OK, maybe my paranoia has reached new levels, but something smelled fishy about this site to me. On the About page, they say the site is, "owned and opperated by IPC, Inc., a 'For Profit' Texas Corporation." It struck me as strange that a for-profit company would run a web site like this. So, I checked out the whois info. The site is owned by a company called Doss Holdings in Fort Worth, TX.

I then started checking the companies that came out best in the comparison chart. It turns out that Aquasana, which is the 1st company in the chart, and which supposedly has the "lowest total cost per year," (the last line in the chart), is also based in Fort Worth, TX. Also, the Aquasana link is the only company link on the page that has a referral code. The site also links to showerfiltercomparisons-dot-net, on which, you guessed it, Aquasana comes out best.

I can't prove that Aquasana owns or operates these sites, but if they do, they should certainly make that clear. It may be that the information on these sites is all factually correct (I have no way of knowing), but it certainly seems to be spun to make Aquasana look good. This is an old trick in marketing -- to do a feature comparison chart, but only list the features that make your product look better.

Alex, you're an investigative genius! I was really thinking about buying that Aquasana. Now, no more! Here's a product comparison from a site I actually trust. Thanks!

I am in a pickle re water filters. My water dept. is replacing chlorine with chloramine for a disinfectant on 4/10/06. Chloramine is a chemical compound made of chlorine and ammonium sulfate. I purchased a VERY expensive filter that uses both carbon (for the chlorine) and reverse osmosis (for the ammonia). The company I bought it from claims this water filter takes out 95-99% of the chloramines.

I want to find a water test that tests for chloramine and cannot find one anywhere. Does anyone know where I might get one?

Thanks.

So pleased to find this discussion. I looked on Google for "water purifier sink" and saw the advertisement for the water purifier comparison chart in the TOP sponsored link--a very expesive position for Google's advertising results. It seemed dubious that this organization would pay big bucks for such high placement when they were merely providing an "informational" page. Alex, I think your suspicions are dead-on and am certainly not going to buy the Aquasana. As an aside, every time you hit their page from the Google results they will pay $$$$ ;)

So pleased to find this discussion. I looked on Google for "water purifier sink" and saw the advertisement for the water purifier comparison chart in the TOP sponsored link--a very expesive position for Google's advertising results. It seemed dubious that this organization would pay big bucks for such high placement when they were merely providing an "informational" page. Alex, I think your research is correct and am certainly not going to buy the Aquasana. As an aside, every time you hit their page from the Google results they will pay $$$$ ;)

So...are you all saying the Aquasana products don't work? Or are you just leery because they're using their chart for advertising purposes?

I don't know if the Aquasana products work or not; it does seem as if they've engaged in some shady marketing here.

Yes, I got suspicious vibes from the site too. Thanks for looking into it Alex B. It seems it may not be mere "coincidence" that Aquasana's company is based in Fort Worth, TX.

That website cries suspicious! Especially if you look at the PUR filter "model" they claim to have tested. I have a faucet mounted one and I KNEW that this site was WRONG in what it claims PUR does NOT filter!!!

So it publishes lies on top of everything else!

if you would ck the report from the indipedent lab thet aqesana showes 2 things are fishy first look at the logo of the company it seemes pasted on from somewere alse 2nd the name to whome the report is addrest is the same name as from the comperison website

So, which water filter system would you guys recommend then? I just moved into an apartment and the water comes out rust colored when first turned on. I definitely want to get something.

To clarify any confusion that may exist about www.WaterFilterComparisons.com (.net). I am Charles Strand, the creator and editor of www.WaterFilterComparisons.com. Me and my daughter, Mindy have a company called Doss Holdings that owns these domains and other family assets. I am also a minority share holder in Sun Water, the company that makes Aquasana water filters.

All of the information on this site is taken directly from each manufacturer's "certified" performance data. There is a link to each company's web site, just as there is to Aquasana's. The link code mentioned by Alex B., is certainly not any kind of deception, it actually gives the consumer a 20% discount for clicking through this site.

The fact that Aquasana appears to be the best value, depends on what you are looking for. However, Consumers Digest has also rated the Aquasana AQ-4000 "Best Buy" for the last 4 years in a row out of the 100 brands they review.

