Anyone use an Amway eSpring?

[attrayant]

Distillation is not perfect. Volatile organic compounds have a low boiling point and can evaporate into the distillation chamber along with the water vapor. In fact all you home brewers out there already know that grain alcohol can be made by distillation.

To completely (well, 99%) remove VOCs from a water distillate, you need to add a carbon filter afterwards.

I'm still in favor of the much cheaper and more effective reverse osmosis method of filtration.

Here's a sales pic I found online:

It has some handy features, like the UV light coming on when the water starts flowing), but I really don't see anything that justifies the price tag. I wonder how much the replacement cartridges and UV bulb are.

[h90]

Distillation is not perfect. Volatile organic compounds have a low boiling point and can evaporate into the distillation chamber along with the water vapor. In fact all you home brewers out there already know that grain alcohol can be made by distillation.

To completely (well, 99%) remove VOCs from a water distillate, you need to add a carbon filter afterwards.

I'm still in favor of the much cheaper and more effective reverse osmosis method of filtration.

Here's a sales pic I found online:

It has some handy features, like the UV light coming on when the water starts flowing), but I really don't see anything that justifies the price tag. I wonder how much the replacement cartridges and UV bulb are.

Therefor on proper distillation you remove everything with a lower and higher boiling point.

[angelman]

Previously I recommended the unit. I would like to add something. I highly recommend a whole house filter as well. After the water meter. If you have a storage tank with pressure pump, a whole house filter before the tank, and one or two after the pressure pump. Overkill? Maybe, but I have never been sorry. The amount of MUD it sometimes captures is amazing. Saves the tank, system in the house AND your wonderful expensive Amway water purifier. The bad?side is that water filter cartriges in Thailand cost double what they are worth. I use only 1 micron or 5 micron, in combination.

[i claudius]

Had one for two years it's really good didn't want it at first now wouldn't be without it

[Strangebrew]

I made my own water filter plumber a pipe to a grape work terrific no wineing from me.

[thaipod]

Just had some friend of the wife give a demo of the Amway filter and found it very expensive 29000 Baht (Amway member) plus 4-5000 for the replacement filter every year .

At present I have normal Carbon - Resin filter which goes into a Carbon - Resin, ultraviolet osmosis water treatment system . The cost of the osomosis system was about 12000 Baht and the normal filter maybe half the cost. This system works great and change filters once a year around 1000 Baht.

One thing I did'nt like was the tubes coming off the kitchen tap and taking space on my bench.

[Guitar God]

I don't have any experience with the Amway unit but I have studied test results for other water filters and saw huge differences in their efficacy. One model actually had a higher ppm output of one heavy metal. The only way to tell how good the filter is is to test the output water. RO filters can be had for a reasonable amount but be aware that if you drink only RO water you will not be getting minerals your body requires.

[Alan34]

Yes, it works. But the espring is really an over-engineered and ridiculously expensive device. The electronics at the top generates a high frequency signal that is inductively coupled to the UV lamp which is inside a sealed container, for no apparent reason. It isn't a "computer". Think about it - make a glass container like a jar which has an ordinary UV tube going down the middle, powered by a normal choke and mains electricity. It is a very simple thing to make and very cheap. What on earth is the point of having such a complex and unreliable system?

The carbon filter is very small relative to anything else I've seen on the market, and while effective, it doesn't last very long, usually about 3-4 months, and is incredibly expensive. It is no better or worse than any other activated charcoal filter, they all remove the same chemicals. But most filters have a carbon volume of 10 or more times that of the espring and can be replaced very cheaply - activated carbon is sold in most major stores for 100-200 baht a kilo. 5000 baht is ridiculous.

If you live in Thailand or most of Asia, you can buy water at less than 1 baht a litre from machines in the street which combine carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, and UV treatment. Or buy a proper filter from Tesco's.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Alan34

[Sheryl]

I have been using Pure Nuvo countertop filter to purify rain water for years and vety happy with it. I forget what ir cost but nothing near what you mention. The filter piece lasts 6-12 months (l pur thr water through a strainer first, increases filtet life by catching any large particles).

This is for drinking rain water. If I were getting the water from the tap I'd probably buy a filter that attaches directly to the tap.

[JAS21]

We have had one since 2007. Yes it was expensive ... the cartridge seems to last the best part of one year, there are three of us drinking the water. We are close to Bangkok Water Company anyway so probably don't really need one. We cook with unfiltered Bangkok Water.

I note that many water filters here also soften the water ... I always thought that 'hard' water was better for you health wise.

[Jessi]

Just had some friend of the wife give a demo of the Amway filter and found it very expensive 29000 Baht (Amway member) plus 4-5000 for the replacement filter every year .

At present I have normal Carbon - Resin filter which goes into a Carbon - Resin, ultraviolet osmosis water treatment system . The cost of the osomosis system was about 12000 Baht and the normal filter maybe half the cost. This system works great and change filters once a year around 1000 Baht.

One thing I did'nt like was the tubes coming off the kitchen tap and taking space on my bench.

I was told 30,000B for the Amway filter and told them to put it where the sun dont shine.

Consumers affairs in OZ tested water filters some years ago and Amway wasnt that good, like most Amway products they are very over priced because of the MLM.

I use the machines on the side of the road @ 1B a litre.

Edited September 18, 2015 by Jessi