"Zero Water" Pitcher Review

CamoChameleonsHuman

Chameleon Enthusiast
Corona, corona, corona.... Once upon a time it was my favorite beer..... Now it's the cause of store shelves being left empty....

I hit a predicament one day. I was completely out of distilled water for my humidifier and misters and I went to Walmart to purchase my usual 9 gallons a week. But wait all the idiots bought it all up!!!??? So I was left with finding a new solution. I thought to myself a Pur or a Brita filter will definitely be better than putting straight tap water through my Mistking. Then I stumbled upon this Zero Water filter pitcher that claimed to take your tap water down to 000 TDS which is equivalent to distilled water and RO water using a 5 stage Ion exchange filtration system. I was skeptical to say the least. I did some quick phone research and turns out the company and the filters are legit. They even filter out Lead and other nastiness that the Britas and Purs can't.

I bought the 12 cup pitcher (actually only hold 11.5 cups) which comes with a filter and a TDS tester which ran me $30. The filters need to be replaced after the tester reads 006 TDS. Now the length of time 1 filter will last you is entirely dependent on what your tap water reads on the TDS before its filtered. My tap water usually tested in between 175 and 230. I was able to get a filter to last me 2 weeks and granted me almost 29 gallons of filtered water in that time (bought a Mistking and needed to fill that reservoir). Each filter costs on average $15. And here in Colorado 1 gallon of distilled water costs about 98¢. Which would of cost me $29. So I saved $14 just on water using this filter. Not to mention the plastic jugs I'm no longer buying and throwing away on the daily. So I'm saving on the environment too. Now of course this pricing doesn't include the price of my tap water but the way I see it is I'm already paying for tap water anyways so I'm not going to see a drastic change on my bill from this.

I love this thing. But it has a few caveats. It takes about 30-40min just to fill the 11.5 cup pitcher. You'll need to fill the top reservoir twice in this time to completely fill the pitcher. The filters can be hard to find and range in price online. Usually the more filters you buy the cheaper they are individually. The spout on the bottom is very slow as well and usually causes more messes than success.

This isnt going to be for everyone. Maybe just the people like me who has only 2 chams and 3 new Caledonian geckos. Who rents their home and doesn't buy so putting in a huge or really nice RO system isn't ideal.

https://www.zerowater.com/index
 
Ok I have questions.... Because I honestly don't understand the whole process. I know we buy RO and distilled to avoid issues with calcium build up in our automated devices. I actually have the Zero water container except we have the large one that fits in the fridge with the spout on it. So these actually pull out the crap that clogs our equipment? We use one for drinking water because our tap water is disgusting. But honestly I do not understand what all it does.
Another question. Does it leave the good stuff in then? I saw in another forum someone being told that RO should not be used for drinking water because it leaches the nutrients from the chams body... Confused me a bit. Again all this is over my head.
 
I use distilled water because as I understand it rain water and dew are formed from condensation and contain very very little dissolved particulate. In the wild there is dust on leaves etc so they may pick up some minerals that way as they drink. However we supplement them and that should replace that loss. I've seen cages that have been misted with tap water and they become difficult to see into because oof the glare off of the mineral deposits on the screen.
 
Ok I have questions.... Because I honestly don't understand the whole process. I know we buy RO and distilled to avoid issues with calcium build up in our automated devices. I actually have the Zero water container except we have the large one that fits in the fridge with the spout on it. So these actually pull out the crap that clogs our equipment? We use one for drinking water because our tap water is disgusting. But honestly I do not understand what all it does.
Another question. Does it leave the good stuff in then? I saw in another forum someone being told that RO should not be used for drinking water because it leaches the nutrients from the chams body... Confused me a bit. Again all this is over my head.
It filters everything ee don't want in our misters but it filters even the good minerals as well. However like Jill said we supplement these things in their diets anyways so it's no big deal. Rainwater is RO water if you really think about it. How ion exchange works is by either negativly or positivly charging ions in the filter resin that acts as basically a magnet to these invisible Dissolved solvents. The solvents stick to the resin and pure filtered water exits.

One thing I would like to experiment with it is if I use a water softener first. Then filter the water. Not sure what my tap water pH level is.
 
It filters everything ee don't want in our misters but it filters even the good minerals as well. However like Jill said we supplement these things in their diets anyways so it's no big deal. Rainwater is RO water if you really think about it. How ion exchange works is by either negativly or positivly charging ions in the filter resin that acts as basically a magnet to these invisible Dissolved solvents. The solvents stick to the resin and pure filtered water exits.

One thing I would like to experiment with it is if I use a water softener first. Then filter the water. Not sure what my tap water pH level is.
Yeah see all that came out kinda like a charlie brown cartoon, wah wah wah.. So totally over my head :hilarious: But I suppose if us supplementing counter acts it then I don't need to worry. I did the math and what I am spending on RO would be far less then utilizing the zero water container. But I also only have 1 cham.

Thank you for doing this though. It will be so valuable for others that don't have access to RO and don't want to spend the money on distilled. Even now just trying to find distilled is a nightmare.
 
Yeah see all that came out kinda like a charlie brown cartoon, wah wah wah.. So totally over my head :hilarious: But I suppose if us supplementing counter acts it then I don't need to worry. I did the math and what I am spending on RO would be far less then utilizing the zero water container. But I also only have 1 cham.

Thank you for doing this though. It will be so valuable for others that don't have access to RO and don't want to spend the money on distilled. Even now just trying to find distilled is a nightmare.
I figured I couldn't be the only one in this situation. An easy addition to a new comers box of tools they may want or need.
 
Distilled water is clear of EVERYTHING, RO has trace minerals. I just installed a 6 stage unit under my sink actually and it remineralizes the water, but this is for us to drink. As @JacksJill said, in the wild, rain would be pretty damn pure, closer to RO. There is dust in the atmosphere so there's a little bit of mineral content. With all that said, they get more than enough from their food. The fear of distilled/RO is probably overblown... it's a timeless controversy lol
 
IMO Ro is better than RODI/distilled, but either way, doubt it makes any difference. Some species may be more sensitive than others, but for chams, which apparently get much moisture from fog, it's a non issue I think
 
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