There are many health benefits to drinking water…not the least of which is staying alive! But you may have heard, not all water is created equal. I was lucky enough to grow up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the water is good enough to drink straight from the tap. But having lived in Los Angeles, and currently residing in Sacramento, I know from firsthand experience that I’m going to need either filtered or bottled water. And sadly, in some parts of the country, it’s not even safe to drink the tapwater.

When DREO approached me about their RO (reverse osmosis) water filter, I was intrigued. I’d been using the ubiquitous Brita water pitchers for quite awhile. How would this countertop device compare?

The DREO RO Water Filter WF511 is a countertop reverse osmosis water filtering system. It retails for $299.99 and is available through Amazon.com as well as the DREO website. The machine is available in grey or white. It has the following features:

The DREO RO Water Filter comes mostly assembled, and it’s easy to put everything together and get started. The Stage 1 PPC Filter and Stage 2 RO Filter are pre-installed in the machine. If you’d like to use the optional Stage 3 Post Carbon Filter (which is for better water taste), you simply plug it into the bottom of one of the pitchers. DREO provides 2 pitchers, but sadly only one Post Carbon Filter. Thankfully, an additional Post Carbon Filter is only $9.99 on Amazon.

To operate the RO Water Filter, you plug in the machine, place one of the pitchers into position on its pedestal, and then fill the water tank to the “Max” line using tap water. Once you’ve replaced the tank onto the back of the machine, the water will automatically filter through the machine and fill up the pitcher.

When you want some water, you can either lift the pitcher from its pedestal and pour, or place a glass onto the spill mat and pour directly from the machine. When you do the latter, you can choose to auto-fill an 8oz, 12oz, or 16oz serving. Alternatively, you can simply press the water drop symbol on the touchscreen display once to start pouring water, and a second time to stop.

Interestingly, when you pour from the machine, it actually draws the water directly from the pitcher. Presumably, this is to take advantage of the Post Carbon Filter, should you have one installed. Once you’re done dispensing water, the machine automatically refills the pitcher to full.

I appreciated how easy it was to set up the DREO RO Water Filter. It probably took me longer to photograph the parts than it did to get up and running, even with having to run a full cycle of the tank for initial use before drinking any water.

Once that initial step was done (which also must be repeated when you replace the filters), it was time to taste. We all noticed a difference in the quality of the water, compared to the Brita pitcher that we’d been using. My girlfriend was an immediate convert; a big smile came on her face as she sipped the water. An even greater response came from her sixteen-year old daughter, whose eyes grew wide as she exclaimed, “is this what clean water tastes like?”

We’ve been using the DREO RO Water Filter regularly for over a week now. Our entire household loves the taste of the water, and it’s also reassuring to be able to look at the display and notice just how pure that water is. We also like that the tank holds approximately 3 pitchers worth of water, so we don’t have to refill it that often.

That being said, all of the filters and the tank take up a considerable amount of real estate on your counter. We don’t have a huge kitchen, so we had to do some rearranging to make room for the DREO RO Water Filter. It’s a testament to the quality of the water we’re getting that my girlfriend was more than happy to make the space, despite her initial reservations when I took the machine out of its box and she saw how big it was.

The DREO RO Water Filter has a fairly large upfront investment for the machine, but it should also operate for a considerable time without having to replace any filters. The three different filters are each rated at 6 months, 6-12 months, and 2 years. Thankfully the most expensive filter to replace, the RO filter, is the one with the longest lifespan.

If you’re looking for a water filtration device that will give you an exceedingly pure and tasty glass of water, then the DREO RO Water Filter is worth your time. It’s very convenient, and gives you real time monitoring of your water quality. I do wish they’d thrown in a second Post Carbon Filter to go along with the second pitcher, but that’s a fairly inexpensive purchase.

For more information or to purchase a DREO RO Water Filter, visit the DREO website.

DREO provided a unit for evaluation, but had no input into this review. As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small commission on a qualified purchase.

Source: geekdad.com