Two Stage with Fine Sediment and Catalytic Carbon

We have well water and although we’ve always used a well water filter, the water still came out a little yellowish. Also, if we left the house for a couple days, when we came back we got the rotten egg smell from the hot water. The best option was to replace the water filtration system at a cost of over $3,000.00, however there’s a project to provide this rural area with city water within a year, so I couldn’t see the point of spending that kind of money. Draining some water from the water heater and adding a little bit of bleach helped, but just until the water heater sat unused, which mean repeating the process over gain. I did some research and came across this water filter. My first option was to purchase the 3-stage Home Master filter, but opted for the 2-stage filter for two reasons: lower price and since my water is already filtered (including sediment filtration), there’s no need for another sediment filter. Instead I purchased the radial flow iron reducing filter, which is supposed to filter iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. I figured the radial flow iron reducing filter, along with the included catalytic carbon filter would be enough to increase the quality of the water. It took me about an hour to install, though I had done all the measurements and purchased all necessary parts beforehand. I followed all the instructions, including greasing the o-rings and the threads of the filter housing. I made sure everything was installed correctly before I turned the water on and waited a few moments before I checked for leaks. Didn’t get any leaks, so I then proceeded to turn a few of the faucets on to relieve trapped air and rechecked for leaks one more time. After about five hours of normal water use I collected a full glass of water from a faucet installed next to the Home Master filter outlet. The water is crystal clear, no smells and taste great. I’m not sure how long the filter will last, only time will tell, but right now the quality of the water is just great. I noted that at least one reviewer mentioned about the sediment filter clogging too soon. From my experience, in most cases, a well water requires a 20-micron sediment filter or larger to filter large sediment particles before the water reaches the main filtration system. Even them, it may be necessary to change or cleaned the filter monthly or even sooner. I use and rotate two 20-micron pleaded filters, which run me about $9.00 each at a local store, but they can be cleaned and rinsed off. About every month, I rotate the filters by removing the dirty filter, cleaning the housing and installing the clean filter. I then clean the dirty filter, let it dry fully to kill any bacteria that may be present and store it until it’s time to rotate the filters. I know of some people who wait until the water pressure drops significantly as a sign the filter needs replaced or cleaned. The problem with this approach is that it may shorten the life of the water pump (if using well water). Well water pumps are expensive and may also fail when most needed. Maintaining the filtration system clean will not just prolong the life of the pump, but may save money in the long run as well.

I hate monologues but here it goes. I live in Kansas and the city water is pretty bad tasting. You can actually see undissolved solids floating around in the water. My parents spent thousands of dollars on a culligan man style system, and it seemed like a total rip off so I didn't want to go there on my purchase. I first purchased an under the kitchen sink style 3 filter reverse osmosis system from Menards about three years ago and installed one of those single filter systems from the same store on the main line. The main line filter leaked at the threading (tried tightening, sealant, etc.), the reverse osmosis filter leaked at the tank (tried same things), the sink unit filters were expensive for what little clean water they produced, the system couldn't keep up with drinkable water demand...like it would produce three glasses of water and then slow to a dribble. After two years I removed the whole house filter because it was leaking from both threads and the o-ring seal, and because I didn't feel like it was really doing much to improve water quality for our non-drinkable water. A week before Christmas 2016 my wife mentioned she'd like a new water filter system that could keep up with our family of 6. I loved this idea because it also meant I could get my handyman on. So, like any man would, I got my phone out and started researching robust whole house filter solutions. I was skeptical at first of the Home Master because it sounded like a generic name, but the reviews were solid across all sites I visited. I also considered Rhino, Ispring, and Pelican, the the Home Master seemed to be the right fit for my type of water problem and cost less. So I ordered the system. Folks had said it would be big and it is. These are nice quality filters. The installation was quick (30 minutes) and easy. SAVE yourself TIME and MONEY = Get push on fittings (no soldering required!!) They are AWESOME. Turn off your main line, cut your pipe with a pipe cutter (15 bucks) after the shut off valve, push on your first fitting and install your loop, valves, bypass line with a couple sticks of PEX tubing (get a pair of PEX cutters, another 15 bucks). The increased costs of the fittings is negligible compared to the peace of mind of not worrying about how well your soldering skills are. You must mount the bracket to studs or concrete or concrete block or rock, NOT Drywall!! I don't know what the assembly weighs wet but it is heavy dry and you don't want it to fall. Anyone can do this with push on fittings, seriously. Next, make sure you LUBE those O-Rings up REALLY good, use the whole tube that is provided! Put the filters in the housing and screw the housing into the manifold bracket. Turn on. The manual says to run water for about 15 minutes, you will think you did something wrong because the water will look really awful. After 15 minutes it cleared up and was drinkable. We no longer have the reverse osmosis system under our sink. Our water tastes wonderful and is very clean. Our dishes, glasses and silverware are clean. And there are NO leaks. The filter replacements cost as much as the reverse osmosis system did, and for that we get clean water out of every faucet instead of just one and as much as we can drink. The only disadvantage I've noticed in the system is that when our kids are taking a bath, water pressure drops about 15 lbs. We don't have tremendous water pressure anyways so for us it is probably worse than it would be for others and we get along fine. I feel that the product quality was excellent on this, we're all very happy with the results and I definitely recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a solution. If you have a well, get the three filter system.

