Are you looking for a good water filter at a comfortable price? There are hundreds of water filters out there from various brands at different prices.
But, if you’re looking for a top brand product combining stunning performance and affordable price, iSpring RCC7AK water filter can be a pretty comfortable choice.
- Today, in our post, we’ll be covering anything and everything you need to know about this flagship water filter. We’ll be finding out what’s so special about the filter.
Also, we’ll be providing you with a step-by-step guide on how to install it yourself. So, let’s find out more about this best-seller water filter, shall we?
Background: Who makes the iSpring RCC7AK water filters?
So, let’s start with some background checking of the product. If you’ve slightly researched various water filters in the market, you’re probably familiar with the brand ‘iSpring’ by now.
- Since its inception in 2005, the iSpring company has been serving high-quality drinking water to thousands of families in the United States.
So, you realize the brand has been in this industry for long to be credible enough. As a result, they’ve created a loyal fan base around the US.
All these have been possible due to the uncompromising product quality and amazing customer service. Over the past few years, the popularity of its products has skyrocketed.
Apart from its high standard, the company iSpring also makes sure you can avail their products at very reasonable prices.
- iSpring RCC7AK 6 stage water filter is the flagship water filter from the company. As a result, you can consider it the best of the best.
After coming into the market, the product is dominating and is one of the best water filters that you can bring to your home.
Highlighted Features
- Dimension: 15” X 6” X 19”
- Weight: 20 pounds
- No of Stages: 6
- Gallons per day: 75 GPD
- Faucet: Lead-free Nickel
- Filter type: Reverse Osmosis
So, here you can see all the highlighted features of the water filter. The filter can serve you up to 75 gallons per day.
All the different parts of the filter consist of materials that comply with the food grade. Besides, if installed properly, you won’t have to worry about any water leakage.
The faucet is made of Brushed Nickel. So, you won’t have to worry about Lead in the water.
All these are basic info about the filter. Let’s dive deeper and learn more.
Complete Formation: What are the filtration stages inside iSpring RCC7AK?
So, let’s talk about the various stages inside the filter. From the product’s full name “iSpring RCC7AK 6 stage water filter” you can easily realize that it comes with six stages to purify water.
- In the next few sections, we’ll be clearing up about all these stages. We’ll be covering what’s inside those? How do they work? And many more.
But, let’s first see at a glance what are the various stages inside the iSpring RCC7AK water filter.
- Stage 1 - Sediment Filter
- Stage 2- Granular Activated Carbon Filter (GAC)
- Stage 3- Chlorine, Taste and Odor Filter (CTO)
- Stage 4- RO membrane
- Stage 5- Inline Carbon Filter
- Stage 6- Alkaline & Mineral Filter
Now, let’s find out how all these stages work altogether to provide us clean, odorless freshwater.
The first three stages work to remove Dust, Chlorine, and taste
The first stage consists of a strong sediment filter. You can certainly guess what it does.
- The sediment filter clears out all the dust, clay, or sand particles that might come floating with the tap water.
This one can be particularly handy when you’re using water from a private well. Even tap water can sometimes contain microscopic particles from debris.
That’s why the first stage which is the sediment filter works like a sieve to trap those undesired particles.
After filtering out the dust particles, water flows into the next stage. This stage consists of a granular activated carbon filter.
- The activated Carbon fragments lure in harmful chemicals and attach those into the surfaces. To increase the surface area, Carbon is pulverized to produce small scraps.
Increasing the surface, the Carbon particles become more active. That’s why we call them granular activated Carbon. This one works to pull out the organic materials from water.
After this comes the CTO filter. The word CTO stands for Chlorine, Taste, and Odor. So, this one filters out most of the Chlorine, odor, and other chemicals from the water.
Again, in this case, you will see Carbon, but in a different shape. Here, you’ll find activated Carbon staying in a block like formation.
- The Carbon block remains on the pathway of water. And, therefore, the water has to flow axially through it. In turn, Chlorine, Sulphide, Fluoride- chemicals like gets trapped.
