How Long Does Zerowater Filter Last and Why the Water Tastes Lemony?

The water filter pitcher is one of the most popular filtration options on the market for its accessibility and convenience. Many consumers purchase the water filter pitcher to reduce unpleasant flavors and odors, and wish to improve the water quality.

Among all kinds of pitchers with different designs and filtration performances, the ZeroWater filter pitchers stand out for their ability to reduce the TDS (total dissolved solids) to zero.

Yet, behind the successful marketing concept, the product receives numerous complaints about its taste and replacement cost. Before making the purchase, let's take a thorough look at the ZeroWater pitcher. We’ll ask how long does the ZeroWater filter last, and why does the water taste lemony?

Based on many reviews and product comparison reports, the water filtered by ZeroWater tastes better than that of Brita and PUR water filter pitchers. However, consumers complain that after about two weeks, the water developed a very unpleasant taste. Some people described it as a sour and lemony disgusting taste, some people described it as fishy.

The reason for the sour chemical taste is not because of some flaws of the product quality, but the urgency to replace the filter. Why? How long does a ZeroWater filter last? The following section will explain the filtration process behind and answer the question for you.

ZeroWater uses ion exchange to reduce the TDS in water to zero. The ions carrying positive charges are called cations, while ions carrying negative charges are called anions. The two types of ions in water are always equal in the number of charges.

Typical cations may include calcium ion, sodium ion, potassium ion, magnesium ion, and typical anions may include sulfate ion, chloride ion, carbonate ion, and so on. The ZeroWater filter contains an ion exchange layer that replaces the cations with hydrogen ion, and replaces the anions with hydroxyl ion, which forms pure water H2O eventually.

The filter will work perfectly to deliver you pure water until it runs out either H+ or OH-. If the OH- is fully consumed first, then the anions remain in the water after filtering, and the cations are still replaced by the hydrogen ion (acid ion), finally resulting in acids, such as sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and carbonic acid. That's why the water tastes sour or acidic at the end.

You can solve the unpleasant taste problem simply by changing the filter. Then the next problem shows up: the frequency of filter replacement. Like we have discussed above, once the H+ or OH- inside a filter runs out, then it’s time to replace. So how long does a ZeroWater filter last? Not very long. We’ll go into more depth below.

Based on the true product reviews, if the source water TDS is around 100, the ZeroWater filter can filter about 15-18 gallons of water before it turns sour. If the source water has high TDS as 700, each ZeroWater cartridge could not filter more than 5 gallons of water.

So, how long does a ZeroWater filter last? The numbers are far below than the advertised filter service life. A filter will last, on average less than two weeks.

Therefore, it could become excessively pricey having to change the filter three times a month. It would be economically preferable to switch to other filtration options.

Before we jump into the filtration option section, let’s learn some information about the TDS.

TDS stands for total dissolved solids, it refers to the total concentration of dissolved solids in water including both inorganic and organic matters. Some of the common components are calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium cations and carbonate, hydrogen carbonate, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate anions.

There is no scientific evidence that suggests that high TDS will bring out adverse health effects. Many countries do have drinking water standards in regards to TDS, but only for aesthetic reasons with no health criteria. The US recommended maximum level is 500 mg/L as well as the Canadian guideline. To learn more about the recommended TDS level here.

The common ways to reduce the TDS in water are distillation and reverse osmosis

Distillation offers clean water through boiling and producing water vapor. When water vapor rises and reaches to a cool surface, it will condense back to the liquid form. The dissolved salts and other particles will remain in the boiling solution.

You can get zero TDS water from distillation without the concern to replace any filters, however, the downsides are the energy cost and the slow output.

The benefits of Reverse Osmosis filtration is obvious by comparison. The system uses a semi-permeable membrane which the unclean water is “pressured through.”

The membrane contains pores of 0.0001 microns that are only big enough to allow the passage of water molecules while blocking other foreign components like pyrogens, bacteria, organics, and dissolved solids. The normal output of a RO system is around 200-600 gallons per day and you can access clean and safe water by just turning on the faucet.

Therefore, from the efficiency, sustainability and cost perspectives, we recommend using a reverse osmosis system to reduce the TDS in water. Many people are concerned about the amount of waste water that the RO system generated during the filtration process.

Below are several types of RO systems from that we have picked for you.

As the star product of Waterdrop, the G3 reverse osmosis is taking the market by storm with its revolutionary tankless design. The system looks nothing like a traditional RO system. It is very thin and sleek. The tankless design saves much undersink space and brings more room for storage.

In terms of filtration performance, the G3 system adopts the premium DOW RO membrane with the TDS removal rate of 94% as well as other contaminants in water.

The system is designed for easy DIY installation and the filter replacement only takes 3 seconds. If you’re looking for an efficient and certain way to get clean, safe and healthy drinking water, Waterdrop G3 would be the ideal option.

Unlike traditional under sink reverse osmosis system, SimPure Y6 is designed to be placed on countertop. This means you can enjoy pure RO water at anywhere you want and you don’t have to drill a hole on your kitchen sink.

The plug-in design allows you to get purified water right away. One full set of quick changing twist-and-seal filters come included it. You can get rid of the troubles caused by complicated installation and filter replacement. Compared to traditional Under-Sink Filtration, SimPure Y6 is free from water source and space constraints, you can place and move SimPure water purifier to anywhere with power supply available, perfect for kitchen, bedroom, office, lobby, Outdoor RV etc.

This system is able to convert your tap water or well water into pure and healthy drinking water by removing 99.99% of the 1,000+ pollutants & harmful substance including chemicals (PFOA/PFOS, Pharmaceuticals), heavy metals (Lead, Arsenicetc), chlorine, TDS (fluoride, nitrates/nitrites) and etc.

Traditional RO water purifier is composed of several filters, and the installation is quite complicated. Waterdrop D6 RO water filter system adopts a 5-in-1 composite reverse osmosis filter with a DOW reverse osmosis membrane that has a pore size of 0.0001 um. The D6 reverse osmosis water system employs a tankless design and a composite reverse osmosis filter. Compared to traditional whole house reverse osmosis, the compact D6 RO water filter system saves 70% of your under-sink space. Also, a DIY installation can be completed within 30 minutes. The push-in replacement design allows you to replace the filter in 3 seconds, without moving the system or using any tools.

Waterdrop D6 reverse osmosis water system is upgraded to have a flow rate of 600 GPD. With an innovative internal pump and a larger filter surface, you can fill a cup of water in 8 seconds. A low drain ratio of 1.5:1 means that dispensing 1.5 cups of pure water produces only 1 cup of wastewater, saving 450% of water compared to a conventional water filtration system for home.