*Oct 2018 Update* - Just added a pic of the 1 Micron filter after 1 year of use. I'm on city water in a newer house in a newer neighborhood (i.e. the plumbing isn't old) and it still caught all this. I love the great tasting water that comes out of my filter setup and I love that I only have to change the filters once a year. Amazon packaging on the carbon filter isn't that great and the last filter I ordered showed up cracked. The crack was pretty hard to see, so just a word of caution to order your filter early, inspect it when it arrives, and make sure you don't get surprised. *Original Post* I purchased this unit after doing a lot of research on other companies AND their filters. I believe that Home Master (Perfect Water Technologies) offers the highest quality water filters, made in the USA. Many other brands offer filters and do not disclose where they are manufactured. Many other brands have cheaper filters that don't last as long. Many other brands don't get consistent reviews for taste and water quality the way these filters do. The first time you pick and feel the weight of the KDF85 filter, you'll know that you're getting what you paid for. Frankly the filter housing hardware is much less special (as far as being head and shoulders above or different from the competition), but certainly it is of good quality and continues to give me zero issues. I could have spent a little less money and gotten the filter housings from another manufacturer, but it seemed like a good bet that the company with the best filters would have a filter housing that wouldn't let me down, and would fit their filters perfectly; so far this is absolutely the case. I also like that the filter housing uses 1" ports to minimize pressure loss through the filtration system - I typically experience 3-5 psi pressure drop through my system depending on flow demand, which I believe is completely acceptable. I'm on city water, so I specifically purchased this HMF2SMGCC unit for its KDF85 filter's ability to remove both Chlorine and Chloramines (google it if you don't know, Chloramines are new and becoming common disinfection chemicals, my water company uses them). I knew the sediment filter would remove any particulates, which it does, and I knew the carbon media in the KDF85 filter would improve the water taste, which it does. I did not do a water quality test before and after this filter install; the improved taste of the water combined with the good reputation of this company is all the proof I need personally that the water quality is dramatically improved. Side note - I removed the filter unit from my refrigerator and replaced it with a 'dummy' unit (empty plastic case). You do not want to leave an old filter in place anywhere on a water system, it will eventually become a biological cesspool. Now that I no longer have to replace my overly-expensive refrigerator filter, I only spend $50 more per year to have high quality filtered water in my whole house than I used to pay just to have average quality filtered water at my refrigerator.

I had a plumber install this with a bypass and it went smoothly. I can taste the difference and no discernible difference in water pressure. Though we have good city water, we were concerned about chlorine and other chemicals, taste and a little bit about metals. This filter fits the bill. With just two people we get a year and more out of both the sediment and carbon filter. The Aquasana looked good, but it had a number of drawbacks. 1) Price. 2) More than we needed. 3) They don't tell you this in all the ads, but you have to pre charge the tank with a garden hose. 4) The Home Master rates better for water pressure and this was a concern. I'm sure the Aquasana is a good unit and after the install performs well, but I think this is a better buy for price, price to maintain/filters, metals filtering and simplicity. Filter change is a bit wet, even with our plumber installed bypass system, but easy. However, they have awful instructions that don't clearly specify the directions to use bleach are only for well water homes. Tip to anyone changing these filters. To prevent leaks pile on the lubricant stuff. Use the Haynes Lubri-Film sanitary lubricant. You CAN NOT put too much on, but you can certainly put on too little. Cover those O-Rings (always use new ones) in the stuff! Thick! Gob it on. Don't be shy. Otherwise it will leak small drips and you have to do it all over.. Also put some on the threads. If you do this you will have no leaks and it will be very easy to remove the canisters next year. I swear I use half a tube of the lubricant every filter change. Update. Though not in our exact area, towns somewhat nearby have problems with PFAS in the water. The legal limit for PFAS is something like 50 parts per billing, but less is harmful, perhaps 15 or even 10 ppb. Some are trying to change the law on this, but in the mean time some filter companies seem a bit shameless saying their filter protects against PFAS. All they can say is they meet the legal limit, so that is misleading. Home Master and this filter is NOT one of these companies, but it is known that charcoal/carbon filters reduce PFAS. Since this has a carbon element, it might be effective at reducing PFAS. It is really a shame that our government and companies can't all get together on this and let us know 1) What is harmful. 2) What works to reduce PFAS.

