ZeroWater 22-Cup Ready-Read 5-Stage Water Filter Dispenser with Instant Read Out - 0 TDS for Improved Tap Water Taste - IAPMO Certified to Reduce Lead, Chromium, and PFOA/PFOS

2025/02/21 Update:Today marks the to-date anniversary since this pitcher has been operational. So far I am onto my 7th filter (currently showing 3 ppm). So each have lasted an average of approx. 50 days. The longest I got was the 5th one for about 74 days, when I changed my refrigerator filter, which dropped the water quality to 75 ppm from 120 ppm. The shortest one has been the 6th one for 26 days, since for the last 2 months we have had extended family staying with us so the usage has almost tripled.The spigot is still working, despite of being flimsy, there are no issues with the pitcher, which I wash once every 4 to 5 months especially the lid with diluted vinegar. I am yet to notice a bad filter as some other reviewers have stated.Original Review:Background:I am a big fan of Project Farm channel on YouTube. The gentleman not only tests competitive products with innovative tests and procedures, but also refuses to be sponsored and buys all the products himself based on comments from public. He also divides qualitative and quantitative scores to recommend an overall winner. So when his test results showed the ZeroWater filter comparable to $300 products, we decided to purchase it.The size of container may vary based on your needs. We decided to get the 32-cup one based on the price and usage. We use about 1 to 1.5 gallons of water a day. Since we bought this in February, we are currently onto our 4th filter, with each lasting on an average 50 days till the TDS goes above recommended 6 ppm.Pros:1. Price - both for the container and the replacement filters. We bought the initial setup for about $25. The replacement 6 unit filter cost us $55 on sale at Target. Subscribe and Save here costs about $70, which is $12/unit. For our usage of 50 - 75 gallons, it ends up being roughly 16 to 24 cents per gallon.2. Filtration - it indeed has a TDS of 0 ppm when new. I verified it with a calibrated meter, which matched with the supplied meter. In fact, the filter maintains its level of 0 ppm up to 5 weeks, and then starts dropping in efficiency rapidly.3. Installation and removal of the filter is easy. No need to saturate the filter for a few minutes before using it as some other filters do.4. Taste of water is good, it is slightly sweet. The water does not have any odor.5. The container came very well packaged with clear instructions, not that they are needed. However, it is important to know how to initiate the filter, given as mentioned, some may need to be saturated.6. The container seems to be of decent quality.Cons:1. The spigot seems flimsy, not that it has broken, but don't force it to open.2. The lid has sliding mechanism to put water in top, which can collect dust and sludge beneath it.3. It can be addictive, as you can drink more water - not a bad thing.Things to Watch:The filter has very small opening at the bottom. As a result, the flow is very slow. So if you want filtered water pronto, then you have to plan.Also, I recommend to not empty the container beyond the bottom of the filter. It seems like the air gets trapped into it making the filter difficult to work. I threw my second filter even though it was showing 0 ppm. If you do notice the slowdown and if the water quality is still below 6 ppm, I recommend to directly pour water on top of the filter from 12 to 15 inches. This seems to have worked for me. Since, then, every week for one refill I do that just to flush air and try not to empty the container too much.Another thing to increase life is to double filter with water from the refrigerator. Since those filters are mostly joke (our refrigerator filter drops the TDS to 125 from the background of 140), it will at least enhance some of the life. Other method would be to use used ZeroWater filter and a smaller container and pour from that, till the TDS goes close to 50 ppm or so.Bottomline:Given the issues with microplastics, lack of recyclability, lax regulations for water quality, we have pretty much reduced our usage of bottled water after this unit. We use it for all our potable needs. Add to that the cost of $0.20 per gallon with a good tasting water, you cannot beat that. This is a good quality filtration system.

