Let’s face it – it might be time to ditch that pitcher. Yes, they are a relatively inexpensive way to filter your water, but those constant refills can be a drag – not to mention the precious space a water filter pitcher takes up in the fridge. And exactly how pure is the water you’re drinking?
What if there was an alternative water filtration method? One that’s aesthetically pleasing and discreet, eliminates the hassle of constant refilling, functions effectively, and remains within budget?
Here, we explore whether undersink water filters are worth the investment, introduce the Brio Aquus Tankless Reverse Osmosis (RO) System and explain how it stands out from the crowd.
What is an undersink water filter?
Undersink water filters are filtration systems installed beneath the kitchen sink to treat tap water before it reaches the faucet. These filters are designed to remove various contaminants, including sediment, chlorine, lead, and other impurities, resulting in cleaner, better-tasting water for drinking and cooking.
Are undersink water filters worth it?
If your household consumes more than two or three gallons of drinking water daily, upgrading to an undersink water filter might offer superior convenience and efficiency compared to a pitcher filter.
Undersink systems deliver filtered water instantly, eliminating the waiting time associated with pitcher filtration. Having clean, safe water on demand means it’s a cinch to fill glasses for a drink and pots to cook pasta without having to constantly refill a pitcher.
Undersink filters boast significantly larger capacity and longer lifespans compared to pitcher filters. While pitcher filters typically last for about two months and filter around 40 gallons of water, undersink filters can handle hundreds of gallons and may last up to six months or more before you need to replace the filters.
Undersink filters also use water pressure instead of gravity to push water through the filtration system. This allows them to employ sensitive filters capable of removing a wider range of potential contaminants, ensuring cleaner and safer drinking water for your household.
What is the best undersink water filter system?
The best undersink water filter system offers numerous lifestyle-enhancing benefits:
- They save space
Unlike countertop or pitcher filters, undersink water filters are discreetly installed beneath the sink, freeing up valuable countertop space.
- They offer a continuous supply of fresh, clean water
With an undersink filter, you have access to healthy filtered water directly from your faucet at any time, eliminating the need to refill a pitcher or dispenser.
- They optimize filtration
Undersink filters typically use advanced filtration technologies, such as reverse osmosis (RO), to provide superior water purification compared to pitcher filters.
- They’re cost-effective
While undersink water filters may have a higher initial cost than pitcher filters, they often require less frequent filter replacements, making them a more cost-effective long-term solution.
Introducing the Brio Aquus Tankless RO System
For the best tankless RO system, look to the Brio Aquus – a standout choice among undersink water filtration systems, known for its innovative design and efficient performance. Unlike traditional RO systems that rely on storage tanks, the Brio Aquus features a tankless design, providing a continuous supply of freshly filtered water without the need for storage.
Pure fresh, locally sourced water
Why settle for purified water hauled in from thousands of miles away, shipped in harmful single-use plastic bottles? With the Brio Aquus you can enjoy locally sourced, fresh, clean, purified water, whenever you want it.
Compact design
The space-saving design of the Brio Aquus makes it ideal for small kitchens or limited cabinet space.
A typical undersink filtration system includes a large storage tank, a rack of filters, and a tangle of color-coded connector lines. These often unwieldy units can take time to hook up, then fill up – which usually needs to be done several times – before they’re ready to dispense purified water.
At a lean 5.2” wide, 16.6” high, and 18.2” deep, the tankless Aquus has a small footprint that leaves plenty of room for storage. And despite its compact size, it houses a multi-stage filter, a reverse osmosis membrane, and an integrated manifold that guards against water pressure drops and internal leaks.
Effective, efficient, long-lasting filtration
Let’s face it, a water filtration system is only as good as its filters and, in this regard, the Aquus is a standout. It has two premium-quality filters:
- a PCB filter
The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) filter is a 3-in-1 filter that combines a sediment filter, carbon fiber filter and carbon block filter in a single cartridge. This composite filter effectively removes sediment, chlorine, and other contaminants that cause unpleasant tastes, odors, and colors. It also produces the filtered water, which dispenses at a robust flow rate of 2.5 liters per minute. It’s designed to last 6-12 months (or up to 1 year) or 3,600 liters / 950 gallons.
- a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane
The reverse osmosis membrane is the second, more refined stage of filtration that produces the purified water. Inlet water first passes through the PCB filter, then goes through the RO membrane, effectively filtering contaminants, including fluoride, lead, and arsenic, ensuring clean and safe drinking water. It’s designed to last 12 to 24 months (or up to 2 years) or 7,200 liters / 1900 gallons.
Both filters provide hassle-free maintenance and cost savings over time.
Frictionless hydration, on demand
Thirsty household or office? The Aquus 600 delivers up to 600 gallons per day of RO purified water, and the Aquus 800 delivers up to 800 gallons.
Plus, no tank means no waiting for a tank to fill. When the dedicated faucet is turned on, cold water enters the filtration unit where it’s meticulously filtered. Then the purified water immediately travels to the faucet. Once the system is set up, you can start dispensing – and keep dispensing, whenever you like.
Minimal wastewater
Let’s talk about the amount of brine a typical reverse osmosis undersink system produces. The standard ratio is 1:4 pure-to-wastewater. That means for every one cup of RO-purified water dispensed, four cups go down the drain.
Yep. Expensive. Not to mention a squandering of a crucial and increasingly scarce natural resource.
