Epic Smart Shield Under Sink City Water Filtration System

In an earlier article, I discussed several methods for collecting and storing water during natural disasters and other emergencies. Those are all great but I still wanted to bolster my preparedness when it comes to the city water that flows through my kitchen sink.

My city’s water has always been reliable and clean, but you never really know what’s in it and how it’s being treated. And take into account that by the time your city issues a boil water alert in the event of a water main break or contamination, chances are you’ve already used the contaminated water. One way to mitigate that risk is to install an inline water filter between the city water and my main kitchen sink.

Enter the Epic Smart Shield Under Sink Filtration System.

What Comes In The Box

Having never tackled an under-sink filter installation before and having but a rudimentary understanding of plumbing, I was a bit skeptical prior to opening up the box. What sort of plumbing witchcraft would I need to perform to get the contents of this box installed and functioning?

A brief inspection of the contents was encouraging, with only a few simple parts to deal with.  Inside the box were the filter cartridge itself, a mounting bracket/filter head, a couple of flexible plastic water feed lines (one white & one blue), and a plastic manifold with a couple of mounting screws for the mounting bracket.  Of course, there were all the accompanying instructions and information that were easy to read and follow.  They even threw in a vinyl sticker in case you wanted to rep their brand after a successful installation.

That’s it. Nothing complicated that requires hiring a plumber.

Tools You’ll Need For The Installation

You’ll need to source a few tools for the installation before getting started.

• Drill with an ⅛” drill bit
• Phillips head screwdriver or driver bit for the drill
• Adjustable wrench
• Tape measure
• Pencil or Sharpie
• Utility knife or your EDC knife
• Headlamp
• Towel to clean up any water

Time To Install The Epic Smart Shield

 

What The Epic Smart Shield Does For Your Water

The Epic Smart Shield hits way above its price point. Don’t assume that because it’s a single filter unit, it’s incapable of thorough contaminant removal. Made from solid activated coconut carbon block material, the filter cartridge uses the process of adsorption to remove more than 70 contaminants from water. Even bacteria and trace pharmaceuticals are removed from your drinking water, which are difficult to remove for most filters. You can check out the filter’s performance datasheet here.

Activated coconut carbon is one of the most commonly used filter materials in today’s water filter industry because it outperforms many other filter materials. There’s plenty of data to support the proven effectiveness of activated carbon in contaminant removal, so you’ll have extra confidence when purchasing this filter unit.

The filter itself is generally good for at least 12 months. In a 1-person household, it should last for 14-16 months. With normal use, it will need to be changed once a year, and if used by a larger family of 2 to 4, it should be changed every 9 to12 months. The replacement filter costs around $90, so it’s not cheap, but it’s only a once-a-year expense equating to roughly $8 a month.