We called customer service before ordering, they recommended a ph test to make sure our well water was within range. Once confirmed, we ordered the filter, a few days it showed up and the install was very straightforward. Followed the directions, lubed the o-zrings and overcame the temptation to over tighten as the directions pointed out. Plugged it in and no leaks, let it sit 24 hours then performed a backwash. Big improvement over what we had, no more smell, almost two weeks later and no orange build up in the sinks and toilets. Would definitely recommend.

When I initially installed this unit it wasn't quite getting all of the iron out so I contacted the seller for help. They were incredibly helpful and shipped 2 test kits, free of charge, to help me diagnose what was going on. Turns out the ph of my well is low and that presents a challenge in getting all of the iron out. But, their level of service didn't stop there. They followed up with their technical team and sent some additional media for me to add to the filter. This worked and I couldn't be happier.

They call their company Aplus water. I can't think of a more fitting name for a company with such good service. A+ from me!!

Performance: this product does what it is supposed to do. There are a couple of issues. I) the installation instructions are poor, you have to call the company to get clarification on installation. They are helpful. I don't like the way after Re-generation you get a blast of air out of the faucet and/or toilet at first use in the morning. There has to be a solution to fix this issue.

Background:

Our house was built early this year and our well report indicated that we have pretty high iron in our well water. After installing this filter I've no issues thus far. We've been using it for 5 months now. The guy who installed our well pump quoted us for installing 4-5 different filters that were supposed to remove the iron for $4000... I did a little research and decided to give this one a try... so far I'm very glad I did.

Does it work?

So far it appears to be working great. I had ordered this a little too late and my water needed to get hooked up to pass inspections so they ended up hooking up the water to the house with no filter. Within a couple days all the toilets started to get an iron stain which was disappointing. Lucky the stain isn't hard to remove with a pumice stone and some iron remover from home depot. I paid my plumber a couple hundred dollars to hook it up in the following order: Well --> Iron Filter --> Pressure Tank --> House
to ensure that no iron was getting into my house. After the filter was setup with a working Fleck controller (See installation issues) I used the following water test a couple times and all tests showed a normal iron content (I haven't submitted my water to a lab to actually see how much iron remains but this is good enough for me.

Price:

I looked into several Iron filtering options and this seemed to be cheapest. My neighbor had a local company install an Iron filter and he paid over $5000. I was quoted $4000 by the company that installed my well pump and it required us to purchase new filter inserts every year which were several hundred dollars. From other reviews I read this filter seemed to be the best option for the price.

Installation Issues:

Installing the controller to the tank is super easy and there was no issues. I paid my plumber a couple hundred dollars to hook up the plumbing which you can see in the pictures so that part was easy as well :). The line coming from the well goes through the filter and then it goes to the pressure tank. The issue that I had was with the Fleck controller. The controller has a little plastic gear that spins around inside of it that controls when the flush drain is open/closed. The gear wasn't aligned correctly so the drain wouldn't close when it was in normal operation. We were still able to use the filter and it worked but water was constantly flowing down the drain, and quite a bit of it. I emailed the company and the promptly replied and gave me instructions on a few things to try to resolve the issue. Which I tried with no success. I called them and explained that I was still having issues and so they said that it was most likely a bad O ring and said they would send me some new ones for me to replace. This was when I disassembled the controller and learned about the gear. I was a little annoyed that I had to do this and then a little more annoyed when they didn't expedite the O rings to me. After replacing the O rings and the problem still persisting I called them again and let them know that I was still having issues. This time I asked them to please just send me a replacement Fleck controller which they did and they paid to have mine shipped back. After installing the new controller everything worked fine. I would give 5 stars if not for these issues.

Overall:

So far I'm very happy that I went with this filter and saved myself a lot of money. After 5 months of use I haven't had any iron stains nor have I had to do any maintenance on the filter so I'm loving it.

Having read several "just okay" reviews I decided to pull the trigger on this anyway and WOW.

First off, know that this will need a good 2 or 3 full regenerations (this will take about half a day in total) before the Katalox stops making the water milky. After that it's good to go. It installs just like a standard softener which takes all of about 10 minutes if you're using flex lines. It's dead simple.

The difference this thing makes is phenomenal. I cleaned all my tubs and toilets with iron-out shortly after this was installed. We had problems with all of the above going cheez-it orange in under a week. Seriously, our shampoo bottles were horrifying.

I've had this in for almost 2 months now and there is not a trace of orange in sight. The water that used to taste like a mouth full of pennies is now absolutely refreshing, odorless, and crystal clear.

The only beef I have with this is that the air intake spits a little bit of water every time the regen cycle starts. I have resolved this by replacing the little filter with a small (3 or 4 inch) snorkel of half inch plastic pipe which is ample to catch this water where it is sucked back in seconds later.

I have also seen and read stories of how this might totally plug with iron sludge in a few years. But see, I have no issue twisting the tank off, dragging it upstairs, hosing out the catalyst and dumping in some fresh Katalox Light every few years just to keep it working. It certainly costs a LOT less than a peroxide system and it works fantastically. I will try to update this review in a few years to let you know how it's going and whether that is necessary.