Virgin Pure Water System Review | Hot and Cold Filtered Water Instantly
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**Collaborative post**
Disclaimer: I received this Virgin Pure Water System II for review; as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Read on for my Virgin Pure Water System Review.
**EDIT – Virgin Pure (Virgin Water Filter) has now rebranded and is now called Our Taap – the current website will redirect to the new, branded website www.ourtaap.com
If you are anything like me, then you never get a hot drink. I find myself boiling the kettle and getting distracted while I wait for it to boil. That time is perfect for unloading the washing machine or washing up, but by then, I’ve forgotten what I was doing beforehand.
The Virgin Pure Home Water System II removes the need to boil the kettle, as it dispenses hot water instantly at the press of a button. This means I can’t forget to make my hot drink – although it doesn’t remind me to drink it once it has left my hands, it does mean I can make another when it has been left to get cold.
Not only does it dispense hot water instantly but it also dispenses very cold filtered water from the same machine at the press of a button! This has been a lifesaver during these past few weeks when the weather has been in its 30s and has meant I have far more fridge space now as I don’t have to keep filling bottles with tap water and placing them in the fridge. According to All Filters, the filtered water is far colder than the bottles kept in the fridge, which means we’ve been drinking far more than usual.
I had thought it could be a novelty that the kids kept getting themselves water from this machine, as generally, they prefer juice or milk, this has not been the case at all and they refill their glasses/bottles nearly every time they go into the kitchen.
Virgin Pure Water System Review – (Virgin water filter review)
Installing the Virgin Pure Water System II (Now rebranded as Our Taap)
The actual machine is delivered a few days before your pre-booked installation date via courier. You are contacted via telephone or email to arrange an installation date which suits you and will be given a 2-hour slot the evening before. There are 4 colour options to choose from for your machine: Black, Pebble, White or Blue.
Things to note before the fitter arrives:
This machine is plumbed directly into your mains water supply, so either under your kitchen sink or it can be connected to the washing machine feed or dishwasher feed. The actual machine sits on the countertop and has to be located within 12 metres of your main water supply.
A small pencil-sized hole will need to be drilled in your countertop, this is for the tube connecting the machine to the water supply. It is actually a very small hole and can be made behind the machine so it won’t be visible.
The machine must be placed within 1.5m of a plug socket
You will also have to clear the area for access to the water supply, usually, this means the cupboard under the sink, no one wants to be moving all those cleaning products while the fitter waits for you to remove far too many bottles of Zoflora and emergency candles! If you are planning to plumb this into the washing machine or dishwasher feed you will have to pull out those appliances before the fitter arrives.
The fitting can take up to one hour but in reality, it was far quicker than that, even with flushing through the machine which takes around 15 minutes and talking through the settings. It all depends on how easy it is to access your water supply and connect to it. The mains water will have to be turned off before installation so make sure you know where that stopcock is located.
Before installation, you will have to decide where to place your machine. Ideally, near your sink is best as it makes it easier to flush the machine directly into the sink. It can fit under most wall-fitted cupboards as long as you are able to still access the buttons on the top of the machine and it has some space around it for airflow.
A pay-as-you-go option, which means you purchase your filter and UV lamp when you need them changed (the water filter needs changing twice a year and the UV filter once a year). The price of this option is £539.99 upfront cost for the machine or 12 monthly interest-free instalments of £44.99 a month – for this, you will receive the machine, delivery and installation, your first filter and UV lamp and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
By subscribing to a smart service. This costs £299.99 upfront for the machine or 12 monthly interest-free instalments of £24.99 a month and you also then pay £4.60 a week, which is billed monthly. For this, you will receive the machine, delivery and installation, your first filter and UV lamp, a 30-day satisfaction guarantee – then the smart service (£4.60 a week) includes all new filters delivered, all new UV lamps delivered, all descale kits delivered, a stainless steel branded water bottle, repair or replacement service and all installs if you move house.
By subscribing to the smart service, you don’t have to remember when your filters and UV lamp need replacing, as it automatically delivered to your home.
