Customer Reviews

PUR Flavor Options Faucet Mount FM-5050B

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

To quickly answer the question most people will want to know about, the flavoring option is a mixed bag. Personally, I think it tastes great but I am used to the flavor of "diet" tasting drinks so if you can stand drinks like Crystal Light, Fresca soda, or similar you will probably like this as well. This was a present for my mother, however, and she doesn't like the taste. Adding flavor is completely optional. It's simply a small plastic container that is attached to the front of the purifier and it squirts a small amount of sucralose flavoring into the water dispensed from the separate tap.

I'm also pleased to note that this matches a chrome faucet perfectly and I didn't need separate (included) adapters during installation. My only complaint is you never feel like it is installed securely enough. While only finger tightening was enough to use without leaks, it still moves around sideways a lot. I'm not sure if that was the intent, but I would have preferred something that locks solidly into place. Installation of the filter is idiot-proof as you are literally placing a square peg into a round hole. Screw the cap on the front into place, installing the flavor cartridge if you desire, and you're ready to go.

The filters are rated to purify 100 gallons before needing replacement. A small electronic light blinks green, yellow, or red when you switch to purified water as an indicator. Most importantly, the water tastes great and I find myself drinking a lot more of it in place of soda or other drinks. That certainly can't be a bad thing. Recommended.

Update (May, 2008): I feel I should update this review. While my purifier worked, I was disheartened to read so many reviews saying these were defective. After about six months of use I started to see symptoms of problems others were complaining about such as leakage from the mount and decreased water pressure (likely due to a loose seal). P&G, the makers of Pur, were nice enough to send me a coupon for a replacement faucet but unfortunately the replacement leaked everywhere. I now question the quality and reliability of these devices, but cannot change my original rating. While the idea is great, these do seem to be cheap junk and I would not recommend them now. I guess I was lucky the first time.

PUR Water Filter Review \ Hack

Once, long ago, PUR was a great company with great water filtering technology. I still love their filters! Unfortunately, a big bad company named Proctor and Gamble bought them and messed them over in favor of customer abuse. This was accomplished using two methods. The first method is called 'planned obsolescence' whereby their faucet mount apparatus leak and die briefly after the end of the warranty period. (It didn't used to be that way in the good old days). The second method is called 'timed death' whereby their apparatus lock up their enclosed filters at a preset volume of filtered water, whether the filter is actually used up or not.

Planned obsolescence can be overcome by calling up Proctor and Gamble BEFORE your warranty runs out, and letting them know that your PUR apparatus is squirting water all over your kitchen. Ask them to send you a replacement or a replacement certificate. If need be, call repeatedly asking to speak to the President of P&G, never taking 'no' for an answer. Then take your certificate and get another PUR apparatus. This will provide you with a lifetime for the apparatus more representative of the lifetime of original PUR apparatus. You've cheated no one. P&G's cheat on you has been overcome.

The timed death lockout of your filter is extremely easy to overcome. Pull out the filter from the apparatus. This resets the nasty timing device to zero again. Put your filter back in. TADA! You're done. Your filter will work as before. Note, however, that PUR filters do eventually get clogged with stuff. You'll know when to change it.

I hope that helps everyone restore goodness to the universe. I still love PUR filters better than any other brand and wouldn't be without them. It's P&G's customer abuse that's not worth liking. Shame on you P&G.

Recently the quality of the PUR Faucet Mount systems have gone into the toilet. I contacted PUR to let them know I was having problems with keeping their PUR filter from leaking. They sent me a coupon for a new one and I purchased this "state of the art" model thinking that if the previous models had kinks then surely they would have worked them out by now. Ummmm... no way. The silver colored plastic Faucet Mount Housing (the large silver part that holds the filter) came off within about a week of us installing it because the glue gave out. The front silver cover that houses the flavor cartridge kept falling off if it was slightly tapped. This thing leaked within a few months of getting it. Try as we may, tightening it did nothing. Then we tried to take it off to check the rubber seal. The mounting nut that attaches it to the faucet then locked up so we couldn't put it back on. Save your money. Replacing the unit every few months doesn't give you any real savings. I'm dissappointed again. I wish I could give it -3 stars because I would.

This has to be one of the best products invented in a long time. It was very easy to install. My kids have always been water drinkers but now they love to drink water! And as an added benefit, there is no sugar in it. No more flavored drink mixes, no more soda, no more juice... Flavored water from the tap and it tastes' great!
Now to stock up on the flavor cartridges!

I'm a very VERY picky person when it comes to water. I cannot stomach the taste of tap water so for years I've been buying at least a case of water each week.

I was very skeptical about trying anything out of the tap using a filter but I bought this with the raspberry flavoring. If you're going to do it, might as well do it right!

