Question:
I am shopping for a Reverse Osmosis undersink water filter. I havelooked at three:

- Eco-Water 3 stage, 3.1 gal tank, 30 gal/day production, $750 USDinstalled - seems expensive. NSF certified.

- KISS Duchess 3-stage, 2.5 gal tank, 30 gal/day production, $250 USDonline plus installation - I have never heard of this brand.KISS also has the Aristocrat 5000, 4-stage, 3.2 gal tank, 30 gal/dayproduction, $270 USD. No mention of NSF certification, can't find themon NSF.org, but seller claims that KISS International, Inc. says theyare NSF certified...

- Sears Kenmore 3 stage, 1.2 gal tank, 12 gal/day production, $250USD plus installation - seems too small for us. NSF certified.

Sears estimates installation to cost about $250.

Can you help me choose between these, or perhaps suggest another?

Answer: Those prices are outrageous.

I've installed two of the units from Costco. Theywere about $150. The one they sell now is the fivestage. It's the one on the Premier website for$249 (five stage). I installed them myself, but youshould be able to hire a handyman to do the installationfor $100-150 or so (if the sink already has a sparehole for the dispenser then the installation is prettyquick (1 hour or so). If you have to make a holein a porcelain coated iron sink then it's moreinvolved.

I've been using the Premier systems sold at Costco for the past nineyears. Costco sells the filters, as does the local hardware store,but the membrane has to be ordered from Premier.

I'm sure that there are good independent dealers, but I've seen toomany people selling those worthless non-Reverse Osmosis filters(including my brother-in-law).