This one also gets rid of any bad taste or odor from the water. In this fashion, these three stages work to partially remove detrimental chemicals.
The RO membrane and the inline Carbon filter removes the rest of the pollutants
The sediment filter along with the GAC and CTO filters set up the pre-filter stage. They remove Chlorine, Arsenic, and most of the insoluble organic pollutants.
To get rid of the soluble particles from the water, there is the RO chamber. You can think of it as the powerhouse of the water filter.
- The word “RO” stands for reverse osmosis. This is considered the most effective purification process of water.
That’s why you’ll find one in most of the modern water filters out there.
The heart of the RO chamber is the RO membrane. This membrane has a special nature that allows it to filtrate the pollutants from the water.
What’s the specialty? The answer is it only lets water molecules pass.
- As a result, if the water contains substances that dissolve, those substances will not be able to pass the membrane.
If you’re still curious, you can visit our post here. In this post, we’ve explained the science behind reverse osmosis and how it purifies water. You’ll surely enjoy it.
After the RO membrane, there is another inline Carbon filter that works to remove all the remaining Chlorine and other chemicals if there is any.
- As the water might temporarily remain in the tank after the RO membrane, it also works to remove any dirt that might be inside the water tank.
In this way, the RO membrane and inline Carbon filter work to purify the water from the prefilters.
Remineralization stage: Adding minerals back into the water
The next and final stage is the alkaline or mineralization filter. As the name suggests, it restores the lost mineral contents into the water.
- Water that you get from the RO stage loses out most of the minerals like Calcium or Magnesium ions. These are some of the vital nutrients of our bodies.
So, adding minerals back into the water is very significant for health-related concerns. This also gives the water the right pH level.
- According to several research, water from RO filters can be acidic at times. So, this can pile up on your gastric acidity problems.
As a result, people now prefer these RO-alkaline filter combinations over just RO water filters. That’s why iSpring RCC7AK stands out among the crowd.
So, if you want to get fresh and clean water with adequate minerals, you should give this iSpring water filter some consideration.
Price analysis: Who should buy the iSpring RCC7AK water filter?
So, now let’s discuss how much you have to pay for the product. The current price of the product is very reasonable considering the brand and competitions.
- With such diverse features, DIY installation, warranty period, and easy maintenance, you can avail the product at 200 dollars only.
Now, who should buy the product? As you can see, the reverse osmosis membrane is at the heart of the filter.
So, if you want a reverse osmosis water filter for yourself, this one might be the best choice.
In addition to that, you can see the product also offers an alkaline water filter within itself.
- So, if you have issues of gastric acidity and looking for an alkaline filter, this one can be your solution. You can check out the product here at Amazon.
Pros and cons of the iSpring RCC7AK 6 Stage RO water filter
Pros
- Strong sediment filter
- Prefilters with activated Carbon
- Alkaline water at normal pH
- Lead free Nickel Faucet
- Longer Lasting
Cons
- No UV Sterilizer
Step by Step Installation Guide: How to install iSpring RCC7AK water filter?
Already bought the product, but finding it difficult to install in your house? No problem, we’re here to help.
- One huge advantage of the water filter is that you can completely install it by yourself. To assist you, it comes with a DIY installation guide as well.
In the next few sections, we’ll be showing you how you can install the iSpring RCC7AK 6 stage water filter by yourself. Before that, let’s first see what will be inside the package.
- RO machine head
- RO membrane
- Pre-filter housings and cartridges
- Storage tank
- Tank valve
- Feedwater adaptor
- RO faucet
- 4 colored tubing set
- Drain Saddle
- Housing wrenches
- Leak stop valve
- Spare O-rings and fittings
Now, let’s see our step by step installation guide.
Installing Prefilters & RO membrane
- First, you need to drill a ½ inch hole in the under sink tube. This will be used to flush out the wastewater.
- Then, you should place the faucet over the sink or over the counter. Make sure you use Teflon tape to complete the connection
- Now, insert the pre-filter cartridges into their respective housings. Make sure the sediment filter is in the transparent housing.
