A little info for your thesis, NESH water filters are not NSF tested or certified.

External water sand filter. This one.

Exactly.
Wah Bro.. long time no see since we all deserted the Swiftlets Thread.

My opinion on point of entry filter is that, don't buy the old tech sand filter. Use this PP filter.
Secure Back wash  RM468 @ 11Street and replacement cartridge only RM48. It's built-in bask wash design is very neat and interesting, you don't need to instal messy external piping and control valves for the backwash. No need call people to change the sand media and no more fine sand blocking the faucet.   


As for point of use (PoU) filter, depending on your usage, buy any reasonable priced and certified filter will do. Avoid any smart PoU filter that requires AC current and has electronic chip board which is prone to power surge damage.

My mom house changed to membrane outdoor filter is work far better than the sand filter we had before.  I think in Malaysia, is unavoidable to pay tax, toll, and water filter.

GE Appliances is now a Haier company. I suppose water filter is under GE Appliances, so no surprise if the cartridge is made in China.

You can verify GE's NSF claim here.
http://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/

Ok, this time I will post without any links or any sales.

My background is water treatment. I worked in Canada, USA and South America on various water treatment projects mainly RO projects though. I was also appointed by one of my employers to go to establish manufacturing in China, which didn't go well, but whatever.

So what a good home system must have? Right now we're talking about 3 stage system only. Why 3 stage? Surprisingly, it's the most economical and easy solution. You can do 2 stage as well, but it's not worth it, I'll explain why.

Stage 1 MUST be a sediment filter. It's cheap and it takes the first hit and you should replace it often (3-6 month). There are 3 types, string, pleated and melt blown. Just use the melt blown one. Cost for a good, USA made one is roughly 20 RM, change it 3 times a year. So 60RM yearly for this one. Choose 1 or 5 micron (I prefer 5 for better flow)

If your system doesn't have a sediment filter as a first stage, then all the large kaka goes to your first filter and reduces it's lifetime and performance dramatically.

Stage 2 is your main filter. Normally it's sub-micron, hollow membrane or other technology (in USA they don't even make UF, they have other sub-micron filters). This is the heart of your system and it's also must have. Make sure it removes: bacteria, viruses, cyst, lead, arsenic, ferrous iron, mercury, pharmaceuticals and plastics. Pretty much everything except: fluoride, chlorine, bromine, iodine and VOC. Change once per year. Roughly 160-200RM for a very good one (US made)!

Stage 3 is your carbon block. This will remove chlorine, bromine, iodine and VOC. Change once a year, roughly 80-100RM for a very good one (US made, coconut activated carbon).

So you're looking at 300-350RM per year worth of outstanding quality filters.
So see the logic here: first, remove large particles. Then, remove all nasty stuff such as bacteria and heavy metals, then get rid of bad taste and odor.

What's left? Normally it will be minerals and fluoride. But, sometimes you still have a bad taste, how come? Answer is chloramine. Nasty nasty stuff. Widely used in USA now instead of or together with chlorine, but can also form if ammonia is present in your water. You need a special chloramine carbon block and these are not cheap. EVEN THE BEST SYSTEM without chloramine filter will produce nasty water. Chloramine is not removed by any UF or sub-mic or anything else. If you have chloramine, your cost of carbon block (stage 3) becomes close to 160-200RM.

So say you don't have chloramine and let's assume you don't have any radiation (unless it's well water, hopefully not). Then what's left is fluoride. They do add crappy fluoride to our water in USA and in Malaysia (Western Europe banned it for example). You need a special filter if you want to get rid of it, so an extra stage. I personally don't care, but choice is yours.

Now to plastic leaching. If components of your system (not filters, but everything else) are made God knows where, then there are high chances that they leach chemicals into your water. Anything before stage 2, we don't care, since our stage 2 will take care of it, but anything after it goes straight to your cup. So know where each and every COMPONENT that touches the water is made. (example, does your faucet contain lead? if yes, then what's the point if filtering out all the lead before?)

Last but not least, I HIGHLY recommend a system with standard housings and filters. We call them 2.5 by 10, 2.5 by 20 and so on. Even if the manufacturer of your system jacks up the price for replacement cartridges or goes out of business, you can always buy cartridges from reputable US companies at reasonable prices.

This is it for now. If you have any questions, please let me know

Please PM me what was the offer. GE filter as stage 1 is what, 5 micron Puretrex? I need to know sizes that were offered. Assuming it's BB housings (4.5 by 20 inches?). PM me all details and we'll see.

Actually, from my experience, whole house systems rarely make sense, unless your water is horrible or you have like 5 bathrooms and 2 kitchens. Simply because you'll be using filtered water to flush toilets, wash driveways and your car etc.

And closer your filters are to the outlet better it is. Normally.

UF, RO or membrane are always waste of water, daily flushing is insane.
POE filter sand media is good enough, easy maintenance and long lasting.

It's first time in my life I see someone backwashing melt blown filter. Not a good idea at all. You wash melt blown once and it's performance decreases by a lot. Melt blowns are never meant for backwash or any kind of wash, they're cheap and should be replaced regularly (like every 3-6 months!)

This is in fact 4.5" by 10" housing, slightly weird design so that you can only use their filter (my guess, maybe any filter will fit).

You can just get a standard 4.5" by 10" housing and install high quality pleated polyester in it. It will be just a little bit more expensive, but your flow will be much better, it will last longer and it will not degrade significantly for whole 2 years. But even pleated polyester, just take it our and quickly wash, no need to backwash.

Yes, this size might be too small for a full house, but also feasible if you don't use much water.

Price breakdown (approximate):

1. Housing with pressure release valve - 250RM

2. Quality pleated polyester 5 micron - 150RM (NSF, US made, washable, 2-3 years service life)

3. If you absolutely want melt blown filter for some weird reason, then good NSF one will cost roughly 50RM. But no way it can last 2 years. Change at least every 6 month or even more often depending on water quality.
So yes, all in all this is what I described before, just smaller and uses melt blown for some reason. For "whole house" solutions always use pleated polyester, for drinking water filters can use melt blown if change often.
Now, when they tell you ("they" including me) "it will last 3 months, 6 months etc. These are just AVERAGE numbers. It may last 1 month or 3 years depending on how bad is your water and how much of it you use. So how to determine???

The ONLY way is to install pressure gauges before and after the filter. So with new filter, the drop in pressure will be say 3 psi. 3 months after, the drop becomes 10, at 13-15 it's time to change (or wash in case of pleated polyester), means your filter is clogged. You can buy cheapest gauges, you don't care how accurate, only care to see difference in readings.