I have had a culligan under sink filter for many years and it has been great. I believe culligan still makes many good filter systems.

Aqua Pure also. What I did was put one under the sink - on the cold water side. Our drinking water is always filtered. Off of the filter is a tee - that goes to the ice-maker - here's where I have a shut off.

Since your doing a new build, maybe it doesn't have to be under the sink - maybe a more convenient spot to change the cartridge.

I would use copper tubing to the the ice maker.

One of many size Aqua Pure filters

That's a great thought geoffrey_b!

Previous owner installed RO system in our house and I'm so glad! Would not be w/o one. Geoffrey's suggestion to install in an easy access location is extremely important as it is a huge PITA to do biannual chore of replacing filters. I imagine the "water filter guy" charges a pretty penny b/c of how awkward of a chore it is. Convenient location changes maintenance chores from hard to easy.

Others less DIY inclined prefer the water guy to come weekly with The big 5 gal water jugs or go to Sams and buy cases and cases of water.

You have to evaluate how you want to allocate time/effort when it comes to pure water for your family. Here is our RO system

I'm embarrassed to say we don't remember last time filters were changed. Not being a favorite task, easy for DH to forget. Old filter on right, yuck

we also decided to mark maintenance date for an easier reminder.

i hope this helps w/your decision

The filter in bossyvossy's photos looks like our GE. We have been using the GE for many years. You can pick one up at Home Depot. We are on our second. The first started getting frequently waterlogged so we replaced it. Our current unit is about five years old and works well. Yes, it is a pain to change the filters, but we do it just once a year. And, we always mark the date of the new filters - same as for the AC filters.

I use a Mavea flowmeter to determine when to change my filters. I have a Everpure based system, the H1200. I had my residential water testers and this system handled most of the impurities that were are concern to me. Before purchasing a system, i would send a sample of the water in your home to a local lab. The local Water Authority should have a water analysis report on their website but I found quite a few variations in the results from my home and their report was about a year old when I reviewed it. I remember that is cost roughly $60. I still have a whole house water filter to attach to the incoming cold water to the house but that is phase three, there are always phases :-)

I agree with putting it in a convenient and accessible place. I am having my plumber move it to the utilities closet in September. The filters twist of easily but clearance in front and behind it would be nice. I replace the filters roughly every 8 months based on flow rate. My filter goes to a filtered water faucet and feeds the ice maker and hot water dispenser. I have a separate filter for the coffee maker.

Good luck!

homepro01, our local plumbing supplier is recommending the Everpure EF-3000.

DONT! Put it at your main either in a garage or basement. The filters are hooked up with cheap plastic hoses and the cases and the hoses fail. Especially if you don't change the filters regularly. If they fail in a basement or garage they won't damage your living space.

How do I know?? One day ours exploded under our kitchen sink. The cap blew straight off. we are lucky we were home but in the maybe 2 minutes it caused about $5k in damages because there was a basement.

The filters are hooked up with cheap plastic hoses and the cases and the hoses fail.

Use copper tubing - up to where the braided stainless steel faucet lines connect. These are 'point of use filters' - you can't put them in the basement.

When I was younger, I did a lot of HVAC work. Installed many of these filters on ice machines. I never had a filter body fail.

We had a dual filter setup from sears hooked to a side tap on the island that never stopped tasting like plastic. It was a waste. We did a partial kitchen last summer and research lead me to the 3M Aqua-Pure Under Sink - Model 3MFF100 on the cold side of the prep sink. Love it. Water taste great - use it for prep, coffee pot, cooking water, water bottles, and general hand washing with a turn of the handle (its a single control faucet). We do have a filter in the fridge for ice and cold water but it's nice not to have to open the fridge door for water now.

@stevep2005: Yes, Aqua-Pure is a well designed filter. I use the 'sediment and taste' filter with activated charcoal. 3M bought Auqa-Pure several years ago - so it must be a quality product.

We've had the Everpure, (now Pentair) under our kitchen sink for 30 years, never a leak or problem. Easy filter change once a year. It is also hooked to our ice maker via copper tubing...

Karen,

As stated, get a water analysis and then select the filter configuration that works for your water. I also would get a filtered water dispenser. The filters are expensive and using it for hand washing was not the goal. I have filtered faucets from Waterstone. Mountain plumbing is also well regarded.

Good luck!

Google under sink water filter failures. You will see the amount of class action law suits.

The good thing is that we are putting it on an outdoor ice maker, so if there ever were a leak, there will be minimal damage with stainless steel cabinets and travertine decking.

Karen, outdoor temps may accelerate degradation of lines but it would seem using copper might nip risk in the bud. Easy solution.

bossyvossy it's Charleston! Very mild temps for winter. I will inquire with my builder about copper lines though.

There are a few options online that are good. I have an under the sink filter plus a small pitcher in case I want to drink water and not go downstairs. I try to cut on the plastic so it's important to have alternatives. I have a Home Master TMAFC Water Filter System under my sink and I am super happy with the way it works. It's a little bulky and you have to do a technical check up on it once a year but it's still better then to drink tap water. I also bough a water softening system for my bathroom just because I don't want to wash my hair with really rough water. I've been looking online for the best system (I've been using this as reference:purewaterguide.net) and honestly ever since I installed it I noticed that I have to use less hair products (conditioner masks) and plus I am not losing as much hair as in the past. So I feel like it's a very nice addition to any household.

There are quality fittings, quality polyethylene tubing (various colors), and quality filter and RO housings that may be purchased. I have never had one leak unless I assembled it incorrectly, much less explode. (House water pressure should be regulated, if high.) I did have a transparent (cheap HW store) line to my centrifugal humidifier harden and fail after being illuminated for 10 years by my kilowatt metal halide plant light. I don't expect the black PE replacement tubing to have that issue.

Notwithstanding the leakage explosion history, risk analysis suggests belt and suspenders design, so water leakage alarm/auto shut offs are called for to protect floors and "stuff" sitting on floors.

The complex of devices and tubing in this photo compose most of the core pat of my RO system. This system feeds faucets at three sinks, a freezer ice maker, and said centrifugal humidifier. It has pre-filtering, of course, as well as pre-heating, and feeds storage tanks in two locations. Except for copper tubing in one stretch where damage is possible, all of the tubing is either 3/8 or 1/4 polyethylene. Fittings are John Guest or similar. Permeate pumps are ERP-500 (much quieter than ERP-1000). RO control and RO filters by SpectraPure. Heating control by bayite with further modifications. Leak alarm and shut off in various locations is by Floodstop.

The point is that here and in other locations there are a lot of opportunities for tubing and fitting failures, and they haven't happened where appropriate parts are used.