Waterdrop K19 reverse osmosis

dfk41

The machine turned up today. It arrived well packaged and even for a retard like me, was easy to set up. She is 10 inches from front to back where the Osmio is roughly 13. I have not measured but she looks a little taller. Initially you fill the water tank and the machine flushes the filter through three phases. This requires you to empry the water out of the tank then refill with fresh. Once the flushing cycle completes, you pull off 1.5 litres of water twice, emptying and filling the reservoir when it tells you to. Once the machine switches from the cycling symbol to displaying a number which allegedly is the TDS she is ready to go. The manual says the taste is optimal after 12 litres so I am just pulling some though now. There are a range of multifunction buttons allowing you to start/stop, set the water temp from room temp, 45, 65, 75 and 95. If you press the hot water function you have to turn off the child lock. The hot water is instant (and hot)! You can set it to dispense from 150 mls up to 750 mls.

Tomorrow I have some test strips and a TDS pen, then I hope to get many happy hours of motoring!

dfk41

I ran a few tests this morning. WIth a fresh, full tank of water (5 Litres) I decanted 3.75 litres of filtered water off. The water tank has a compartment in it to divide the waste water from the fresh. Using a hand pump I took 1 litre out of the waste side. There was still water in both compartments and the only way of getting it out was to pour it out. This produced another 465 mls.

I then poured some filtered water to use my TDS pen on and the result was a reading of 002. The TDS of my tap, is 137.

I then made a cuppa tea. I like my tea very hot, at a stage when you can only take very small sips. In an unscientific way, I would say the tea was not quite (by the smallest of margins) as hot as a kettle, but still hot enough for me only to be able to take small sips. It says the hot water is instant……yep, definitely. The highest setting is 95 degrees so common sense says that it cannot match the performance of a kettle!

It is early days yet, but it seems quite easy to live with. On a cost comparison:

Osmio Zero £445 and if you buy their cartridges on offer buying 4 for £45 each, then over 5 years the total cost is £625

Waterdrop £280 plus 4 additional filters @ £70 each (bought annually as there is no bulk discount) £560

So, over 5 years, all things being equal there is a £65 difference. Obviously the Osmio is a known quantity whereas the Waterdrop is not. They currently have £80 off the retail price. Whether that is normal or not I have no idea!

JahLaza

dfk41 curious as to the wastewater. It’s sent to a separate compartment? Do you remove this compartment and empty it or how is it emptied? How do you know that it is full and needs to be emptied?

dfk41

JahLaza Yes, the waste is sent to a compartment within the body of the water tank. I will try and take a picture next time I fill it. The machine produces L1 on the display panel telling you to empty out. When you lift the lid the waste water section is full and the fresh water section, all but empty. Simply tip the whole lot away and refill. Now, when you refill you actually fill both compartments so I am presuming that the fairies help out! I have no idea how it seems to work but it does!

dfk41

I said I would post a photo of the water tank next time it needed changed. As you will see, the waste water is sectioned off.

DavecUK

Now I have seen the photo. It could be that is has a solenoid that uses the waste water first and once that’s empty, switches to the main part of the tank, which of course can then dump back into the waste tank.

If the solenoid was set so when it was drawing from the waste tank, it put the rejection water in the main tank and once the waste was empty and it operated, the rejection water is then pumped into the waste tank. This would prevent the concentration getting ever higher.

The initial small amount going into the main tank wouldn’t make much difference.

DavecUK

DavecUK Now I have seen the photo. It could be that is has a solenoid that uses the waste water first and once that’s empty, switches to the main part of the tank, which of course can then dump back into the waste tank.

If the solenoid was set so when it was drawing from the waste tank, it put the rejection water in the main tank and once the waste was empty and it operated, the rejection water is then pumped into the waste tank. This would prevent the concentration getting ever higher.

The initial small amount going into the main tank wouldn’t make much difference.

After talking with David and him running some tests, no they have not been that clever. It simply looks like a clever solution, but isn’t really doing anything.

MattH

Question, can you order the replacement filters - when browsing their site there seemed to be comments concerning the availability of them ?

dfk41

MattH I think many of those comments (but I might be wrong) were US based. I have not had to think about ordering yet as I am hoping they might be on promotion at some point. They do have a warehouse in Manchester to service UK customers. I ordered mine on a Monday afternoon and it turned up on the Thursday morning. If there seems to be any issues I will post them on here as I would hate anyone to order a unit based on my experiences then having their own issues!