The reason I created this site, years ago, was to allow consumers to have an apples to apples comparison of the top brands. As there are many companies that make exagerated claims in the water industry, and that there are only a few states that require verification of claims, it is difficult to sort through the hype.

Again, all the info is accurate and every company on the comparison recieves traffic from this site. In fact, anytime we remove a company and replace it with another (we rate them by the volume of consumer questions for each brand, however we will only show companies that have "certified" test data or there would be no way of knowing who was legitimate), the removed company asks to be added back as they see a decline in traffic.

The site is factual, I believe VERY unbiased, and in the "About us" section, clearly states;
"This site is owned and operated by DOSS Holdings, Inc., a "For Profit" Texas Corporation owned by Charles and Mindy Strand."

I have been in the water industry for 20 years, have over a dozen patents for water filtration products and feel very confident that the Aquasana brand is the best value for most applications. Aquasana is certified by the CA Department Of Health Services, UL Tested and offers a 60 day 100% money back guarantee, even the return shipping is refunded... I don't see how anyone could spin this into being a "Fake Comparison", but hey... this is America and we are each entitled to our opinions.

My guess is that "Alex B.", is one of Aquasana's competitors and is truly the one trying to be decieptful, but just a guess.

My name is Charles Strand, Charles@SunH2O.com...
Nothing to hide here, and welcome any comments.

Mr. Strand:

People who come to your site ( www.WaterFilterComparisons.com ) are expecting that they are getting accurate information from an independent source, because that's what the site seems to be. Even if the information you give is accurate, it is not independent. You are the President of Aquasana (at least, that's how you are listed on Aquasana's website). You are also running a filter comparison site. Nowhere on the comparison site does it mention your connection to Aquasana.

Compare your approach there to your other site WaterFilterResearch -- at least the consumer there is informed that the site is sponsored by Aquasana. I would have no problem if you said "we're Aquasana, we want you to have all the information, here's what the labs say, decide for yourself." But that's not what you've done with WaterFilterComparisons. For someone to figure out that WaterFilterComparisons is not independent of Aquasana, they would have to do what Alex B. did -- start Googling. Evidently even Newsweek is unable to do that, so why should the average user? (Alex, by the way, is not one of your competitors. We've been friends since college. I have, however, seen him drink water.)

Your site says that "Aquasana is the #1 rated home water filtration system in America!" I take it by that you mean the Consumer Digest review. According to Wikipedia, Consumer Digest is "an American for-profit magazine publication which accepts advertisements and allows companies to use its reviews for marketing purposes. It should not be confused with the non-profit magazine Consumer Reports.... Some observers allege that Consumers Digest exists solely to provide what appears to be a superior rating from a "Consumer" testing organization to consumers who don't pay close attention and are not aware that Consumer Reports magazine does not allow manufacturers to use its ratings to advertise their products."

While I have your attention, maybe you can answer these questions I have:

1) You say that your product is "certified by the CA Department Of Health Services," but when I looked at the 2006 Directory of Certified Water Treatment Devices of their Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management, I could not find your products, either under "Aquasana" or "Sun Water Systems." However there are four Sun Water Systems products, three of them Aquasana, under their List of Devices No Longer Certified. Could you explain this discrepancy?

2) One of your other sites is Bottled Water Blues, which says that it is "operated as a 'Not For Profit' site funded by private and corporate sponsors, primarily involved in home water purification and environmental issues." Does Bottled Water Blues have tax-exempt status? Is it a 501c3? The IRS doesn't seem to have it listed.

I look forward to your reply.

Me-L, (At least I have a name)

Some people seem to thrive on conspiracies, which is apparently the case here. Alex is no "investigative genious", all he had to do was click the "About Us" tab on the home page and it tells exactly the connection between the site in question and myself. We are certified in the State Of CA, their directory is published in May of each year and we missed last year's by a couple of weeks. You can confirm this by calling Lynda Dianne at the CA Dept. Of Health Services, Water treatment Device Program, or sick the invbestigative genious Alex on the issue, he'll easily find this to be factual.

BottledWaterBlues.com doesn't sell anything, recieve any revenue from anyone, recommend any products and its sole purpose is to keep people from being ripped off by the bottle water companies, (if you really want to hunt down a conspiracy, there's a good one).