Should you wish to purchase these separately, a filter pack costs £69.99 and a package of a filter pack and UV lamp costs £139.99
It’s worth weighing the cost against a plumbed-in boiling water tap, which does much the same job without giving up worktop space — this guide breaks down what a boiling water tap costs to run.
How it works
The Virgin Pure Home Water System II is plumbed directly into your mains water supply, meaning there is no need to refill this machine when you want hot or cold water, as you would a kettle, for instance (I’ve lost count of the times I’ve boiled an empty kettle).
There are two water tanks inside this machine, one for hot water and the other for cold water. Both are dispensed filtered and through the UV filter to remove impurities from your water supply, including chlorine, microplastics and many other nasty things you really don’t want to be drinking.
As well as hot and cold water, there is also a mixed ‘ambient’ temperature button – this dispenses hot and cold water to a mixed temperature of your choosing.
Both the hot and cold temperatures can be set to your preference using the menu function button – cold water can be preset to temperatures from minus 9 degrees to minus 1 degree; ours is currently set to minus 2 degrees, and that is certainly cold enough for us; it’s almost like you’ve taken your water.
Hot water temperatures can be preset to 69-99 degrees.
The machine is pretty quiet; there is a slight noise as it preboils water periodically and chills it, however, it’s barely noticeable and you can set it into energy-saver mode, which is perfect if you don’t use the hot water feature that often.
You set it into energy-saver mode and it goes to sleep when not in use. You wake it up again by pressing the hot water button on the top left. This preboils the water, ready for use but will then sleep again.
If you use hot water more often, you can turn this off and put it into sleep mode overnight to save energy. When not in energy-saving mode, the machine will periodically boil the water ready to use at the push of a button.
You can fill around 60 cups of hot water and 45 glasses of cold water before you need to wait for the machine to refill. It dispenses chilled water at around 2 litres per minute and hot water at around 1.3 litres a minute.
Button features
There are 6 buttons on the top of this machine. 4 of them dispense water, one heats water quickly and the other is the menu button.
The top left red button dispenses hot water – you can preset the volume if you wish, or just press and hold for an unknown water volume. Letting go will stop the flow, or if you’ve already preset the volume, press this button again to stop the flow.
The top left blue button dispenses cold water – as above the same applies to preset and non-preset volumes of water.
The bottom right blue button is for cold water and is preset to a jug volume. to stop the flow just press the button again.
The top middle button is for mixed hot and cold water.
The bottom left red water heats the water quickly, so if the machine is in energy-saving mode or has cooled down, press this to heat the hot water.
Finally, the top middle button is the menu button – by pressing this, you can access all the menu settings. You don’t have to remember what the codes are, though, just lift off the lid covering at the top of the machine, and you have a quick guide reference to the settings. Press and circle through the settings:
HC = Water temperature – press the flashing hot, mixed or cold button to set the temperature you require CH = Child lock -press the flashing hot water button to turn the hot water mode on or off – choose Y or N SL = Sleep mode – press the flashing cold button to turn on or off CS = Cup size – set the water volume. Press and hold the button for each temperature until you reach the desired level – make sure you have a cup/glass, etc, under so you know the volume you desire ES = Energy saving – press the flashing hot water button and choose Y or N SO = sound – press the flashing cold water button to turn the sound on or off CL = Descale process – See maintenance booklet UL = Changing the UV lamp – See maintenance booklet
Features of this machine – Virgin Pure Home Water System Review
You can pre-set water volumes – using the menu button (bottom middle button) you can preset volumes to fill cups, mugs or glasses – I’ve chosen not to do this as we have so many different-sized vessels, I didn’t want to confuse the children. However, you can preset and stop the water flow by pressing the button again.
If you do preset the volume, you can press the button and leave the room. As long as you have the correct-sized glass/mug under the machine, you can leave it to do its own thing.
Boiling filtered water is perfect for tea or coffee at the press of a button.
Very cold filtered water at the press of a button.
Jug filling setting – you can fill a jug of water by pressing the jug setting.
