Aquasana OptimH2O Reverse Osmosis Review

Product : Aquasana OptimH2O
Type : Reverse Osmosis Under Sink Drinking Water Filter
Filtration Stage : 4
Product Warranty :  2 year

  • Reviews by Existing Customers
  • Filtration Effectiveness on Rejection Ratio
  • Quality of the Product
  • Maintenance and Replacement
  • Installation Easiness
  • Cost Effective (Price/Value)
3.4

Summary

The Aquasana OptimH2O Reverse Osmosis System is not recommended as their reverse osmosis system is still couldn’t compete with it’s competitor in the factor of quality, cost and effectiveness. The OptimH2O is still in their early stage of development as this is the first reverse osmosis system that was produced by Aquasana. In addition, the initial and running cost is high due to ineffective filters which reduce the lifespan. Hence it is NOT RECOMMENDED. Check out some of the best reverse osmosis system guide for other great filtration systems.

Check Out Our Recommended System/div>

Background

Aquasana has been very successful in their whole house water filter systems. How well does the reverse osmosis system perform?


Aquasana OptimH2O Reverse Osmosis Review

Not A Good System

Aquasana OptimH2O Undersink

Sad to say that Aquasana is still lacking behind on their technology on the drinking water filters. For instance, the one and only reverse osmosis system from Aquasana, receive quite a number of negative feedbacks and complaints. Let’s take a look into this system.

The Aquasana reverse osmosis system also known as the OptimH2O is a combination of reverse osmosis and Claryum. Claryum is Aquasana’s filtration technology on reducing up to 67 contaminations for as high as 97%. It is widely used in it’s non reverse osmosis filtration system such as AQ-5300R.

Aquasana claims that their flow rate is reliable which will filled up 0.5 gallons per minute. However, it is contradicting with the reviews given by the existing owners.

Their daily production is just 11-32 gallons which is relatively lower than all of it’s competitor. Low production rate will lead to a low flow rate as the filter is unable to produce a decent amount of water for the day.

Filter replacement is relatively frequent as the Claryum filters is having a shorter lifespan. With this, it leads to a higher maintenance cost for this filter. The waste water is estimated to be 3.5 times production rate, which is 3.5 gallons of waste water every gallon produced.

In addition to the low flow rate that was mentioned above, a lot of customers complains on missing parts upon receiving the product. This delayed the installation process.

Technical Specification that you SHOULD KNOW

Below are the summarize technical specification that you should know before buying the Aquasana OptimH2O reverse osmosis system.

  • Water Pressure: 40-100 psi
  • Water Temperature: 48-100 F
  • Capacity: 11-32 gallons per day (Lower than average of 50 GPD)
  • Storage Tank Capacity: 3.2 gallons
  • Max TDS: 1000ppm
  • System Dimensions: 12″w x 14.5″h x 4.5″d

4 Stage of Filtration System

The Aquasana OptimH2O is a 4 stage filtration system which consists of the following.

Aquasana OptimH2O Filters

Stage 1: Activated Carbon – Reduce organic contamination such as bacteria, pesticide and VOCfrom the source water.

Stage 2: Reverse osmosis membrane 
– Reduce dissolved solid such as flouride, nitrites, radium which is smaller the 1 micron using the membrane.

Stage 3: Catalytic Carbon –  Removes odor and taste of chlorine, heavy materials such as mercury and lead from the source.

Stage 4: Remineralization Filter – Reinsert the healthy minerals and improve the pH of the water.

Aquasana claims that their OptimH2O filter reduce up to 95% of fluoride and 70 contaminations in the water as certified by NSF. Putting the reverse osmosis membrane in the second stage dramatically reduced the lifespan of the filter into half.

Installation doesn’t seems to be easy

The installation manual is pretty hard to understand and complicated. It might take a while to familiarize with the naming of the items.  In addition, the remineralization filter is separated from the main filter which means that drilling is needed to hang the filter separately.

Aquasana OptimH2O Undersink Installation

Tools that are required :

  • Tape Measure
  • Utility Knife
  • Screwdriver (Phillips)
  • 1/8″ & 7/32″ Drill Bits/Drill
  • Adjustable Wrench
  • Bleach
  • Masking Tape
  • Bucket

High Replacement cost due to Short Lifespan Filters

Aquasana OptimH2O reverse osmosis system is having a short lifespan in their filters as compare to other competitors. Suggested replacement timeframe is shown below:

  • Stage 1, 3 Carbon Pre-filter and Clayrum Filter: 6 Months
  • Stage 2 Reverse Osmosis Membrane Filter: 1 Year
  • Stage 4 Post Carbon Filter: 1 Year 

It is by far the most expensive reverse osmosis machine to maintain. If follows the suggested date on filter replacement, it will cost an average of $210 per year on replacement filter which is extremely expensive.

The Voice From Existing Owners

Majority of the owner aren’t very satisfied with this product. Mainly complaint on the effectiveness and efficiency of this filtration system. Let’s take a look what they say about this product:

PROS
+ I am pleased with this product and with the taste of the water from this filter.
CONS
It pours way to slow and the biggest part is how much water it wastes.
It requires constant upkeep and maintenance and is an absolute hassle.
Water flow is POOR. Takes too long to fill up a glass of water.
The installation was horrible! They didn’t send us one of the required parts the first time and the right parts the second time
The mineralizer does not help with the PH all that much. The water is about a 5.0 to 6.5 for acidity

Verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED!

Expert View:
The Aquasana OptimH2O is considered below average and would not recommend for the reasons below:

  • Low Flowrate: You will be frustrated with the daily production rate if you purchase this filter. It is the lowest among all.
  • Short lifespan filters: Inefficient filters are normally short in lifespan. Hence, it will required constant replacement to maintain the quality of the filtered water.
  • Expensive Maintenance: The ridiculously high maintenance will burn a hole in your wallet.

You wouldn’t want to pay $210 on yearly maintenance right? Check out our recommended reverse osmosis water filter.

10 thoughts on “Aquasana OptimH2O Reverse Osmosis Review”

  1. Hey Jay – Thanks for this excellent article, I have seen many article praising a product but this one is different and a good one. Keep it up also you clearly mentioned not to use it from the review, from your perspective and feedback from others what product would you suggest us in place of this which is affordable and reliable. Thanks Mana.

    • I wouldn’t recommend something that isn’t right for my readers. At least now you know that you should be looking for another water filter instead of this one. 🙂

  2. Hey Jay,

    Thanks so much for sharing. Where I live currently it is important to have a water filtration system in order to use our tap water. Otherwise, we’d have to use bottle water constantly. It is good to know about the honest truth about this brand.
    Is there a brand that you can name that has a more positive review?

    Thank you.

  3. Hi Jay,
    Thanks for the great product review! I like that you included all of the specifications and drawbacks such as expense to keep up with replacements and maintenance. Very helpful. Thanks for showing us another option that could work better as well.

  4. Hi Jay! What a great article, it is very detailed! It’s always good to know as much information as possible when it comes to buy a water filter. Thanks again for sharing this!

  5. I’ve never seen any of these water filtration systems. I live in New York and the water filters I’ve seen are the ones you put on the faucet and the pitchers with the built in filters. Learn something new everyday. Very informative review

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