Grohe 31251DC0 GROHE Blue Chilled & Sparkling Dual function Kitchen Faucet

I have one of these in the UK. I have to say the European models are like 10 years ahead of these units. My European Blue unit is a slim box completely integrated with internal CO2 and filter units both supplied by Grohe Germany. The CO2 lasts about six weeks, the filter about six months in a hard water area. It is so straightforward I managed to fit it myself with zero plumbing experience. The American units look like something that fell off Apollo 13 after the explosion. A huge cream box yet it does not contain either the CO2 or the filter, which have to be connected with a rigmarole of pipes and valves? And Grohe does not even supply the CO2, or tell you were to find it? After extensive web searches I find I need to source canisters from a not-very-local supplier that delivers CO2 to commercial premises. The massively complex and bulky Grohe installation means I have had my tap installed by an expert in room separate from the kitchen, which is a real PITA.Seriously guys, get with the program.

Installing this thing is a nightmare of hoses and horrible, cryptic instructions (and I'm an engineer). And, annoyingly, it does not come with the required filter - make sure you purchase one separately (they are sold on Amazon) before you try to install it, or you'll be waiting with all your sink hoses disconnected for a week while it arrives! I tried to just bypass the filter for a week, but then it doesn't carbonate the water (apparently it uses the filter canister as a reservoir for the carbonation).You will also need to purchase a separate CO2 cylinder. I bought a 5lb CO2 cylinder from a fire extinguisher refill shop that also supplied tanks for beer and soft drink CO2 - so it's beverage quality CO2.Once installed (and with the filter) it is awesome. Produces really nice and fizzy water, on par with what you'd get out of a SodaStream. Really nice to have, fills a large glass in about 20 seconds. Chilled and bubbly, perfect.It uses hardly any CO2. After a month of heavy constant use, the CO2 gauge still reads 900 psi - hasn't budged at all. It doesn't waste CO2 like the SodaStreams do - they release a ton of CO2 each time you release the pressure on them after filling. With the Grohe, 100% of your CO2 goes into your soda water, none is wasted.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  Watch my video! Many filters are slow. This is slower than tap as all filters are, but very fast overall. So you get fast cold, chilled, filtered water (fantastic to use for coffee). And amazing sparkling water (what I care about the most). Note this is a video of me showing the carbonation coming out in a 28-45ppm environment (extremely soft water as found in the bay area). My only problem with this is that you need some serious education to install it correctly for optimal carbonation. But after those first few hours of installation you are golden. Grohe could use a skilled technical writer to replace their various manuals/PDF with one simple short manual, that includes the undocumented cheat sheet for optimal carbonated water. (they will send you this on the phone by request). There is some misconception that this product won't work well in soft water environments, which simply isn't true. After all you have a freaking 5 pound compressed CO2 tank at 50psi :) The other great thing is this is not a bait-and-switch product. (not a Gillette razor model by any means) There are no significant upkeep costs. There is a filter (proprietary) and a food grade CO2 tank (not proprietary) which are both reasonable costs (<3% of the total price of this unit) and only need to be replaced quite infrequently. (every few years on the filter) Just buy this thing. Yeah it seems pricey. But I guarantee it will provide you with a better experience than almost 90% of your purposes in this dollar range (with perhaps the exception of your 75" TV). You'll never use your refrigerator's water again. And if you purchase carbonated beverages frequently like I did you will very quickly save more total cash than you spent on this device.