And finally, you seem to have had a major breakdown in your investigative skills as Consumers Digest does NOT sell advertising, does not sell their "Best Buy" ratings and doesn't even tell the benefactors untill after they have completed their reviews. If you want to use their BEST BUY logo in advertising, after being designated "Best Buy", there is a charge... Nissan also won this year for best something, they use the logo in their ads. I wouldn't advise writing bad things about Nissan or the bottled water companies as they will just sue you and cost you huge amounts of money, instead of trying to answer you in an honest fassion, somewhat sarcastic... but I believe that is what your after.

Good luck in your next witch hunt!
Charles Strand/ President, Sun Water Systems, Inc. Charles@Aquasana.com

ME-L,

PS, here is a more logical opinion of our site, www.WaterFilterComparisons.com;
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/kitchen/water-filters/reviews.html

I've always been suspicious of people who make defamatory remarks, but use aliases to do so. If you feel good about what you are saying, why use an Alias... or did your mother give you the name Me-L?

Charles Strand

ME-L,

PS, here is a more logical opinion of our site, WaterFilterComparisons . com;
consumersearch . com / www / kitchen / water-filters / reviews . html

I've always been suspicious of people who make defamatory remarks, but use aliases to do so. If you feel good about what you are saying, why use an Alias... or did your mother give you the name Me-L?

Charles Strand

First of all, IANAL but I don't believe that anything I've written here rises to the level of defamation. I've stated my opinion that Waterfiltercomparisons.com does not adequately disclose the relationship to Aquasana. The "About Us" page mentions your name, but does not mention Aquasana. Consumers should not have to do any additional research to find that out. If you mentioned there that you were also the President of Aquasana, I would have zero problem with anything you are doing. That is all I mean, and all I have to say on the subject.

I also raised two questions that I had, which you have answered. As to the first question, your product is indeed certified. I received the following email from CA: "The Aquasana let their certification lapse for a period of time but recertified as of July, 2006. As our directory is only updated annually, it does not reflect Aquasana's recertification." -- Lynda Dyane

So that matter is settled. Thank you for clarifying it.

As to the second question, just because a website or business does not make money does not make it "Not For Profit." That phrase has a specific meaning according to the IRS. I believe that in the public mind, saying a site is run by a non-profit organization gives that site a certain amount of credibility; people will believe (rightly or not) that it is independent from commercial interests. I think you are doing a service by informing people about bottled water, but again it would be best if you disclosed the relationship with Aquasana.

Just so you know, I agree with you about bottled water.

As for Consumer Digest and ConsumerSearch.com, if you'll look at the second comment above you'll see that I linked to ConsumerSearch.com; it's a site I trust. I did not originally see your site on their list of Reviews (I just read the "Full Story") but now I see that they've given you a credibility rating of 3. Good for you! I don't know anything about Consumer Digest and had never heard of it before now. Wikipedia has raised the question of its independence. If you and Nissan and any other company want to use its ratings, by all means it is your right to do so.

And finally, as to my use of an "alias," ME-L is my initials. If you clicked on our About page, you would find that out, along with my full name. :)

Thanks for your responsiveness to these questions, it's always helpful when businesses directly respond to bloggers such as myself.

hi, even this site comparison page: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/kitchen/water-filters/review.html has google adwords all over it. Do they make the comparisons because they want you to be healthy or because they want revenue from clicks from you when you hit the site? Probably both. So just make your own valued decision based on the data you have available. Enjoy!

Thank you ME-L. I honor your right to your opinion and respect that you honor mine. There is no company "Aquasana", therefore I cannot be the President, it is a brand name. I am the President of Sun Water Systems, Inc. Aquasana is one of many brands we make; Rhino, Purity, etc.
BottledWaterBlues is not, and we have never claimed to be a "Non-Profit" entity. A "Not-For-Profit" and "Non-Profit" are two completely different things. I will check to make sure we are using the right wording, as this is our desire. The intent is to express that BottledWaterBlues.com has NO revenues, no income, we don't sell anything. The sole purpose of this site is to "try" and discourage the use of bottled water as I believe the bottled water industry to be one of the biggest scams in history (I can feel a lawsuit coming my way). Companies like Chlorox, Coke, Pepsi; are the big players in the bottled water biz and in my opinion are very deceptive. I have spent lots of money, my personal money and not from any business I am associated with, defending BottledWaterBlues.com. I get threatining letters all the time from bottled water companies, the "Chlorine Council", etc., trying to scare me into being quiet... so far it has not worked.