The Brio Aquus 600 has a 1.5:1 pure-to-wastewater ratio. The Brio Aquus 800 has a 2:1 pure-to-wastewater ratio. For every one-and-a-half or two cups of purified water dispensed, only one cup is discharged as wastewater, offering the lowest pure-to-wastewater ratios in the industry.
Smart faucet
The Brio Aquus smart faucet stands out from the competition with its dual-lever design, LED screen display, and convenient 6-inch spout reach, providing unparalleled ease of use and functionality in an undersink water filtration system. Here’s what this faucet can do:
1. It has two levers for optimized drinking and cooking
The Brio Aquus delivers water via the smart faucet, which has not one but TWO levers:
One dispenses filtered water – perfect for cooking foods like pasta and rice, baking, watering plants, and rinsing produce. The other lever dispenses RO-purified water, which is perfect for drinking and preparing baby formula.
2. It tells you when filters need to be replaced
No need to peer under the sink at the unit itself to see if one or both of the filters need to be replaced. The faucet’s bright, sharp LED screen lets you see at a glance the filter life left on the water filters as a percentage measurement. It also keeps track and alerts you when it’s time.
3. It tracks TDS levels
The screen also features a totally dissolved solids (TDS) meter that tracks the level of TDS in your RO-purified water as it dispenses, allowing you to monitor the reduction of impurities in real time.
4. It has an elongated spout for fewer counter spillages
The convenient 6-inch reach of the spout positions water so it dispenses into containers or the sink, not onto counters. This comes in handy when filling larger containers, which often require awkward maneuvering when using a traditional swan-neck or gooseneck faucet.
What your Aquus filters require to work
The reverse osmosis membrane needs two things to function optimally.
Optimal water pressure
The RO-purified water’s flow rate is 1 liter per minute. The inlet water pressure should be between 30 and 100 PSI (pound-force per square inch). This is because the water moves much more slowly through it than through the PCB filter.
Purification via reverse osmosis necessitates a slower flow rate due to the structure of the membrane, a spiral-wound design perforated with pores that are 0.0001 microns in diameter.
Its microscopic pores efficiently trap contaminants like total dissolved solids (salts, nitrates), heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic), and emerging contaminants (forever chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals), which are then expelled into the wastewater, not into your drinking water.
Change PCB filter on schedule
The PCB filter should be changed on schedule so that it continues to tackle the larger particulates, letting the RO membrane take on typically more harmful microscopic contaminants.
Brio designed the undersink unit so that the filters can be easily accessed from the front. You won’t need to shift the unit around to change them. And their twist-and-lock design means changing them takes only a few seconds.
How to install your Aquus
With easy-to-follow instructions and all necessary components included, the Brio Aquus can be installed in minutes, requiring minimal plumbing expertise.
Quick and easy installation
Requiring only a few tools and minimal time, you can quickly set up the filtration system. Brio designed it with push-connect fittings, so connections are easy to make while ensuring a secure leak-free fit.
What are quick-connect fittings?
These small, yet mighty, connectors make installing your cooler or filtration system quick and easy. They’re also known as push-connect fittings because that’s pretty much how they work: you push the tubing into the fitting to connect the system. No need to reach for a wrench or twist hex nuts.
Quick-connect fittings are included with all Brio water coolers and filtration systems that use them. Here’s an enlarged line drawing of one:
Potential problems: AKA what could possibly go wrong?
The biggest problem you may encounter when using a quick-connect system won’t be with the fitting – it will be with the tubing. It is crucial that the end of the tubing is straight up and down with no nicks, burrs, or rough areas. When inserted correctly, the tubing sits flush against the back of the fitting, and any rough spots can damage the fitting or impair the connection, both of which can result in a water leak.
Brio water coolers and filtration systems come with a convenient tube cutter that makes achieving a clean cut easy. You can use a sharp knife, but it’s just not as efficient or consistently reliable.
How to correctly install the tubing
To install the tubing correctly:
- insert it into the quick-connect fitting, passing it through the collet opening
- thread it past the stainless steel spider teeth and O-ring
- push it in until it sits cleanly against the tube stop at the back of the fitting. If done correctly, you should’ve inserted the tubing approximately 0.75 inches (see Correct Installation diagram).
The spider teeth hold the tubing in place and the O-ring provides a water-tight seal. Ninety percent of tubing leaks are caused by not pushing the tubing in far enough (see Incorrect Installation diagram). After you’ve inserted the tubing, give it a gentle tug to make sure it’s snuggly and securely connected.
How to remove and replace tubing
If you think you’ve installed the tubing incorrectly, or if you wish to replace the tubing, here’s how to remove it:
- ALWAYS make sure the cooler or appliance is unplugged, the source water has been turned off, and you’ve released the water pressure from the system by draining the water. If you don’t follow these steps first, you may find yourself in a puddle of water. All joking aside, this can be quite dangerous if you haven’t unplugged the system.
- To release the tubing from the quick-connect fitting, you need to release the grip of the spider teeth.
- Use your fingers to push in the collet. This disengages the spider teeth.
- With the collet pressed in, pull the tubing out.
- That’s it!
Undersink water filters offer a convenient and effective solution for ensuring access to clean, safe drinking water at home. The Brio Aquus Tankless RO System, with its innovative design and superior filtration capabilities, exemplifies the benefits of undersink filtration systems.
If you’re considering investing in a water filter for your home, the Brio Aquus is certainly worth exploring. Remember, investing in a high-quality water filter is an investment in your health and well-being. Here’s to cleaner, safer drinking water!
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