Hands on Review: Waterdrop Tankless RO Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System
Why Use a Reverse Osmosis Filter for Homebrewing?
Using RO (Reverse Osmosis) or DI (Deionized) water allows you to start with a clean slate of sorts and build your water profile from the ground up using water salts. That allows you to take control of an important aspect of your brewing, especially if you’re an all grain brewer and create exactly the water profile you’re looking for.
Water by John Palmer and Colin Kaminski, part of the Brewing Elements Series, is a great read to learn lots more about brewing water and water adjustments
A note to non-homebrewers: From the popularity of this review, I’m guessing a good number of you are not homebrewers. This review still applies to you. Just disregard any specific references to homebrewing or… hey, why don’t you start homebrewing? 🙂
Hands on Review Waterdrop Tankless Reverse Osmosis Filter
The Waterdrop WD-G3-W is a three filter, seven stage tankless reverse osmosis filter. It is intended for under-counter installation and comes with a LED light indicating faucet. It’s rated for 400 gallons per day and is NSF 58 certified.
The box the Waterdrop system came in. The box is quite large.
A look at the contents
The AC Power Adapter. This unit requires power. I believe that’s related to the tankless aspect of this filter’s design. My assumption is that It has a pressure pump that drives water through the filtration system to deliver a reasonable on-demand performance. The advanced filter tracking features and built in TDS sensor also require power.
Required tubing and fittings
Check Current Price, Availability & Specifications, Review Continues Below:
- Waterdrop RO Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System, NSF Certified, TDS Reduction, 400 GPD Fast Flow, Tankless, Compact, Smart Faucet, UL Listed Power, USA Tech, Brushed Nickel Faucet affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Replacement Filters (Carbon Filer + 2 x Pre-Sediment Filters: Waterdrop WD-G3-W Replacement Filter 1-Year Combo, Pack of 2 WD-G3-N1CF Filters and 1 WD-G3-N3CB Filter affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Replacement RO Filter: Waterdrop WD-G3-N2RO Filter, 2-year Lifetime, Replacement for WD-G3-W Reverse Osmosis System affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Waterdrop G3 Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System – direct from Waterdrop
Note that multiple variations of these products may be available, as such a different version may appear via these links
A look at the unassembled main unit
Waterdrop Filters. This filter uses 3 filters that comprise a total of 7 stages.
A closer look at the RO filter. This is a large filter. It’s hard to tell in this photo, keep reading for a good comparison that illustrates the size of these filters.
Close up of the RO filter label
The faucet. I chose brushed nickel, but a chrome option is also available. This brush nickel, matched my Kohler Vibrant Stainless faucet, quite well.
The faucet also has some wiring to run the status LED lighting that’s built into the base.
To illustrate the size of the RO filter, here it is next to my Aquatic Life RO Buddie Reverse Osmosis Systems – Review. As you can see it’s a good half the size of the entire Aquatic Life filter system.The system installed under my kitchen sink counter
Each of the filters. Installation and replacement is easy. Twist, remove and replace.
Two very nice features are illustrated here. The top three lights are filter life indicators, one for each filter. The bottom numeric display is a TDS reading. This filter constantly monitors TDS levels which is a great indicator of effectiveness.
Indicator Status Light Meanings
Each of the three filter status lights will read either blue, yellow or red to indicate remaining filter life.
Freshly filtered RO water coming right from my sink. Beautiful laminar flow.
As mentioned previously the base unit has indicator lights for each filter. That faucet also has an indicator light. Blue = good, Yellow = One of the filters needs replaced soon, Red = One of the filters needs replaced now. Really nice feature. With my other filters, I feel like I was always guessing, probably because… I was always guessing. Indicator lights are a big benefit.
Rate test using my trusty Rubbermaid 1 Gallon Pitcher – Review
1 Gallon of water took 2 minutes and 48 seconds. This is going to vary based on your water pressure and filter condition.
Reading 8 PPM.
Filtration Stages
The system has 3 filters, but 7 total filtration states. Some filters contain more than a single stage.
- CF Filter – PP cotton + carbon block (0.8μm pore size) + PP cotton
- RO Filter – Huge 3-layer DOW® RO membrane (0.0001μm pore size)
- CB Filter – Post-activated carbon block (0.5μm pore size)
Conclusions
I like doing RO filter reviews, because… conclusions are easy. PPM tells the tale. I’ve seen this vary between 8 and 14 PPM. A good clean slate for building up brewing water.
I love the fact that this is installed and ready to go on my sink. The indicator lights are huge. With my other RO filters, I have no idea where my filters are at. That means I’ll generally replace them too soon and waste money or (more likely) too late. Also having a real time TDS reading helps my know that the filter is working.
Capacity-wise this is rated for up to 400 gallons per day. Extract brewers, five gallon all grain and small batch brewers should find it easy to get water using a gallon pitcher. 10 gallon batch brewers could either collect water in pitchers or pretty easily rig up some tubing to fill up a large container.
This is an expensive system compared to some of the other filters we’ve reviewed. If you’re looking solely for low PPM and low cost, check out our lineup of reviews for other options. If you’re looking for more features and lots more convenience, take a hard look at the Waterdrop. The thing that makes the extra expense worth it, to me, is being able to easily use this for everyday uses like cooking, making coffee and drinking add to that easy on demand RO water for brewing and, for me, this one’s a win.
Update: I’ve now used this water filter for several months. I’ve had to change the sediment filter one time. I had one time where the filter had a flow rate problem and read extremely high TDS readings. This happened after a trip when we had turned the water off. I think there was either an issue with sediment or potentially some air got in the lines. I decided to run the filter continuously. After about 20 to 25 minutes, PPM readings come down to their normal 10-ish PPM reading and flow rate returned. So, no big deal, the filter is apparently designed to handle whatever happened. Beyond that, the filter has continued to work really well, producing great tasting water at a good flow rate.
Check Current Price, Availability and Specifications:
- Waterdrop RO Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System, NSF Certified, TDS Reduction, 400 GPD Fast Flow, Tankless, Compact, Smart Faucet, UL Listed Power, USA Tech, Brushed Nickel Faucet affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Replacement Filters (Carbon Filer + 2 x Pre-Sediment Filters: Waterdrop WD-G3-W Replacement Filter 1-Year Combo, Pack of 2 WD-G3-N1CF Filters and 1 WD-G3-N3CB Filter affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Replacement RO Filter: Waterdrop WD-G3-N2RO Filter, 2-year Lifetime, Replacement for WD-G3-W Reverse Osmosis System affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link
- Waterdrop G3 Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System – direct from Waterdrop
Note that multiple variations of these products may be available, as such a different version may appear via these links
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- Hands on Review: Aquatic Life RO Buddie Reverse Osmosis Filter System – Dial in Your Brewing Water!
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Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application. Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application. Always read and follow manufacturer directions. tag:tpr review:wtrdrp