The reason that I have clearly made it known that I, Charles Strand, am responsible for WaterFilterComparisons.com, BottledWaterBlues.com, etc., is that while I am OK with taking on the liabilty and harassment that comes from the Chlorine Council, Bottled Water lobbying groups, etc., the Sun Water Systems, Inc. Board Of Directors (I am one of 5) does not want this liability. Beleive it or not, my goal was to give an accurate, unbiased and truthful source of information in an industry full of exageration and deception. Fortunately, the water filter biz is becoming very regulated as there have been so many scams; always look for credible performance validation or chances are you are not dealing with a reputable company. As for bottled water, there are no regulations to speak of and likely won't be any soon as the big players spend millions fighting regulations every year. It's an interesting world that we live in!

Charles Strand/ Individual

P.S. the statement "FAKE Water Filter Comparison Chart" and link to my site is defamitory. I have been sued for defamation many times and know the law quite well. I am not threating any kind of action as I appreciate your intent. I just hope people read far enough down the page to at least hear my side.

Again, thanks for your honesty.
Charles Strand

Mr. Strand,

As another person who has been shopping for water filters, I can tell you that I don't see a conspiracy here, but I defintely felt suspicious that there was a connection with this site to Aquasana. Even before I read this blog, the suspicion, which others have also commented on, cast Aquasana in a negative light for me.

I think your first comment in the blog above was reasonable and compelling, but I think you should put that information plainly visible on your site, such as "this is unbiased...by experienced water filtration professional...patents...but I do have a share with a company that my researches have led me to believe in..."

I think it's a reasonable request. I think it is reasonable for a consumer to have hightened suspicions when such information is hidden or cryptic instead of being out in the light. And I believe your motives must be questioned if you don't see the sense in this.

Mr. Strand, I would like to add my 2 cents if you would care to listen.

First of all, I applaud you for taking the time to respond to this thread and to do so in a professional and informative way. This is quite rare to see.

I recently searched the internet for a new water filtration system (having become fed up with the bottled water scam) and came across the WaterFilterComparisons.Net site along with Aquasana's site. I was on the verge of buying an Aquasana system, but decided against it because I felt mislead by the WaterFilterComparisons.Net site. After some research, it became painfully obvious to me that the site was affiliated with Aquasana and yet the site appears to be designed to hide this fact. This made me question the integrity of the Aquasana brand and I bought a different system.

Please don't try to have us believe there was not some intent in creating this site as a marketing ploy. I am certain that many people most likely believe this site represents an independent study of which Aquasana just happened to come out ahead. The fact that your name and Doss Holdings are listed in a section of the site does not tell people that the site is affiliated with Aquasana. Nowehere in the site does it list an affiliation with Aquasana or Sun Water. If your company was NOT trying to hide this fact, I would expect that it would be clearly listed.

I do not necessarily fault you for this as it would appear to be a good marketing technique and I do believe that the test results are legitimate. I just ask that you consider the business that you are losing by not being totally up front with your marketing. A little more honesty in your advertising may actually increase your sales. I cannot promise this of course and it might not actually be to your benefit, but it is at least something to consider.

In any event, thank you for your time. It is appreciated. ---Joe

Very interesting and insightful conversational thread. Thanks to all for their opinions.

I totally agree with Joe's comments, " I just ask that you consider the business that you are losing by not being totally up front with your marketing. A little more honesty in your advertising may actually increase your sales." I found the comparison charts interesting, then did a google search on “Doss Holdings”, saw the connection with Aquasana, and was turned off. I’m not saying that I’m totally dismissing the data – just that not only do I feel compelled to search around to find other sets of data to corroborate (or contradict) what’s in WaterFilterComparisons.com, but that their data and motives are automatically suspect because they were not more transparent. This will translate into my purchasing patterns (again, not to say that I won’t buy brands affiliated with Doss – it’s just that they now have a “buyer beware” status in my mind.)

