FAQs
- What is LINX® Technology?
- How does the LINX Technology work?
- What is the Dial-A-Taste® Control feature and how does it work?
- Why is LINX the “Smartest Water System Ever?”
- How does LINX Technology use less water than RO?
- How much money can a LINX system customer expect to save on their municipal water bill using the LINX system rather than RO?
- What about “Zero Waste” RO Claims?
- What are the components of a LINX system?
- How often do the filters need to be changed?
- How much will a filter change cost?
- How much water can I draw at one time?
- How much electricity does the LINX system use?
- Can the LINX system be hooked up to an icemaker and will the ice be crystal clear?
- What other contaminants are reduced using LINX?
- Are LINX Products Certified?
1. What is LINX® Technology?
LINX stands for eLectrically regenerative IoN eXchange. LINX products employ the first new technology in the point of use (POU) water treatment industry since residential reverse osmosis (RO) was introduced in the early 1970’s. The patented process employs the basics of ion exchange technology but uses electricity for regeneration rather than salt or other chemicals. LINX systems use both cation and anion media to remove a wide range of Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) “contaminants” including metals, nitrate, nitrite and others.
LINX Technology is the first “SMART” water system that takes into account the quality of your feedwater and then lets you decide how you want your drinking water to taste.
2. How does the LINX Technology work?
Water passes thru LINX TDS cartridges made from ion exchange resin. An electrical field attracts the TDS in the water which is adsorbed in the cells leaving you with great tasting drinking water. Periodically the cells need to be regenerated. During regeneration the electrical field in the cells is reversed releasing the contaminants. The cells are flushed with water and the accumulated TDS goes safely down the drain. The system is ready to again produce high quality drinking water.
3. What is the Dial-A-Taste® Control feature and how does it work?
LINX products have 10 separate settings that allow you to “dial the taste of your water”. When the system is installed the system is set based on whether your water has high or low TDS (400 TDS is the cutoff). Public water supplies are carefully operated and tested but not all water delivered to your tap is the same quality. This first setting takes into account these water quality differences and programs the system to provide the level of treatment needed.
The second setting is the Dial-A-Taste control. This dial allows you to select any of 5 additional settings to get the water you want. Other drinking water systems only allow one setting and one water quality.
If you like spring water set the dial all the way to the left. If you like RO quality water, set the dial all the way to the right. You might find by setting the dial in the middle, it fits your taste the best. The dial setting has no effect on the water recovery rate.
4. Why is LINX the “Smartest Water System Ever?”
LINX products employ a sophisticated “power supply” (a computer) that controls how it works. This is what allows you to dial the taste you like and keeps track of how much water is produced and tells you when it is time to service the unit and replace cartridges. The system also shuts down if it senses a leak. No other drinking water system has this ability to “think” and thus help you get the water you want.
The label that shows how the indicator lights work looks like this:
5. How does LINX Technology use less water than RO?
LINX products employ a “batch” process that only regenerates after producing the preset volume of water based on the high and low TDS settings – so the recovery rate is always the same. When in the deionization stage all the water goes to the storage tank and during regeneration all the water goes to drain.
RO systems are rated for both “recovery” and “efficiency”. Recovery indicates the percentage of water that the unit produces as a percentage of total water used. For most household RO systems the recovery rate is 25-33% when the system is tested in a laboratory under conditions that NEVER exist in your home or office – 77 degree F feedwater at 52 psi and the water is run to atmosphere, not to the REQUIRED tank. All RO systems use a storage tank that is pressurized to deliver water to your faucet. When RO systems are operated with the tank recovery typically drops to 18-20% when you first fill the tank – this is the efficiency rating. That means the recovery rate drops as the back pressure from the tank increases as the tank fills. Because drinking water is usually drawn one glass at a time and RO is always re-filling the tank against the highest back pressure the actual recovery rate is much lower than even the efficiency rating advertises. In fact one study by Ted Kuepper of the US Navy’s Port Hueneme Water Research Center in California found that in typical residential use the recovery rate was less than 3.6%. In Pionetics’ own in house testing of RO systems by various manufacturers we consistently find that ROs waste 10 +/- gallons for every gallon produced – only 10% recovery.
Feedwater temperature is a big factor in RO recovery.
John VanNewenhizen, formerly of Culligan and now an independent consultant says: As a rule of thumb, RO product output decreases 1-2% for every degree F decrease in temperature. That means at 60 F an RO system will produce 15-25% less product than at 77 F as tested for certification. When that happens it wastes more water to drain because it still has the same drain flow restrictor as it did for 77 F and it must run longer to fill the storage tank.
