Waterdrop UA-5Y 5 Years Under Sink Water Filter System, Ultra Long Life, Reduces Lead, Chlorine, Bad Taste & Odor, Under Counter Water Filter Direct Connect to Kitchen Faucet

Most people can install this themselves as long as they have more up to date plumbing.

Let me preface this by saying this is my second time buying this exact filter from this company. I bought one for my first apartment and it outlived my stay there. I moved into a new apartment and purchased it again without hesitation. Water taste? GONE. 100%. The strong chemical taste and smell are completely gone. I live in Fort Worth, Texas, where the municipal water is treated with chloramines and has a higher, alkaline pH (this is publicly reported in the city’s water quality data). If you’re sensitive to taste and smell like I am, you’ll immediately notice the difference. Design and installation: It’s long, slim, and takes up very little space, which is perfect for apartment living. I bought the quick-connect version and installation was quick and straightforward. It does require a few basic tools, but the process is simple and well explained. Important install tip: Keep filter replacement in mind when choosing the install location. You’ll need enough clearance underneath to remove it. Replacement is a twist-and-pull-down motion, so don’t install it too close to the cabinet floor. Planning ahead makes future filter changes easy. (Leave like 2-3 inches open) Practical and environmental bonus: I’ve stopped buying bottled water. A 40-pack at Walmart is around $6 and it goes fast. This filter cost me $129.99, and spread over about 5 years that’s roughly $26 per year, which is far cheaper than constantly buying bottled water. On top of the savings, it significantly reduces plastic waste, which matters to me. (Although I would never let it reach max capacity to be honest) Final thoughts: I genuinely love this filter. It’s effective, compact, easy to replace, and ideal if you live in an apartment and don’t have the option for a whole-house system. (Reverse osmosis still the best thing BUT I CANNOT AFFORD IT) Everyone should have one. My only wish is that I had the same filtration in my shower as well. Highly recommend.

Improved our water taste immediately

I have one primary criteria for a water filter: the water coming out the other end needs to taste good. This filter was a smashing success in that regard. The next criteria are ease of filter changes and ease of installation. Changing the filter is dead easy, but I'm not anticipating having to do that for 5 full years. My last house had a 4-stage RO filtration system and changing those filters was a royal pain, involving wrenches, buckets, towels to mop up spills, etc. So, through painful experience, it was one of the things I looked for this time around. I want to be able to change a filter in 3 minutes - not 3 hours. Installation was very easy, too, but because I am using this as an in-line filter for our refrigerator, it did not come with the correct fittings. It assumes you are installing it in the cold water line under your kitchen sink, and those are typically 3/8" compression fittings - which understandably match what is on this unit. A fridge, on the other hand, uses 1/4" compression fittings for its water line (as well as the valve in the wall behind the fridge) and so I had to make a run to my local plumbing store to purchase two adapters - one for the inlet and one for the outlet - for a grand total of $8. I also found that the threaded connection at the water supply valve leaked unless I used the Teflon tape that (thankfully) ships in the box. I torqued everything up and observed it for 30 minutes: no leaks. This is important since it will be behind the fridge where slow leaks wouldn't be obvious until the floor and/or walls were ruined. So, why TWO filters for my fridge? Simple. The one inside my Whirlpool fridge (Everydrop EDRARXD1) is both expensive and it doesn't do a very good job. I had to fire it. Nothing personal. They retail for $60 and need to be replaced every 6 months. So that's $120/year - all for the privilege of bad-tasting water. And, both the water and the ice in my fridge tasted horrible, even with regular filter changes. So, for essentially the same price, I purchased this 5-year filter and put it in-line with the fridge. Now, I have dual filtration: the first is this one and then the one inside the fridge. I figure that the fridge filter will no longer have to do much of anything, since this filter does all the heavy lifting, so I do not plan to change it - it can act as a pass-through piece of pipe for the next 5 years. After installation, I ran the water for 5 minutes as instructed and then had my wife and a guest in our house taste the water. Moment of truth... We all agreed it was pristine. No odor. No taste. Mission accomplished.

So far so good! I got tired of hauling water jugs into the house and always wondering if the filters at water dispensaries are actually replaced so I took a chance on this filter and I’m very happy with it, it was easy to install and it won’t need replacing for 5 yrs.!