I compared 5 stage vs 6th stage during my last review of the current reverse osmosis systems in the market. In that article, I mentioned how fast the RO home system market has grew. It was only 5 stage when I purchased mine but now there is 7 stage RO available. I have a great interest in knowing what new filtering capability the 7 stage RO from iSpring can offer so I thought it is a good time to do a review on it.
iSpring 7stage reverse osmosis system review
The iSpring 7 stage RO is based on their popular RCC7 series. The 2 filters they added is the remineralization filter (which I had already mentioned in my previous review) as well as the UV stage.
The remineralization filter is important because it helps to rebalance the PH level of the water. Most RO system tend to produce water that is not PH neutral due to the way they remove most of the minerals. This filter adds the minerals back to balance out the acidic nature of the RO water.
For the 7th stage. the UV stage’s main function is mainly to make use of the UV lights for removing virus and bacteria that are too fine for any of the existing filters. The good thing about this particular model is that there is a sensor to control the UV lights such as they only switch on when the water is flowing. This helps to control energy consumption and to prolong the life of your UV lights.
The output for this system is water that is around 13-16 PPM. That is a very good measure of how clean the water is. Usually, the TDM of a tap water is probably over a 100 and getting it to such low double digits is a testimonial to how powerful this reverse osmosis system is.
Capacity wise, it is health as the system can produce about 75 galleons of RO water on a daily basis. That amount should be sufficient for most family needs.
What are some cons of the 7 stage RO?
Everything has its pros and cons so this product is no different.
The first thing is of course the price. A 7 stage is obviously going to cost you more than a 5 stage RO system. Fortunately, the price isn’t that unreasonable. It cost around USD450 for this system which can be cheaper than other brand’s 5 stage reverse osmosis filters. If you get this from places like Amazon, there might be additional discounts to get you the under $300 price tag.
The other downside of a 7 stage RO system in the complexity of the installation works. With 7 filters, you really need to know how to connect each and every one of them such that it works as intended. If you have no plumbing experience, it might take you a few hours to figure everything out.
Finally, some of the filters are made of plastics that can’t stand too much pressure. If you are a big guy, you might potentially damage them during installation if you used too much force. I guess the company use it to reduce the manufacturing cost and they are not that bad really. It is just not very strong plastic so be careful during installation and everything should work out fine.
Conclusion
The iSpring 7 stage reverse osmosis is one of the rare system currently that offers such a comprehensive filtering system. Whether you need all the 7 stage depends on your preference. Personally, I don’t believe in the UV technology so I believe a 6 stage is sufficient or even 5 if it has the remineralization component like my Home Master. However, if you think UV lighting is important then this 7 stage RO system will be what you are looking for.