Feed water pressure also has a substantial effect on RO recovery – the lower the feedwater pressure the lower the recovery. In testing done for Pionetics VanNewenhizen found that a typical RO’s recovery was 11% at 80 psi feedwater but only 5% at 20 psi. LINX operation is NOT affected by feedwater pressure or temperature or back pressure from the storage tank.
LINX products only regenerate after the system produces the preset quantity of water – 3 gallons on the low TDS setting and 1.5 gallons on the high TDS setting. During regeneration LINX product use 1.3 gallons of water regardless of the setting. Thus actual recovery is 70% on low TDS water and 55% on high TDS water.
RO wastes 20 to 60 times more water that LINX to produce the same volume of water.
6. How much money can a LINX system customer expect to save on their municipal water bill using the LINX system rather than RO?
If a customer used one gallon of drinking water per day they can expect to save about $3.50 per month on their water bill. Of course, the price of water charged by their water provider is a factor, as well as, the volume of drinking water used each month.
For example:
- If the customer uses 1 gallon of drinking water per day and their RO wastes 27 gallons (per Kuepper) to make that 1 gallon of drinking water.
- Multiplied by 30 days per month = 810 gallons per month of wasted water
- 30 gallons of drinking water per month from a LINX system produces only 20 gallons of waste water for the month (one gallon for every 1.5 gallons produced on high TDS setting, over 400 ppm)
- 810 gallons RO waste
- -20 gallons LINX waste
- 790 gallon waste difference
- $.004 cost of water per gallon (rates vary and can be MUCH higher)
- $3.16 monthly savings with a LINX system
7. What about “Zero Waste” RO Claims?
Zero Waster ROs route the drain water into the hot water line that feeds the sink thus feeding room temperature water into the hot water faucet. This means the hot water is being mixed with colder temperature water. Thus the customer has to run the water longer to get hot water – not really saving water. Other concerns are:
- The water injected into the hot water line is high TDS – not what you want to wash dishes, etc.
- They have to be at least 25 feet from the water heater
- They are not warranted on water over 8 grains of hardness
- There is also some question as to whether or not running the “reject water” to the supply water line meets plumbing codes and health standards
8. What are the components of a LINX system?
The LINX system includes 4 cartridge filters:
- A “pre-filter” to remove suspended solids in the feed water
- 2 LINX TDS reduction cartridges
- A carbon “post-filter” to polish the water prior to drinking
9. How often do the filters need to be changed?
The LINX TDS cartridges need to be replaced after 1,300 gallons of water is produced if the feedwater contains high levels of hardness. This is about the amount of drinking water used in a home in 2 years. The pre and post filters should be changed annually. If the feedwater is over 20 grains hardness the TDS cartridges may have to be changed out more often whereas on soft water they will last longer than 1,300 gallons.
10. How much will a filter change cost?
Costs for service calls can vary significantly from Dealer to Dealer, but may average around $100 per service call and replacement of the sediment and carbon filters and may average $250 based upon the service and replacement of the sediment and carbon filters (plus the TDS reduction cartridges). Costs vary significantly per Dealer. Please click here to find your local Dealer to get an accurate quote for services.
11. How much water can I draw at one time?
That depends on the size of your storage tank. The 2.2 gallon tank actually holds about 1.5 gallons of water while the 3.2 gallon tank holds about 2.5 gallons.
Up to 3 more gallons are available from the LINX system depending on how soon the system is scheduled to regenerate.
During the regeneration process, which takes 36 minutes, the only water available is what is in the storage tank.
12. How much electricity does the LINX system use?
Less than 2 cents per gallon of drinking water produced based on the highest electrical rates in the US – about the same amount of electricity as drying your hair after a shower. Watching TV for an hour will use twice as much electricity as making a gallon of high quality drinking water with LINX products.
13. Can the LINX system be hooked up to an icemaker and will the ice be crystal clear?
In most cases the system can be hooked up to your icemaker. Crystal clear ice is a function of the ice maker, in concert with good water. Residential icemakers freeze the ice from the outside in and sometimes air gets caught in the cube and thus the ice is not perfectly clear. Commercial icemakers freeze ice from the inside out which pushes the air out. The result is always crystal clear ice cubes as long as good water is used.
14. What other contaminants are reduced using LINX?
Internal test data and reports from others who have evaluated LINX products indicate the following performance.