Had there been total transparency upfront as suggested (i.e., stating the linkage with Aquasana), I would have had no suspicions about duplicitous motives and activities. -- Lawrence

Ditto comments by Joe S. Thank you for stating them. Mr. Strand, thank you for your comments and your responses. Please make the helpful changes to your website that have been recommended in this blog.

hmmm...savvy internet consumer research meets savvy internet marketing. Mr. Strand obviously understands the power of the search engine. The product comparison site must be generating loads of business in spite of the mild odor of devious identity. He also understands the power of a well aimed blog comment. I applaud Mr. Strand for taking the time to provide his side of the story, but I am less inclined to buy the Aquasana due to the comparison site and also the "unpresidential" sarcasm and sparring with ME-L. Anyone reading to this point probably requires no further training on consumer product research, but for what it's worth, the Aquasana did quite well on one of my litmus tests, which is "product name" followed by "rip off" in your favorite search engine. There are actually some hits claiming that they could have had the Aquasana cheaper than the alleged rip off product. Mr. Strand, if you edit your comparison web site, and make it obvious who is behind it, I will purchase a combo package with sink and shower filter. I can wait until then. I see you haven't posted since March 2007, but I'll check for that correction occasionally. I won't hold my breath.

After stumbling across the same site I was immediately suspicious as to the grand superiority of aquasana over the pUr faucet mount water filter I already posses.

The site listed that the PuR filter did not remove MTBE, which is somewhat misleading. The outdated model you specified does not in fact remove MTBE,or TCE, but the current 3 stage model does!

However I must specify that the tests that PuR uses only test the water coming out of the filter for the first few gallons, whereas your filter tests for stuff in the water for the last few gallons of your filter's service life (double the rated number of gallons even!)

Also your product is made by your nice ethical company as opposed to pur being made by the evil giant Proctor and Gamble, who put carcinogenic (yet completely legal) ingredients in many of their commonly used consumer products causing who knows how many cases of cancer.

If I could do it over again I would've probably bought your product - but I believe the product I have now is sufficient, but I am looking at maybe buying the shower attachment. Tell me what's wrong with the PuR water filter and maybe I'll buy your combo with my shower attachment.

PS Don't deny being the president of your company, you should be proud - and denying it is silly since your website refers to you as being president of the company more than once

I own an Aquasauna and have been very happy with its performance. That being said I would only suggest that you change the about us page to say

"part owner of Sun Water Systems, maker of Aquasauna, Purity etc".

That would be a much more clear statement.

thanks

After being duped (I admit it) into purchasing the Aquasana product by the http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.net/WaterFilter_Comparison.cfm site, I found this discussion! OK. Here's how I feel about it. If all of the facts are for-real, it's not a FAKE comparison - it is misleading in that it gives one the impression that it is unbiased. Of course I'm upset that I was mislead into believing that I was reading an unbiased comparison. I'm not going to cancel my order. I need a water filter. I also intend to have my chemist friends analyze the claims made by Aquasana and Mr. Strand.

Shady website, for sure. It really makes it look like aquasana is so much better than all the others. I almost wanted to buy one they looked so good. Then i felt suspicious. The chart was just too much in favor of aquasana. How could one product be SO much better than the others. Well, maybe because the people who made the site owns aquasana..... Also mr strand seems to be very defensive and a bit rude in his replies. Very unprofessional the way he talked to those with concerns. I am going to steer clear of this company for sure.

Dear Mr. Strand,

I hope you still visit this thread. Thank you for putting the comparison chart together. It does provide a good starting point for someone researching a system to purchase.

I did have the following question. I was looking into the Aquasana product at the NSF certified product website. However, I realized that the Aquasana product is not certified by the NSF, but instead by a 3rd party company following using NSF standards. Is there any reason why the Aquasana product is not certified by the NSF itself?