I'm actually very surprised. The instructions made it so incredibly easy to install and use the unit and the water that came out didn't have that 'tap water taste' to it. It was extremely clean and the flavoring is a nice added benefit.

I'd suggest this to anyone that uses bottled water on a regular basis. It will save you money in the long run and the hassle of recycling.

I read the mixed reviews of this product before getting it, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Thought I'd throw in my two cents.

First the bad: I had really hoped that the reports of leaking were just flukes, but unfortunately I also experienced leaking on the 2nd day I used the filter. I had to use one of the adapters to get the filter to fit on my sink, and it is around the adapter that the leaking is occurring... so leaking may not have been an issue had I not required the adapter. I tried reinstalling the thing multiple times, but the leaking persisted. So my solution was to go to the hardware store and get some stretchy plumbing tape. I wrapped it around at the point of the leak, and now I have no more leaking! On the down side, I have a piece of tape wrapped around my faucet. Fortunately, the tape is black and matches the trim of the filter, so it's not too terrible aesthetically.

Now the good: The reason I am willing to live with having tape on my faucet is because other than the leaking, I absolutely love this filter! I am a bit of a water snob (hate the taste of tap water), so I've been buying bottled water for years. I didn't like being so environmentally unfriendly, though, so I decided to give this a try. I love this water! It really tastes like bottled water! I did a little taste test comparing my tap water filtered vs. unfiltered, and the difference is striking.

Personally, I LOVE having the flavors. I am drinking SO much more water than I used to as a result of the flavor option. Like others, I have to use several squirts to get the flavor I want. I find that with several squirts, it tastes almost exactly like Fruit2O, so if you like that, you will like the taste of this. If you don't like Fruit2O or other diet drinks flavored with Splenda, you won't like this.

So overall, I am very pleased with this filter, now that I have found a workaround for the leaking issue.

This is such a shame. I had a vertical 3 stage PUR filter and after about six months it sprung leaks. So, I decided to get their more expensive model. After a couple of weeks, the flavor button stopped working. I replaced the flavor cartridge and that didn't fix the problem. Plus, any tiny bump and the cover to the flavor packet would come right off.

This thing is too big for standard sinks. Washing pots and pans was not easy and you have to work around it.

I've owned this model now for about six months and it's leaking all over as well. In fact, the back pressure actually caused a pin hole in the faucet arm to develope and now I have to replace my faucet. Not totally the unit's fault because our water in Austin is very hard.

The biggest tragedy in this is that the water that actually comes out of this thing is outstanding. So clean that the water even tasted sweet. I just don't want the same problem in a couple of months all over aain. Guess I'll be scouring the web fo a viable replacement. Very disappointed.

We've owned this unit before, and it sprung a leak after a year of heavy use. So, we bought another one last week...

Note: the picture shown is not what came out of the box. The twisty knob for switching between filtered and unfiltered is now more of a smooth action lever than a knob. Installation is also different, it now clicks onto the faucet rather than screwing in. Also, the filtered water flow seems a little faster than the previous model. We don't really use the flavor feature, so I can't comment on that. I'm hoping that the manufacturer listened to past complaints and tried to address them with this new design.

Update: After two weeks of use, it has started falling off the faucet a few times a day, so much for new and improved. I'm sending it back...

Seemed shabbily made of plastic, hard to open and fragile with the possibility of cracking when changing the cartridge - was big and bulky on the faucet - and flavored water? Plain water was what I was going for, I wanted a filter that removed taste, not added it - I returned the product and got a filtering pitcher which does not take up so much space and works like a dream. No flavors in this water.

I figured I would give this a try because it looked interesting and fun. And, I owned the original Pur horizontal faucet mount, prior to this, which worked well. This one works even better. The water comes out in a steady stream which mimics a real faucet! (I am not sure if the mount was designed slightly differently or maybe I did something differently when I put it in?)

Truth be told, I rarely drink water from my sink because there is a purifier hooked up to my fridge which tastes better than bottled water. However, I do use this at times when I need to boil water. But this is still great for people like me because I also do a lot of entertaining and this gives my guests other options. For example, I have a good friend that enjoys the taste of flavored water. Although, unlike me, she is partial to diet soda.

The taste of the flavored water is not my cup of tea. It sort of tastes like Binaca. But I do not think that should be a detractor for getting this. This would also make a great gift for people that drink other beverages (besides water) when they get thirsty.

I hope in the future Pur will offer these in a variety of colors because my entire kitchen is black. But for now, the stainless steal is a good substitute for the next best thing.

One thing I noticed is that it gets slightly wetter on the bottom (more so than the prior model.) I can't stand a wet sink. So I often wipe the bottom of it after I use it, then I wipe the tip and then I go over and wipe it again just to make sure there isn't any residual dampness.

Overall, it is a very useful item!