I live in a region with very hard water that is drinkable, but not particularly tasty. After my water softener went down, I replaced it and decided to take the plunge on a full house water filter at the same time. Initially I was going to go with a single stage GE unit, but after I researched quite a bit I realized that I needed flow capacity that would exceed the 4.1 GPM of that and most single stage filters with smaller diameter input/output (particularly important if shower and faucets are functioning at once). I also wanted the purification benefits of a two-stage filter. This two-stage unit allows a flow rate of 10.1 gallons per minute. There has been absolutely no reduction in water pressure throughout the house. I had pressure gauges installed before/after the filters so I can monitor post filter reduction in pressure as an indicator for filter replacement need. The first stage sediment filter should last at least six months (instructions say more, but I’d rather replace earlier), while the activated charcoal is good up to 95,000 gallons (at least a year plus). I’m not a DIYer, so I had a plumber professionally install the above. The most amazing thing for me has been the smell/taste/clarity of the water. I no longer get the chlorine vapor smell during hot showers. I can drink from any tap in the house and it tastes as good as my refrigerator water dispenser (which prior to this was my only filtered water source). These benefits alone are worthwhile, but beyond that it’s opened my eyes to how “dirty“ my water was with sediment and the like. No longer do I have staining at the base of my tiled shower along the grout lines. There’s no longer a ring of sediment in my dishwasher soap dispenser. These are small details that most of us just take for granted, but witnessing the difference this has made puts a smile on my face. No doubt it’s better long-term for things like my water heater, dishwasher, clothes washer, softener and plumbing... Overall, one of the highest yield “home improvement“ upgrades I’ve made. Super recommended!

I bought this setup after doing extensive research on whole house filters, Most were very expensive and complicated to install. This unit has a straight forward setup. The unit comes with 2 20" canister filters,1 sediment and one carbon. The extra large size extends the need to replace them earlier than the anniversary of your installation. The cost will also be lower to maintain them.. The water coming out of the tap has no odor and taste good, I also keep tropical fish and no longer add a dechlorinator to my water changes. I read some nasty reports about the effects of inhaling chlorine and chloramine when showering, another reason to add a whole house filter system. I opted to have a licensed plumber to do the installation as it needed a bi- pass set up when changing filters. I also added a water gauge to monitor the water pressure to know if the filters were clogged up or not. The vendor "Perfect Water" is proactive and did numerous followups during and after the install. I attached a pix of our set up.

Living in partially finished house. Ironically the plumber connected my outdoor hose bibs to the filtered water but my inside tap in the temporary wash area is unfiltered. My washcloths get sticky using unfiltered city water - which doesn't taste bad so much as it doesn't taste good - but my hose water is awesome. Clear, good mouth feel, not sticky... I chose this because they have the best sediment filter. Almost all others toss in a 5 micron filter and claim genius. The Home Master sediment filter is graded from 25 microns down to 1 micron iirc, so the filtration is better but even if I'm wrong and it only goes to 5, the filter will work well much longer because 30 micron crap isn't clogging up the 5 micron pores. (Maybe I should have taken that job at Millipore...) Anyway, this is the right way to build a filter. And the whole setup was less than 3 or 4 hundred dollars with about $150/year for clean filters, and all of my brand new plumbing- but for that tap in the basement - will be protected. And I won't have to fuss with brita pitchers, fridge filters, shower filters, funky water, or sticky washcloths & presumably sticky laundry.

Too large and heavy. Need to return it

This filter was chosen after weeks of searching and studying about whole house filter. This one and the 3M filter ranked the best. We went with this since we didnt have to install seperate sediment filter. This unit requires wide space. I've underestimated the room required on each side for pipes. It worked out okay but the installation cost was more than the cost of this filter. Plumber charged us $400 while there was no major piping was required since there was an existing filter with all the required piping and it was a matter of replacing the filter. Product has been working for few weeks now and we noticed our kitchen and bathrooms are a lot cleaner with no residues left behind from hard water. We love it for now, however, I will do another review update when its time for filter replacement. Hopefully we can last a year before filters have to be replaced since they are not cheap. Except for the installation experience, I would highly recommend this filter. Works as described.

Took about 4 hours to install, as expected. Works great no leaks. Would definitely recommend.

I installed this in my home on city water, I found the installation was easy and works great so far, my only complaint would be it needs a metal insert built into the plastic head for inlet and outlets, even with lots of teflon tape on the threads I still get a pin size bubble seeping out past the threads every so often.