metallic taste and the PH has increased to between 7 and 8 using standard water testing reagent.