Regards
J. Lomo

My husband found this waterfiltercomparisons site and my gut reaction was, who owns the site? Anyone with the sense to look up comparisons is also going to have the sense to wonder who posts the results. I agree Mr. Strand should state clearly that he holds an interest in Aquasana on his 'unbiased' website, and the website hasn't changed even though everyone pretty much agrees he should 'fess' up. But it really isn't too hard to put the two together, his name is clearly listed on both sites, and as president on the Aquasana site. So, he isn't exactly trying to hide the connection either. Mr. Strand's anger about this question of ethics was a big put off, but then Mel did quote Wikapedia after all. What people don't realize is that Wikapedia is pretty much written by bloggers!! Much of the information is collected from outside sources and is only edited if someone complains about the facts. How do you think they created such a huge free database? You can't trust Wikapedia? Who's got something against Consumer Digest? What is this world coming to? Conspiracies everywhere!!! I'm waiting for the science from Mr. Kaufman, if that is his real name. You know I used to care about ethics, but if the product works, fogget about it.

I believe that if anyone checks the current "About Us" section of these comparison sites, you will find complete disclosure of ownership. The point here should be that while I may have an association with one or more of the companies listed on these comparisons, the information is factual and there is an equal link to every company.

I believe that Aquasana products are the best value, but these factual comparisons can help you make up your own mind. Aquasana's performance claims are certified by Underwriters Laboratories which is a much more demanding certification to earn than NSF... it took Sun Water 3 years to complete the full requirements as it involves verification of all claims, certification of your production facility and regular surprise visits to ensure that the manufacturer is doing what they are supposed to do.

We hope this answers everyones concerns in this regard.

Charles Strand

I am sure that Aquasana make a good product, but Mr Strand has I believe been extremely misleading with regards to his statements above. For example, what can be seen NOW if someone clicks the 'about us' tab on waterfiltercomparisons.net is different to what the site contained in February 07. I just looked up 'waterfiltercomparisons.net' on the wayback machine (http://web.archive.org/index.php - it shows historical information as to what a website looked like at a particular point in time) and it shows that in february 2007 the 'about us' tab said:

"This site is owned and operated by Doss Holdings, a "For Profit" Texas Corporation owned by Charles and Mindy Strand. All information contained in the "Comparison Chart" is derived from each manufacturer's "certified" Performance Data Sheet and is also available from each individual manufacturer. You can click the manufacturers name at the top of the chart for a link to their sites".

No mention of Sun Water Systems, and all that linking to the manufacturers web sites without mentioning the link between Doss Holdings and the manufacturers of Aquasana sounds very impartial. But, after the link between Aquasana and Doss Holdings was 'investigated' by Alex B/MEL as per the above, the 'about us' tab was changed to say:

"This site is owned and operated by Doss Holdings Inc., a "For Profit" Texas Corporation owned by Charles, Mindy and Noah Strand. Charles Strand is also a shareholder and has affilaitions (sic) with Sun Water Systems, Iron Horse Of Texas, Bottled Water Blues LLC, American Iron Horse and also acts as an editor and consultant to other companies in the water quality and health industry."

Quite a difference, don't you think? It then goes on to say "Charles Strand is also the author of the book "All About Water", has been awarded numerous patents for water quality devices and is considered one of the leading authorities on water quality and it's relationship to human health" which sounds very impressive also.

So I then looked up the book 'All About Water' - found nothing on Amazon.com - a google search revealed a few references to a booklet by Charles Strand called 'All About Water' - for example on
http://www.holistichealthtools.com/water2.html which says 'All About Water' is in fact a 50 page booklet that comes with an Aquasana Water Filter system.

Hmmmmmm. I'm sure Aquasana make a good product, but I personally won't be buying it because of what I personally view as unpleasant marketing tactics. And no, I don't work for a competitor to Aquasana, I'm just a consumer who was trying to find a water filter to buy and came across this discussion. Kudos to Alex and ME-L for posting about this.

I came across this site while googling the name "Charles Strand".. Something didn't seem right with all these anonymous comparison charts with Aquasana beating everyone else in any single category (haha), anonymous (and now I strongly suspect fake) testimonials like this: http://aquasanareview.newhealthmedia.com.
So it all makes sense now thanks to you guys.

BTW the only certification officially issued by the Underwriters Laboratories to Sun Water systems inc is for chlorine reduction by the Rhino EQ-300 system: http://www.ul.com/water/prodcert/waterqry.html
Probably the rest is stuck in the mail
Thanks again..

