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This year the item that has been at the tippy top of my gift wish list is a home drinking water filtration system. Yup, I’m one wild and crazy party animal over here, wanting to get down with some clean water all day and all night. Don’t be embarrassed if you can’t hang with someone who slays like me. It can be tough to keep up, I know.

So…yeah….I want clean water. And I want it BAD. We’ve had a filtering pitcher for a long while in our home and honestly, it’s just not working out that great. We leave it out on accident (then the water isn’t cold) or we forget to refill it (and it’s a smaller pitcher, so it’s needs to be refilled after every other use). And when we are just getting back from a grocery store trip, it gets the boot to make room for all the stuff that has just been purchased.

It is time for a system that makes more sense for my family. We need filtered water on demand, as in, coming out of our faucet! Aquasana is a company that I researched quite a bit and really liked, and I was honestly relieved to see that with Aquasana, the price point for an under-the-sink drinking water filtration system is surprisingly affordable (it’s currently listed at $199).

Aquasana sent us a 3 Stage Under Counter System to install in our kitchen. This system does NOT require a professional for installation, with one important caveat: if you have a granite counter-top, like we do, you may not already have a hole in place for a filtered water faucet. In this case, contact a granite company (I called the folks who installed our counters) and they will come out and drill a hole for you for a nominal fee. Do not ask your plumber to do this because you need someone who knows exactly what they are doing and has the right tools. Otherwise you are risking having your granite get cracked, and that is not good!

After we had the hole drilled, my husband was able to follow the instructions and get the system installed in about 45 minutes. Through reading the included materials, we were pleased to learn that it comes with a one year warranty. Anytime you purchase something like this it’s good to know that the company stands behind the product!

How It Works

So how does this 3 stage system actually work? When you turn on your faucet, the water will flow from the pipe through the first filter of activated carbon. This steps get rid of A LOT of things that you don’t really want to drink. It is highly effective! Step 2 is an ion exchange filter. This stage catches some unwanted metals, as well as micro-pollutants that step 1 didn’t cover. Step 3 is a sub-micron filter that pretty much bats clean up and can catch particles and nasty components as small as .35 microns in size. These 3 filters, when working together, have been shown to reduce up to 97% of pesticides, VOCs, herbicides, lead, mercury and cysts that have been found in water. At the same time, important naturally occurring minerals are actually left in (calcium, magnesium and potassium). These results have been certified by both the National Public Health and Safety Organization and the American National Standards Institute.

Obviously filters are going to need to be replaced and if there was a workaround for this, I’d prefer that route because let’s face it, I need things to be EASY and I don’t like the idea of adding one more thing to remember and one more thing to buy to my list. But fortunately an alert light will display on the system to let you know when a filter is in need of replacement, so I don’t have to rely on myself to remember (because I wouldn’t remember, plain and simple).

I haven’t yet replaced a filter, of course, but it does look easy and doesn’t require any special tools. So when my filters come in the mail (because obviously I’ll be ordering online and NOT going to a store…just sayin’) I’ll be able to change them out on the spot. A filter is designed to last 6 months/500 gallons. A set of 3 replacement filters costs $64.99, but there is a discount offered if you sign up for automatic shipments every six months. It’s not exactly cheap, but I was already paying for charcoal filters for my water bottles, so I like this option better.

Can You Tell a Difference?
My husband and I each did blind taste tests on the other, where we put the filtered water in one glass and regular tap water in the other. We both correctly identified the filtered water because it most definitely did taste better. Success!

If you are tired of drinking water that doesn’t taste good, think about asking for Aquasana this year as a holiday gift. I’m absolutely thrilled with mine and am so glad I went for it.