Working on it. Will have 2 solutions, one NSF certified and one without certification (for the bottle, filter will be the same, quality one from US). Price will be slightly different.

Today let's talk about TDS, another big lie.

First of all, what is TDS? When you or someone measures Total Dissolved Solids with a measuring pen, he can see all the things that are present in water, right? WRONG!

The little pen or any other "TDS meter" does not measure TDS, it measures EC, electrical conductivity. Then it multiplies EC by factor in a range of 0.5 and 1 and gives you "false TDS". Every manufacturer will set his own multiplier, which kind of gives you an idea of why TDS meter is a lie.

But ok, why don't we measure EC then? We can, but we must understand what are we measuring. Pure H20 has 0 conductivity. 99.9% of conductivity comes from SALTS DISSOLVED IN WATER. These salts are also known as "healthy/useful minerals" (you know, when people say "our system does not remove beneficial minerals").

And now we're coming to the core of it. If the system does not remove "beneficial minerals" then how is it able to change the EC and TDS? It cannot..

So do not trust anyone who uses TDS meter to "measure" water quality and claims that his system does not remove minerals. They are either not being honest or are confused and have no idea what are they measuring.




And while we're on the subject. Water in Malaysia, at least in Klang Valley is very soft. Just to give you an idea, in San Diego, California, our water had EC of 1800-2000 µS/cm. In Kuala Lumpur, I usually get values between 140-160 µS/cm (10-12 times less!). In order for your body to get some significant quantity of so called "beneficial minerals" you will need to drink few bathtubs of water per day. 100ml of milk will have more minerals in it than liters of water. Do not be scared to install RO systems and do not fall for "beneficial minerals" marketing deployed by bottled water and water filter companies.

And for those who like WHO (World Health Organization), here's what they say in one of their paper:

... only a few minerals in natural waters had sufficient
concentrations and distribution to expect that their consumption in drinking water might
sometimes be a significant supplement to dietary intake in some populations. Magnesium and
possibly calcium were the two most likely significant contributors to dietary intake in populations
that consumed ‘hard’ water.

Even if you ignore words "might, maybe, some" etc, they are still talking about HARD water (one I had in San Diego). Our water in Malaysia is very soft, so this doesn't apply to us at all.

Thanks for kantoing the marketing gimmicks of "our water filter system doesn't remove beneficial minerals" and "RO water is only for people with kidney disease".

Back to the TDS/EC meter. I have taken the following measurements using my cheapo TDS/EC pen bought from Lazada.
1. RO water = 2ppm
2. Tap water = 22ppm
3. Hydroponic nutrient = 1300ppm

Questions.
1) 2ppm for my RO means it's about time to replace the RO membrane or RO water can never be 0 PPM like the distilled water ?

2) 22ppm for my tap water. Consider soft or hard? I'm still pretty annoyed with lime deposit on my glassware, dish drainer tray and shower head.

This post has been edited by aeiou228: Apr 8 2018, 12:05 PM

1. No, it can almost never be 0 ppm. I think even distilled will rarely give 0. You need to remove all salts and gases from the water to be 0.

2. Are you sure TDS meter is working properly? 22 is very, very low and should not leave any limescale. With my EC 160 (probably 80ppm) I never see any limescale at all. Unless there is something else in the water that doesn't conduct electricity and leaves deposits. What color is your limescale?

1. Thanks.
2. Perhaps I should elaborate more. White colour limescale forming over a long period of time say 3 months especially in areas where you don't get to wipe it dry.

hi guys, anyone using or heard about dewbell ?

im considering this product, but the refill filter quite expensive compare to others brand, also the size smaller only 16 cm might need to change more frequent.

any equivalent competitor for this product ?

http://www.dewbell.kr/eng/product/
https://shopee.com.my/Dewbell-F-15-Water-Fi...270330.66564847

This is for shower/washing machine. And apparently these filters leak like crazy (read Amazon reviews).

What are you trying to achieve? Standard industry housing with good filters will be much better than this and you will always have 100s of options for replacement cartridges. Describe what you need to get rid of in your water and we will suggest something

hi Hestati,

First of all, thanks for the many informative posts.

Need your opinion on the below situation.

