AquaShield RO Purifier

Every 100 GPD under-sink system in South Africa is built from the same five stages: two sediment and carbon pre-filters, a carbon block, the membrane, and a small carbon polisher. Those five make very clean water that tastes flat, because the membrane strips the calcium and magnesium along with everything else.

The sixth stage fixes that. A re-mineraliser after the membrane puts calcium and magnesium back and settles the pH. Other shops sell it as an add-on kit you fit yourself. On the AquaShield it is already in line, already flushed, already part of the price.

1. 5 micron sediment. Sand, rust and silt from the pipes, so the carbon stages stay clean.
2. Granular activated carbon. Chlorine, chemical taste and smell.
3. Carbon block, 5 micron. The finer chemical pass, and protection for the membrane, which chlorine destroys.
4. 100 GPD reverse osmosis membrane. Dissolved solids, heavy metals, nitrates, fluoride, microplastics, bacteria and viruses, down to 0.0001 micron. About 96% of what was dissolved in the water goes to the drain instead of the glass.
5. Inline post-carbon. A final taste pass between the tank and the tap.
6. 4-in-1 re-mineraliser. Maifan stone, mineral stone, bio-ceramic and far-infrared media. Calcium and magnesium go back in, the pH settles, and the taste arrives.

This model runs on mains pressure and wants 3 to 6 bar at the sink, which most municipal supplies in South Africa's cities deliver during the day. If your pressure drops in the evenings, if you are on a tank and pump, or if you want the 12 litre tank refilled faster, choose the AquaShield Turbo. Same six stages, plus a booster pump that keeps the membrane at working pressure whatever the street gives you.

A cold water feed under the sink (the connector fits a standard 15 mm tap connection), a waste pipe to clip the drain saddle onto, and a 12 mm hole for the tap, drilled in the counter or borrowed from an existing sprayer or soap-dispenser hole. The assembly stands 51 cm tall on a 43 by 46 cm footprint, and the tank needs a space about 28 cm wide and 37 cm tall beside it.

Fitting takes most people an hour with the printed guide and the video we email. If you would rather not, Andy Plumbers, our own team, fits it anywhere in Johannesburg: send a photo of the cupboard on WhatsApp and we quote the same day.

Two sediment and carbon changes a year (the pre-filter kit), a new post-carbon and re-mineraliser once a year, and a membrane every two to three years (the full service kit is the box for that year). Added up at the prices in the replacement filters category, a year of cartridges costs about what a family that buys two 5 litre bottles a week spends on bottled water in three months, for every glass, kettle and pot in the house.

If the AquaShield is not the best tasting water you have had from a tap, tell us within 30 days of delivery and we refund you in full, installed and used. We arrange and pay for the collection.

The promise applies when the purifier is fitted by Andy Plumbers or a qualified plumber, following the guide: a drain line on the wrong port or a membrane in backwards is not something the product can fix. Fitted it yourself? It is still covered if it arrives faulty, damaged or wrong; the taste promise is for purifiers a plumber fitted. How it works.