After doing the research, this was the one which I found to have the maximum filtration while I am living in an apartment. In a home you own, your best bet is an under the sink or whole-house reverse osmosis system. However, for a whole lot less, you can get this with pretty much the same water quality! That's quite astounding given the price differential (thousands versus a hundred or two). Nevertheless, this system takes more work in terms of:* Vigilance - you'll have to use the TDS monitor provided with purchase to see how the filter is doing* Keeping the water levels full in the container as you use it* Keeping new filters on handAfter reading the reviews, I realized that the filter would last maybe a month given my usage (about 1 gallon a day for one person). I use it for both drinking and cooking. Before this I was lugging multi-gallon containers from the water store to home every week. The price was okay though has been going up. I was paying may $400 a year for water. Now it's more like $250 in the first year, and it will be less in ensuing years because I won't be buying any new pitchers, just filters.My tap water here in Florida tests out at 300 particles (ppm). Anywhere you live, there will be additives, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and heavy metals - even on well water because the aquifers are now contaminated. Flouridation (terrible for the organs), is another factor if you use city water. I have used filtered water exclusively for 30 years. I had a very good Culligan system installed under my kitchen sink at home, but as I have moved, I have gone with a portable setup. Zero Water eliminated the need to lug heavy water containers, which is wonderful. But I wasn't going to compromise. Turns out, the filters are exceedingly effective. I won't go into it here, it is covered extensively in other reviews and on YouTube, this system far exceeds other gravity systems.One thing that struck me, though, was how to maximzie usage of the filters. At my current rate, I'd use 1 filter a month. Not at all a bad thing. However, I have brought that down to 1 every six months. Here's how.I have purchased two pitchers, as shown. On the right is the 10-cup, my first pitcher. At center, the 12-cup. On the left is a 2 gallon glass container with spigot. I do the following.1. Fill the first pitcher with tap water. Use it exclusively for a month. (I pour the water into a glass container almost immediately after filtering. That's just me.)2. Once the TDS monitor tells you that the water has more than a safe number of particles (6 is the recommended number), start using the second pitcher. Your first pitcher becomes your dirty pitcher.3. Pour the water from the "dirty" pitcher to the second pitcher (the clean pitcher). The clean pitcher's filter will have to do much less filtering because the dirty pitcher's filter is still picking up most of the particles.4. Keep testing the water from the clean pitcher. Once it reaches the maximum of 6 or more, (which takes 6 months in my case), throw away the filter in the dirty pitcher and replace it with the filter in the clean pitcher. Install a brand new filter in the clean pitcher.5. Repeat steps 1-4.Doing it this way, your filters should last a lot longer, depending on your usage. If you are a family of 4 or 8, and use 2-4-8 gallons a day, you may get 1 week out of one filter, but you will get much more out of each filter doing it this way.I like to use glass for holding the water longer term. But if you are using all BPA-free plastic containers, which all the pitchers ZeroWater provides are, you should be ok.Which ContainerZero Water offers several options for containers. I chose the pitchers because they are small enough to lift, while still having a spigot on the back end if I want to use them directly to fill a glass. But pouring the water is faster than the spigot, so a pitcher is more versatile than the larger container. I chose different sizes in the pitcher mainly to be able to differentiate which is the dirty and which, the clean. Personally, I prefer the 12-cup - the top fits better than the 10-cup, and is molded to prevent leakage from the water that is still filtering through if you happen to need to pour it before it's all drained down.TDS MonitorThe TDS monitor comes with each unit. It is accurate. I tested it on various water sources. So I trust it when it says my filtered water is zero. They are sensitive enough to detect 1 ppm. These monitors work on batteries. They should last quite a while. I called customer service about this because one of the TDS monitors stopped working. They were very informative and helpful.I have taken the monitors out of the slot where they can be carried on top of the pitchers. The possibility that water will fill the top is too great. The TDS monitors are actually not waterproof. They will die if submerged fully in water. You should only submerge the bottom where the sensors are. Put about an inch of your filtered water in a clean cup to test it.The TDS monitors have a "hold" button and an "on/off" button. If you mistakenly press the hold button, your monitor will not read the water levels and will say "000". This may be incorrect if your monitor is on hold. Just press the hold button a couple times and test the water, and whatever number it reads will be accurate.Customer ServiceZero Water has its own website. They can be contacted by email and phone. They are highly responsive, knowledgeable and friendly. This speaks volumes about the product, because they back it.Water TasteThe water tastes like a spring-fed stream. It's great. At one point, when I was still getting used to how to use the equipment, I was drinking water at 55ppm and it still tasted very good. When I caught this and started using a clean filter, bringing the water to 000 ppm again, the taste improvement was noticeable, though not as dramatic as the difference between tap water and purified.I've read on here that the taste becomes sour or metallic when the water purification levels drop. To me, it has not been that noticeable. I would suggest replacing the filter in such cases as it might be faulty.Camping OutI would take this with me on a camping trip. But I would use an initial filter designed for camping first, then put it through the Zero Water filters. This system is not really designedf for pond water that has mud and algae. However, once you filter those out, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.Overall, I am pleased with this system. As long at the quality of the filters stays the same, I plan to use it until I get another home.Stay safe and be healthy. I will update this review if my experience changes.

I have been using Zero Water dispenser's/devices and filters for years. I have had issues with only one water dispenser leaking, but that has been over the years I have been using them.This dispenser, however, was easy to install. The water spigot has washers that prevent any leakage. As long as you use Zero Water Filters, it will drop any tap water to 0 PPM (after it gets to 6 PPM, I believe) you change the filter. Since there are two filters in this the water flow/filter speed is pretty good, though it will still take some time to filter 1 gallon of water (the max that will fit in for filtering).While this does cost a bit, I find it more than worth it. It holds a lot of filtered water for use. I have not had anything growing inside the dispenser, and it is on my counter with temps between 65-80+ Fahrenheit in the room. I do usually wash it every 1-2 months, but I have had other brand filter pitchers, and they had stuff growing in them within a week.If you need a lot of clean filtered water, or wish to have a lot of water available, I would recommend this! I can fill up a lot of containers with water before needing to fully refill it. However, I usually keep it close to full most of the time.