Mr. Strand, until your "About Us" section says that you work for the company that makes Aquasana, you still stand guilty of Sock Puppetry / Astroturfing. Don't expect that readers of your site will know that Sun Water Systems makes Aquasana. Why should they? If you were truly transparent, you would announce your financial interest in the "leading brand" on the bottom of every page.

If you truly believe that the facts speak for themselves, then putting up such a disclaimer will do nothing to dissuade your readers that your brand is the best.

Hello Folks,

Thanks a lot for the info! I was on the verge of buying aquasana, but changed my mind after reading this. This filter also has bad reviews on amazon.
Do any of you know anything about the paragon maintenance free water filters? It seems too good to be true, but the website (www.paragonwater.com) says that they are NSF certified. How do I find out more about the NSF certification?

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

I, too, was suspicious about the waterfiltercomparisons.net site, googling brought me here. I had an Aquasana water filter, the threads broke and it started leaking, the leak got worse and I threw the thing in the garbage yesterday. Now I'm searching for a good water filter to buy. I recommended the Aquasana filter to my girlfriend, and hers developed the same problem. It happened before mine went bad, I had assumed that she must have screwed it in improperly, but now I know that there is a problem with the threads breaking in this unit.

I just found this review at Amazon, after reading the comment above about bad reviews at Amazon:

"In reality the plastic filter housing is cheap, the threads break, the O-ring is insufficient in size to seal the unit,.."

http://www.amazon.com/Aquasana-undercounter-water-filter-system/dp/B0002MIJHW/ref=pd_sim_hpc_img_4/002-8838859-6819248

RE: Aquasana best for drinking water? posted by andy c on the Plumbing Forum at iVillage Garden Web

After doing much research online, I decided to purchase the Aquasana Aq-4000 because, in the end, the performance data was better than the other companies I found with products in my price range. After all, I wanted a water filter that would do the best job, not the one who I thought had the best marketing team. That said, I have been using my filter for about a year now and couldn't be happier. It works really well, its easy to use and the water tastes great! I hope everyone in the hunt for a good filter will focus on what's important...the quality of the water!

A genuine Aquasana customer? Could it be?

Well, "Miguel," you posted your comment from IP address 67.152.98.19, which is located in Fort Worth, Texas -- home of Doss Holdings, Sun Systems, Aquasana, etc. This also happens to be the same IP address from which Charles Strand posted his earlier comments. I think we have a clear case of Sock Puppetry.

You lose! Good day sir!

Wow! You caught me, I do in fact work in Fort Worth, and happen to use a water filter made right here in my city. Must be a conspiracy, right? I have a couple friends in Dallas that use one too, is that too close to be considered a real customer as well? You spend so much time trying to discredit this company that actually makes some really good products, but have you ever actually used their products? Take a look at their reviews online, people actually like the products...and I'm sure they're not all employees at the company.

Oh, Charles, you really don't know how the Internet works, do you? Why don't you look up what an IP address *is* before you dig yourself an even deeper hole?

You see, that IP address of 67.152.98.19 doesn't just say "Fort Worth, TX," it refers to a specific internet connection. In other words, it is the electronic address of your computer. So unless "Miguel" is living in your basement, it's extremely unlikely that he is separate from you.

In fact, when I enter 67.152.98.19 into a browser, it pulls up a page that says "Sun Water Systems, Inc." in the title. So you are Miguel, QED.

You chose to come and comment on this blog, and you chose to pretend that you were a satisfied customer of your own company. You also chose to make a product comparison website that shows your product as the best, while obfuscating your sponsorship of that page. All of that is dishonest marketing. I don't care a whit for the quality of your product -- for all I know it can turn mud into water -- but I'll call out dishonesty when I see it. Certainly most of the folks who have come here to comment on WaterFilterComparisons.com believe it to be misleading.

You may want to read this New York Times article before you do yourself and your company any further damage.

In general, people who use comments here to hawk their own companies are considered spammers. Their comments are deleted and their IP addresses are banned. I will leave your comments extant but am closing this thread and any others relating to you, since I really have better things to do with my time.

I hope this at least has been a valuable lesson to you about transparency and internet marketing. So long.