Average Product, Difficult to Replace
When I bought my house the NUVO H2O Manor water softening system was already installed in the home. I have replaced the cartridge a couple of times. Each time it has been a multi-hour effort. Issues: 1. The valve on the top of the system that allows to turn the water to "OFF" or "Bypass" leaks significantly. I have to turn off the water to my whole house in order to change the cartridge. 2. Because I have to turn off the water to my whole house prior to changing, I have to prepare quite a bit before I swap the cartridge. One of the steps in replacing the cartridge is to clean out the enclosure. It is very difficult to wash it with water, bleach and soap solution, and then rinse it thoroughly without running water. I have to fill up buckets of water to perform these steps. 3. When I put it all back together again I have to tighten it significantly so that when I turn the water back on it doesn't leak all over. It doesn't seal very well without significant torque. The o-ring looks like it is in perfect condition, so it isn't a problem with the o-ring. More a problem with the design. That main seal has to hold a significant amount of weight (the cartridge and all the water when it is full). When replacing this year I noticed that some of the plastic threads were strained, and looked like they might almost be to the breaking point, but you have to tighten it that much or then thing will leak and flood your house. I imagine after a couple of more cartridge replacements the threads are going to break and the thing will be trash. 4. In the instructions it says to put the old cartridge upside down in a tub to drain it. If you do this the concentrated citrus solution that drains out of it will strip the metal finish off of the tub drain, and any other metal it comes in contact with. I drain my cartridge on my back lawn so that it doesn't ruin my drains. My recommendation to the manufacturer is to put more engineering into your water seals. All things considered, if the bypass valve wasn't leaky, and I didn't have to almost destroy the thing to get it tight enough that the main body doesn't leak after replacing the cartridge this would be a pretty good product.