I know their stock comes on the slow boat from China so it maybe possible for things to get held up. The answer is to order in advance!

dfk41

DavecUK I do not really understand the working side of this machine. For my simple needs, it seems to produce filtered water with a low TDS reading, which is exactly what I bought it for! Does anything else really matter or am I missing something?

DavecUK

dfk41 I’m just correcting my incorrect assumptions in the earlier post….so as not to mislead people.

dfk41

DavecUK It is not a problem. Fairy Dust does not exist, but the point I was making, was no matter the process, the end result is the same (I think)

dfk41

Another couple of months on from my last post. I am still really happy with my unit. I am not going to bang on with needless woffle but it’s good points are:

compact

buttons to operate easy and intuitive

filters quickly

display panel

seems to produce RO water

Waterdrop. customer services are a pleasure to deal with

Bad Points

I am struggling to think of any.

The cost of these units varies as to when you look at it. On their website they are generally discounted to about £279.99 but I have seen them cheaper. The replacement filters are £70 and I have not seen them discounted yet. Although a Chinese/international operation you deal with customer services wherever they might be but they do have a UK address for dispatch. Bearing in mind the Osmio Zero that I previously owned is now £445 to buy, that is a hefty saving to be made.

Does anyone other forum member own one?

dfk41

A few weeks since I posted on the Waterdrop. Still chugging away. I check the TDS output every few weeks and it always seems to be low enough not to worry. @DavecUK also has a unit and he noticed that if he draws off some hot water then immediately checks the TDS it shoots up. Perhaps the cleverer folks amongst us can explain why!

For me, if the unit lasts as long as my Osmio Zero did (I bought it in August 2020 so about 45 months) then I will be well pleased

DavecUK

dfk41 The key observtions I have of the unit compared to the Osmio.

The TDS is no where near as low, usually around the 30 or 40 mark as a minimum I can achieve running a lot of water through, the Osmio can go down to 5. So waterdrop membrane filtering is not as effective
Hot water is not as hot as Osmio and there is about twice as much cold water initially out as in an Osmio
Controls are nice and modern and it has a smaller footprint and nicer look. It’s a real irritation to have a child lock out for hot water, which cannot be disabled. Osmio controls are older, but more convenient, dosing control on the Osmio is slightly too much or loads and not as good as Waterdrop…but the Osmio standard dose can be stopped as required by twisting the knob. This is more reassuring than using a touch screen.
The cup/drip tray is plastic with a stainless insert, the osmio one is plastic with a metal effect platic insert, waterdrop wins hands down here.

Overall the Osmio is more expensive, but the better unit functionally, the waterdrop is fine for those on more of a budget and is the better unit aesthetically and footprint wise..

MWJB

DavecUK The TDS is no where near as low, usually around the 30 or 40 mark as a minimum I can achieve running a lot of water through, the Osmio can go down to 5. So waterdrop membrane filtering is not as effective

Is there any remineralisation on the Waterdrop? Do you have the remin cartridge in the Osmio?

dfk41

DavecUK The TDS is no where near as low, usually around the 30 or 40 mark as a minimum I can achieve running a lot of water through, the Osmio can go down to 5. So waterdrop membrane filtering is not as effective

I am not finding that on mine. Whenever I test the water it is usually around 12 to 16. Maybe Dave’s water has a higher hardness starting point than my water. But I think, at the levels we are experiencing, scale should not be an issue. I would expect the Osmio at a couple of hundred quid more would outperform the Waterdrop in some areas. I do not use it for hot water very often so am not concerned by that. I bought an Osmio as it is easier to treat the water you put in to your machine than deal with the consequences and as long as they both do that, I am happy!

DavecUK

dfk41 I am not finding that on mine. Whenever I test the water it is usually around 12 to 16. Maybe Dave’s water has a higher hardness starting point than my water.

Your water is much softer than mine, mine (TDS) is close to 320 in summer and 280 in winter. yours is about 100. The Osmio with no remineralisation cartridge could achieve 3-5, or a rejection rate of around 99%on the membrane, the water drops rejection rate is at best 90% and worst can me literally 80% or less!

MWJB Is there any remineralisation on the Waterdrop? Do you have the remin cartridge in the Osmio?

No there isn’t and even with the remin cartridge, it can’t quickly put back a lot of minerals if large quantities are being drawn straight after filtering a large amount.. With the water drop I pulled lots of water out and measured the TDS of a second or 3rd pull of water, to try and e;iminate what I believe is the TDS increasing effect of a copper, or other metal, instant water heater.. The Osmio uses a ceramic heater.