Philips also have an excellent filter that's almost as good as Amway at almost half the price. Also with UV lamp. Forgot the name.

You can't blame him when multinational Philips had a gem on their hand and they didn't know how to sell it either and the last i heard, they stop importing it into this country.

Just imagine, a filter that is practically as good as Amway eSpring but at half the price. Practically having all the same NSF certifications for water quality but even more user friendly. Any idiot who know filter will be able to sell it by the truck load if only they know how. What a pity

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Nov 23 2011, 01:27 PM

The last time I checked last year, it was super difficult to get hold of one. Call any Philips dealer and they don't know what you are talking about. Call up HQ also blur blur.

Therefore, even though it was super cheap, I reckon getting hold of replacement cartridge would be a big problem so have no choice but to get the expensive but very good Amway. At least with Amway, replacement cartridges are everywhere.

To make thing simple, just make very sure the filter you are buying are certified by NSF or WQA or UL to their Standard 53 (minimum). Having also Standard 55 is an added advantage. And just don't take the salesman word for it, go tho NSF/WQA/UL's website to check for yourself. If they don't have those certifications, just walk away no matter what they say. My 2 sen.

Is it certified by NSF or WQA and to which standard?

IMO, having those 2 standards mean it's already better than many other on the market. Only thing losing out is Standard 55 (UV sterilization).

How much are they selling the Nano filter?

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Added on November 29, 2011, 7:11 amUV light is to kill virus and bacterias etc in the water. Many people may not realize this: properly filtered water contains no chlorine so filtered water should not be kept too long. They should be consumed soonest possible.

Personally, I don't believe in ionized water mambo jumbo.

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Added on November 29, 2011, 7:14 amPersonally, I would avoid any filter that requires water discharge because it means it's using Reverse Osmosis to filter water. Do a 'google' and you will find plenty of article saying RO water (also called De-mineralized water) are bad for health. There is even a World Health Organization article saying the same thing. So why take the risk to damage your health?


This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Nov 29 2011, 07:14 AM

Many people fail to realize what is good for the laboratory can be bad for health. Highly purified water may be good for doing experiment in laboratories because the dissolved minerals in them can influence the outcome. Human, on the other hand, needed those same mineral to promote good health. That's why I said one should avoid any filter that discharges water because it can only mean one thing: RO water.

So how much is the tupperware replacement filters cost? And how many liters is it being certified for? Then you can work out the cost per liter and see which is cheaper.

Assuming cost per liter is the same. For 3K vs 2.6K, I will pick the eSpring just because it has UV light sterilization. Save the trouble of boiling water.

In human body, when it becomes too acidic, it will neutralize it. When the body get too alkali, it will neutralize it also. The body mechanism will automatically make sure it stays at a certain PH. So I don't think drinking water too alkali or too acidic will do anything because the body will make sure it does go out of range anyway.

If you have to boil, why not get a water filter that has NSF Standard 55 UV light sterilization? So much more convenience.

As for the water taste. It means the water no longer have Chlorine. Since it no longer have Chlorine, water should not be left unused for too long because without Chlorine as anti-bacteria agent, bacteria and virus can grow in it.

Yes, no point getting anything that doesn't have the proper certification plus cost a lot more.

As for filter, the main problem is, how do you know 750 gallons has passed through it and it's now time for replacement? That's why I think some sort of water measuring device/sensor is important and that's what I like about eSpring and the one from Philips.

http://www.tnc.com.hk/ap_root/family/ap_family_eng.html#4

AFAIK, only 2 faucet water filter has built in water flow meter indicating how many liters had been filtered, Amway's and Philip. IMO, this is very important because a filter that has long past it's replace-by date is worst than having no filter at all.

I may be wrong but I think that filter uses R.O. and if is does, it's bad for health. So what good can a product be if it's bad for health? Want to die faster, better jump off the building. Cheaper also.

This is the part I find most funny. If you have a household of 2 people, you change it once a year. But if you have a household of 20 people, you also change once a year? Where is the logic for that? Surely 20 people consume more water than 2 people. No?

So what is an average household water usage per day? How many person in an average household? There are no figure given so it's like saying a household with 20 person is using as much water as a 2 person household so both only need to change filter at the same time, aka, 12 months. This is ridiculous.

As for pressure drop before change? Drop by how much? 20%? 50%? 90%?. And if you do not have a pressure meter, how do you know how much it has dropped?

Instead, I agree with gkl83. It's either after certain number of months or after how many liters of water had been filtered. For example, it should state 12 months or 5000-liters, whichever comes first.

12 months because if left for too long, bacteria and mold etc can grow on the filter making it bad for heath.

5000 liters because things like active charcoal could have reach it's designed chemical absorbing capacity. AFAIK, there are only 2 models in Malaysia having meters to monitor this. And I would not even consider buying any filter that does not have this built in. Because once filter exceeded it's filtering capacity, water coming out of it may be even more dirty than ordinary tap water. My 2 sen.

All filter does one thing and that is, remove particle and dissolved chemicals from the water. So it stands to reason that:

1. when all the holes in the filter had been blocked by the particle, you need to clean (eg. backwash) or change the filter.

2. when the filter had reached it's designed chemical absorbing capacity (like Activated Carbon), you need to clean (which can't be done by user) or changed.

And how much particle or chemical that has to be removed is directly dependent on how dirty or how much water has passed through it (therefore you need a meter to measure that). These are all basic Form 5 science. And one can't argue with basic scientific facts.

So any salesman who said 'you need to change filter every 12 months' without understand how much water the family consume is talking nonsense. Or out to make fast money.

IMO, drinking things that can be seen by the naked eyes like mud suspension or sand particle does no harm to our health. But I find many people more per-occupied with removing these.

But drinking what can't be seen like dissolved chemical (some of which causes cancer) or bacteria (that's why I wanted a filter that has UV light) will. Yet I find people not paying more attention as to whether the filter can really remove chemical (like certification by NSF etc) or whether it has reached the end of it's life cycle (replacing them 12 months instead of 8 months due to more people in house). This is wrong priority.

My 2 sen.

This post has been edited by Optiplex330: Jan 22 2012, 02:10 PM

I think Amway's eSpring is rated at 5000 liter per filter. That works out to be about 10 sen/liter filtered water.

Philips has a filter that is almost as good as Amway's at about half the price. But nobody seem to be selling it. That's a real pity.

If you wanted to know the quality of any filter, just go to NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) or WQA website and make very sure they have the proper certification. Much better than asking in these forum or anywhere.

If water has strange smell, it means it can't even fulfill the lowly Standard 42. I will not consider any filter if it does not fulfill Standard 53 and preferably also Standard 55.

AFAIK, all RO making unit discharges water so it's actually a very wasteful way of making drinking water. It discharges much more than it made. And it's confirmed to be bad for health.

As for alkaline water. I consider that b*llshit science because I have never come across any article written by universities or any health authority saying it's beneficial. The same people who said alkaline water is good also believe there are Martian on Mars. The only exception would be water with high mineral content. Water with high mineral content will naturally be more alkaline and we all know mineral are good for health. But Alkaline water made by other method are all b*llshit.

And because mineral are good for health is also the very reason why W.H.O. organization specifically said water that are devoid of mineral are bad for health and R.O. water is one of them.

Yes. BTW I am curious. How much are they and their replacement filters? If you don't want to boil, try looking for the Philips filter.

Filter that are able to remove dissolved chemical can not be back washed. Filter that remove solid like dirt/sand can be back washed.