This is for information only and not for making “claims” as defined by the certification agencies.
| Contaminant | Percent Removal – LINX test data performance | Percent Removal – Typical RO | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | 95 | 98-99 | |
| Ammonia | 98 | 86-92 | |
| Arsenic III | 85 | ||
| Arsenic V | 93 | ||
| Barium | 99 | 96-98 | |
| Bacteria | 99.9 | 2 log reduction from LINX technology plus 1 log additional from the optional UV | |
| Bicarbonate | 87 | 90-95 | |
| Borate | 70 | 30-50 | |
| Bromide | >95 | 87-93 | |
| Cadmium | 99 | 96-98 | |
| Calcium | 94 | 94-97 | |
| Chloramine | 40 | ||
| Chloride | 92 | 87-93 | Plus the carbon filter removal |
| Chlorine –hypochlorite | 80 | 13-91 | RO removes with pre-carbon or it will damage the membrane |
| Chromium III | >90 | 96-98 | |
| Chromium VI Chromate | 99 | 90 | |
| Copper | 99 | 96-98 | |
| Cyanide | 98 | 86-92 | |
| Cysts | Substituting a 1 micron carbon block filter for the GAC will reduce cysts | ||
| Ferrocyanide | >98 | 98-99 | |
| Fluoride | 92 | 87-93 | |
| Iron | 90 | 95-98 | |
| Iodine | >95 | ||
| Lead | 99 | 96-98 | |
| Magnesium | 92 | 96-98 | |
| Manganese | >95 | 95-98 | |
| Mercury | >98 | 96-98 | at low pH (6.5) – not sure at 8.5 pH water |
| Monochloroacetic Acid | 80 | ||
| Nickel | 98 | 98-99 | |
| Nitrate | 97 | 60-75 | |
| Nitrite | 92 | ||
| Pathogens | No data available | ||
| Perchlorate | 96 | ||
| Pesticides | Somewhat, but only weak acids, bases and ionic species | ||
| Phosphate | >95 | 98-99 | |
| Potassium | 94 | 87-94 | |
| Pyrogens | No data available | ||
| Radon | No – Radon is a noble gas | ||
| Sediment | 5 micron sediment filter is very effective for sediment reduction | ||
| Selenium | 99 | >95 | |
| Silver | >98 | 93-96 | |
| Sodium | 78 | 87-93 | |
| Strontium | 99 | 96-98 | |
| Sulfate | >95 | 98-99 | |
| Sulfite | >95 | 96-98 | |
| Thiosulfate | >95 | 98-99 | |
| Viruses | 2 log reduction from LINX technology plus 1 log from the UV | ||
| Uranium Uranyl | >95 | ||
| VOCs | Carbon filter reduces VOCs | ||
| Zinc | >98 | 98-99 |
Italics indicate estimated performance from ion exchange selectivity information.
Actual performance will depend on the power setting and flow rates. Reducing the flow rate will increase contaminant reduction due to increased contact time.
15. Are LINX Products Certified?
LINX products are certified by a number of “authorities”. The attached summarizes the major certifications.
Summary of LINX 140T-120V, LINX 140-120V and LINX Cooler Module Drinking Water System Certificates (US, Canada)
| Certificate | Mark | Issued by | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WQA Gold Seal, NSF/ANSI 53; nitrate/nitrite) LINX 140T-120V and LINX 140-120V Products |
 |
Water Quality Association | Confirms structural and material safety, performance benefits |
| WQA Gold Seal, NSF/ANSI 53; nitrate/nitrite) LINX Cooler Module |
|
Water Quality Association | Confirms structural and material safety, performance benefits |
| UL979:2005; Water Treatment Appliances LINX 140-120V Product |
 |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms structural and electrical safety, reliability |
| UL 60335-1, Household and Similar Electric Appliances-Safety; US and Canada, LINX 140-120V Product |  |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms structural and electrical safety, reliability |
| Electromagnetic Compatibility CFR 47 Part 15 Subpart B LINX 140-120V Product |  |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms compatibility with other electronic devices |
| IEC 60950-1:2001; Information Technology Equipment-Safety POU10-120V Power Supply |  |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms electrical safety and reliability of power supply |
| IEC/EN 60335-1, Safety of Household and Similar Electrical Appliances; LINX 140-240V Product |  |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms structural and electrical safety, reliability, electromagnetic compatibility |
| IEC 60950-1/EN 60950-1 + A11; Information Technology Equipment-Safety; POU10-240V Power Supply | |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms electrical safety and reliability of power supply |
| CE Mark LINX 140-240V Products |
 |
TUV Rheinland | Confirms structural and electrical safety, reliability of power supply, compatibility with other electronic devices |