2 bedrooms condo
2-3 pax staying a few days per week
Water points:
Kitchen - Cosway filter, for boiling water and washing dishes
Wash Basin - Cosway filter, brush teeth and wash face
Shower - no filter
Laundry - no filter

https://cosway.com.my/product/hexagon-8-sta...purifier-89648/

Problem with the Cosway filters is they get blocked almost every other week and the flow drops, need to take out and brush the ceramic layer.

Is the Cosway filter good enough for the intended use above?
If yes, I guess installing a simple POE (your 2 stage standard housing) will help to reduce the frequency of blockage and also improve the water quality at shower and laundry area.

I'm discussing with the condo plumber about installation of POE and if it will be allow.

Other suggestion is of course most welcome.

Yes, this is expected from ceramic filter, this is why I never ever suggest ceramic, especially as first stage. Let me guess, the very first time it lasted maybe 2-3 months, then you brushed it, it lasted 1 month, then, few "brushings" later it gets clogged every 2 weeks (like you said).

What I can suggest you try is an industry standard 10" by 2.5" housing with 5, or even 1 micron nominal sediment filter as a pre-filter to this Cosway (pleated or melt blown). It should make Cosway last longer. At least it's relatively cheap solution to try, without having to install POE for condo. Can try with 1 micron, then, if not satisfied, try with 5 micron (use melt blown when trying, later can upgrade to pleated polyester). Since it's for drinking water, I would go for NSF, Taiwan/US made (still affordable).

But overall, this 8-in-1 type of filters is never a very good idea. I'd say this is ceramic filter + carbon core + "marketing stages", but should be ok with sediment pre-filter as I mentioned above.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

You are right, it fact it went very quickly from 1 month to 2 weeks after a few scrubs!

My first choice is the POE only because:
1) I will need to install pre-filter for 2 Cosway (kitchen and wash basin outside toilet)
2) Water quality at laundry and shower area will also improve, additional benefit
3) Only need to change filter at POE when clog, and scrub the 2 Cosway once a month, hopefully

I dun think the Cosway housing is NSF certified, but if NSF certified pre-filter is still affordable I do not mind.
I'm still boiling the water after Cosway, do you think its necessary?

Thanks

Honestly, it depends. Ceramic filters absorb everything "inside", it's like glorified melt blown filter. Problem with ceramic is that even if it stops all bacteria inside (which I really doubt, but ok, let's suppose) then they start growing inside, which can lead to secondary contamination, premature clogging, etc. So not that boiling is 100% required, but I don't believe it's 100% protection from bacteria.

Someone can argue that there is Doulton and it's NSF certified, but it's NSF 42 without any bacteria claims and I don't know any ceramic filter certified in California, where various claims are harder to make.


As for POE, if you can do it, then sure. 10" by 4.5" housing with pleated polyester (not yet available) or melt blown (available). Having 2 pre-filters is probably much easier to install and somewhat cheaper, but yes, no benefits of cleaner water in shower/laundry.

Drop me a PM when you decide between POE vs. pre-filter, maybe I can suggest something.

Hi,
Where can I find Brita Filter Pitcher?
I tried looking at Ace HArdware in Cyberjaya but could not find it. Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks

Hmmm, just to test, can you buy Spitzer mineral bottled water and measure ppm? I never see limescale anywhere with my levels of ppm, at your levels you should not have it either. Something is not right.

Will do that. Does Spitzer disclose thier ppm ?
But this TDS meter gives a reasonable 2ppm reading for RO water. Isn't it rule out TDS meter's fault ?

Spitzer should be about 200 EC, give or take, so roughly 300-400ppm depending on meter.

2ppm is kinda very low even for RO. Suspecting that your meter does not read high values, stuck at 22?

No, it can give >1000 reading for my hydroponic nutrient.

Then it is really strange. Let's ask the others...

Anyone experienced limestone deposits in their kettle or anywhere else? If yes, then how quickly it happens?

Here to report that my filter setup had issues leaking at the joints.
Started with the sides intake and outtake. Then the inner joint nipples between filters also was leaking.

This was done over multiple teflon tapes, pipe dope, and even turning the joints until it reaches the end.

Will return the whole filter setup and try to get one with brass threading. The current threads that are PVC i feel are too soft and doesnt handle the water pressure inside.

I know because once I accidentally remove one of the pipes tubing without draining the water, and the whole thing push out alot of force.

This is for which filter?

A picture speaks a thousand words.