- Next, you should line up these prefilters top to bottom and align these into the pre-filter housing.
- You can use the housing wrenches to tighten, but don’t overdo it.
- Over the filter housing, you will find the housing for the RO membrane. It will look like a tube.
- Open the tube, insert the RO membrane and then, close it with the housing wrenches.
Using Quick connects and Teflon tape
- Now, you need to connect the tubes properly. At various joints, you will also need to place quick connects to multiple tubes together
- In all these cases, you need to make sure you have Teflon tape. Before inserting the tube, do 5-6 round wrap on the quick connect ports with the Teflon tape.
Installing Tank and tank valve
- Now, place the tank valve on top of the water tank. Then, join these with the wrench. Make sure you’re using Teflon tape before coupling these two together.
Installing the Feedwater adapter
- Now place the feed water adaptor on the end of the feed water tube and screw them together with Teflon tape.
Complete the formation using tubes
- Connect the feed water adapter to sediment filter (transparent housing) with red tube
- Connect the faucet to alkaline or mineral filter with blue tubing
- With the black tube, connect the drain water end of the RO chamber to the under sink or countertop drain saddle
- Connect the tank valve to the purified end of the RO membrane with the yellow tube
- Before starting, you need to flush carbons from the prefilters. For these, just connect one of the tubes at the end of the three prefilters
- Now, open the valve on the feed water adapter. Through the red tube, water will flow into the prefilters and flush out all the Carbon residues through the blue tube.
- You need to continue these for 5-10 minutes until the water becomes clear.
- After this, you need to flush out the water tank. To do this, stop the faucet. Now, the water will continue to accumulate into the water tank.
- The tank will take about 1-2 hours to fill up. After filling up the tank, open the faucet. At first, the water will look black.
- That’s because of all the residue dust inside the tank. After 2-5 minutes, water would be transparent. And, viola!!! Your installation is complete.
After you’ve completed the installation, make sure your filter looks like the picture shown here.
Maintenance: How often should you replace the cartridges of the iSpring RCC7AK water filter?
The last thing we want to shed light on is the maintenance of the water filter. As you can see, the water filter consists of a variety of cartridges, you need to replace them regularly.
But, how often? This one mostly depends on the quality and TDS (total dissolved solids) of the water.
- On average, the first sediment filter will last for about 6 months in the case of iSpring water filters.
The activated carbon blocks – GAC, CTO, and inline post Carbon filter can last up to 1 year. As a result, you should replace those within 1 year.
On the other hand, the RO membrane will last longer. If used properly, it will serve you 2 to 3 years straight.
Last but not least, you should replace the alkaline or mineral filter every 6 months.
All these apply for cartridges that come with the package. You can purchase 1-year, 2-year, or 3-year replacement filter packages on Amazon. Check out the table below.
- You should visit our post here where we’ve listed comparative analysis of duration of various water filter cartridges. Check it out.
| Model name | Lasts for | What does it include? | Image | Amazon Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iSpring F9K Filter Pack | 1 year | 2 sediment Filters, 2 GAC Filters, 2 Carbon Block Filters, 1 Post Carbon Filter, 2 Alkaline Filters |   | Check on Amazon |
| iSpring F19K75 Filter Pack | 2 year | 4 sediment Filters, 4 GAC Filters, 4 Carbon Block Filters, 1 RO membrane, 2 Post Carbon Filter, 4 Alkaline Filters |   | Check on Amazon |
| iSpring F28K75 Filter Pack | 3 year | 6 sediment Filters, 6 GAC Filters, 6 Carbon Block Filters, 1 RO membrane, 3 Post Carbon Filter, 6 Alkaline Filters |   | Check on Amazon |
Final words
In the end, the iSpring RCC7AK water filter greatly combines high-quality water at a very affordable price.
So, if you’re purchasing a new one, this one should be at the top of your choice.
- Also, you can visit our post here to see how many stages a water filter should have these days.
You can also visit our post here to find out some other top alternatives for the iSpring RCC7AK water filter.
I hope you like our post. So, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family. Also, if you have some queries, you can let us know in the comment section.
