Filtering your shower water in my opinion is pretty extravagant and because reverse osmosis filters need purging, a lot of water gets sent down the drain during filter flushing. Ultraviolet/UV treatment for whole house systems make sense but you shouldn’t drink that water unless it is treated with an Reverse Osmosis system. I suggest an under the counter kitchen filter for drinking water will satisfy most users. Please test your water if you can before treating it so you know something about your water quality.

Here’s some basic considerations:

You need some space for the cartridges under the sink.Note the fairly hefty size of the expansion tank which stores the pressurized filtered water). Make sure it is easy to buy replacement filters and I would buy at least one set with your kit. The ctx or reverse osmosis filter should come sealed in a thick plastic bag for later use. If you have treated water with chlorine in it, then the charcoal filter is needed (sometimes listed as optional or an add-on to the reverse osmosis membrane filter.) It is often smaller and located on top of the filter frame. Remember, the UltraViolet treatment systems are for micro-organisms and doesn’t help with arsenic or flouride.

Three installation issues are: one, you need to “tap” into the cold water somehow. The kits include a piercing tap in line connection but I recommend a “T” fitting and use an installer who can manage that. Two, the faucet install is low pressure and depending on your counter top or sink, can be easily installed. If you have a thick concrete counter and/or cannot install in the sink apron (drill through stainless steel  or use exsting hole for example), then the install could be more complicated. Three, the black line or purged water goes to the drain and is also a “tap” to the drain line from the sink. This can leak if not carefully done.

Note: the filters are reverse purged for cleaning which takes considerable water so don’t freak out if you hear it running when not in use and I recommend using the filtered water only for drinking to minimize waste and save on cartridge replacement.  Most UV systems have one or two large sediment filters placed before the UV light (sediment and hard water scale can reduce the efficiency of the u.v. light).

More in another blog………..