Our Rating
Summary:
4
Many whole-home filtration systems are designed to provide high levels of filtration, but at the expense of your flow rate. For larger families, the gallons per minute that a filtration system can process is important. The Aqua Pure Whole House Water Filtration System by 3M offers users a flow rate of 20 gallons per minute at its peak without compromising the amount of filtration that is received. This makes it suitable for even light commercial applications.
It also has the advantage in having a quick-change filter design. This sanitary process makes it extremely easy to swap out an old filter with a new one. You don’t even need to have a filter wrench lying around to get the job done.
Features of the Aqua Pure Whole House System
- It offers a standard 1-inch inlet/outlet connection so that installing the system is easy for most homeowners. It does not offer a ¾-inch connection, however, so may not work in every home.
- There is an electronic countdown timer that comes with this product which can be hung on the refrigerator or another magnetized area. This lets you know when it is time to change out your filter so that your water purity remains consistent.
- The system can filter out particulates that are as small as 5 microns, while supporting a total lifetime filter capacity of 100,000 gallons.
- It has been given a 304 stainless steel assembly, including the NPT head, for added durability and resistance to corrosion in high moisture environments. An integral mounting bracket is included.
We found that this filtration system does an excellent job for disinfectant odors that may come through the tap from municipal water sources. If you’re on a well or use surface groundwater, there is a noticeable reduction, but not elimination, of particulate contaminants. Rust and scale tend to be the two areas where this filter struggles just a bit to keep up with a heavy contamination level.
Our Observations of the Aqua Pure Whole House System
Many rural homeowners will benefit from this filtration system, but a pre-filter will maximize what this product can do. We’d highly recommend all well users to install a pre-filter for this product. The results are very much improved with that type of setup.
The housing for this system is nice and solid with the emphasis on stainless steel. You could save some cash by going with a high-grade plastic assembly on another model, but this was one of the better setups we got to see. You’ll need mounting screws for the bracket if they are needed for your installation.
For most hard water issues, we found that this product can perform for about 6 months. In some homes, up to 1 year of use may be achievable if maximum usage rates hover around 5 gallons per minute.
Our Grade: 9/10
The maintenance costs of this unit are really the only negative we can find with the Aqua Pure Whole House Water Filtration System by 3M. Assuming a household has a tough particulate issue, you’re looking at two filter changes per year. At $200 per filter at the time of this review, that’s a bit of a cost to take on. In return, however, your water is going to be much better.