Child lock option – I love that the children can help themselves to cold water whenever they want it. However, the hot water setting can be worrisome if you’ve younger children. You can set the hot water setting to child mode so they can’t accidentally push this and burn themselves. To dispense hot water when the child lock feature is on, you just have to press the hot water and cold water buttons at the same time.
Sleep mode – You can put it into sleep mode to save energy; this is best done at night to conserve energy. It turns off the heating and cooling systems and backlights. Pressing any button will deactivate the sleep mode (When on holiday, you can turn off by the plug).
Energy saving mode – This turns off the hot water preboiling mode, meaning it won’t keep heating the water ready for use. Pressing the hot water dispense button (top left) or the hot water boil button (bottom left) will tell the machine to heat the water. This doesn’t take long at all, and certainly less time than your normal kettle. When those buttons say red, the temperature and water are ready to dispense. When in energy saver mode, it will then cool down, and the hot water mode will sleep. If you turn this setting off, the water will keep heating periodically, so its always ready when you press the hot water dispense button – this is perfect if you drink a lot of hot drinks, but if you don’t pop it into energy saver mode as there is no need to keep it boiling.
Our Taap Home Water System Review
Maintenance
There really isn’t a lot of maintenance needed with this machine. Wipe it down every few days to remove dust. Clean the drip tray out regularly (the drip tray is removable and can be positioned on the higher setting for small glasses, cups and mugs, and on the lower setting for jugs and bottles. You can also remove it completely, which is best for the kids’ school water bottles.
You have to change the water filter twice a year, and the UV filter needs to be changed once a year.
Clean the water spout regularly
Run the descaling process
Our thoughts
Cold water being dispensed – Virgin Pure Water System Review. Virgin water filter review.
We have been using this machine for just over a month now, and I honestly am not sure how we would have lived without one. I had been looking at these over the past year, but was unsure due to the price and really thought it would be an expensive novelty. Boy, was I wrong. All the members of the family use this at least 15/20 times a day. I have, since having this installed, recommended Virgin Pure Smart Water Dispensers to all my friends and family.
While it’s really hot currently, we aren’t drinking too many hot drinks, only in the evening before bed as it’s just a routine – a cup of hot chocolate or tea and settling down with a book; however, we have never drunk so much water as a family, and it isn’t just due to the heat as even on the cooler days the children have headed into the kitchen to grab a drink of water or popped squash into their glass and filled with fresh, filtered cold water.
It is so nice to have water which not only is cold but tastes nice too – I was regularly buying flavoured bottles of water or just bottles of water in a bid to get us drinking more. Tap water here is OK, but it was never ever a go-to for any of us; it had a strange aftertaste, which left you craving something else instead. Now, with this Virgin Pure Water System II, we are all heading straight for the cold water when we get home, and the children’s juice intake has certainly lowered.
Since this was installed, I haven’t had to buy bottled water. I have kept a few of the old water bottles and now just refill them for the kids’ lunches, days out, etc.
We have all noticed a taste change, which also applies to our hot drinks.
On the first day this was installed, we all wanted to try it out. The kids made hot drinks of tea, but didn’t drink them, as they stated it tasted strange. I tested it out too and had to agree – it was a little unsettling as this was supposed to replace the kettle, so I worried it wouldn’t work out for us. Not one to be put off, I flushed the machine through with hot and cold water a few more times and the next day tried again. Thankfully, all was fine. I think it just needed a good flush-through after being in the box for a while to remove that new taste/smell, which you sometimes get with new appliances/machines.
I have since removed the kettle from our kitchen; this is the most-used appliance.
On another note, we did have an issue with our engineer’s arrival time. However, outside companies are used, so while you are given a 2-hour slot, it can’t always be guaranteed. I called Virgin Pure when my slot had passed and was kept informed. The fitter called me when he was 30 minutes away and was very polite and friendly. I am well aware that these things do happen.
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Clare
Hi, I'm Clare (Emmy's Mummy). A former Nanny and Mother of 2 - Emmy (born February 2010) and Harry (born October 2012). We are Essex based and share our adventures and misadventures of a busy crazy life.
