We conducted an extensive hands-on assessment of the SimPure Y7P to evaluate its performance across a range of testing categories. We used the system in our own home to analyze its ability to purify our treated, shared well water in Colorado, as well as its ease of setup and maintenance, design quality, filtration speed, and company policies.
What We Like
What We Don’t Like
| Price | $369.99 |
| Contaminants Reduced | 1,000+ |
| Certifications | NSF 58 (Materials Requirements Only) |
| Process | Mechanical + Carbon + RO |
| Filter Capacity | 528 gallons |
| Annual Cost | ~$114 |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Table of Contents
📊 Scoring Data
At Water Filter Guru, we use the same key performance criteria to test all the water filters we review. This involves scoring a filter across 6 different factors that impact their ease of use, convenience, and the quality of their water purification. Using our data tracking system, we can easily compare our results to all other filters we’ve tested so far. When testing the SimPure Y7P system, we specifically looked at how it matched up to other countertop RO systems.
You can see how this system ranks in the following table:
| Criteria | Results |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 8.10 |
| Health Related Contaminants | 8.40 |
| Aesthetic Related Contaminants | 9.90 |
| Performance Certification | Not Certified |
| Filtration Rate | 0.05 GPM |
| Component Quality | Below Average |
| Component Certification | Exceptional |
| Setup | Weak |
| Servicing Requirements | Weak |
| Costs | $0.10/ gallon |
| Warranty Length | 1 year |
| Shipping | Free shipping to continental US |
| Returns | Only available for certain conditions – No trial period/ guarantee |
🎬 Video Review
🚰 Contaminant Reduction
Score: 8.23SimPure currently sells 8 different countertop RO system models. We chose the SimPure Y7P unit to test as it’s the most popular system currently available, and was the most requested for us to review.
To evaluate the system’s contaminant reduction performance, we conducted our own SimpleLab water testing and combined this data with evidence of (or a lack of) a performance certification.
Our Performance Testing
Score: 8.48
Starting with our performance testing, we first needed to learn about our water quality before purification.
We used a SimpleLab Tap Score kit to take a sample of water directly from our kitchen faucet, which we shipped to the lab for testing. We choose Tap Score for all our water testing projects because we’ve found that its test reports are the most comprehensive and simple to interpret, with handy interactive elements that help us easily understand our water quality.
Health-Related Contaminants
Score: 8.40
Health-related contaminants are those that have known human health effects. Some common health-harmful impurities in tap water include pesticides, heavy metals, disinfection byproducts, radionuclides, PFAS, and pharmaceuticals.
8 contaminants with potential health effects were detected in our water, and 2 of these—fluoride and uranium—were present in concentrations exceeding the Tap Score HGL:
- 1.2 PPM of fluoride, exceeding the HGL of 0.8 PPM
- 0.0099 PPM of uranium, exceeding the HGL of 0 PPM
Contaminants detected below the HGL included nitrate, strontium, barium, and molybdenum. You can see the complete list of contaminants and their concentrations in the table below.
| Property | Type | Unit | Pre Filtration | Post Filtration | % Reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barium | Metals | PPM | 0.0168 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Copper | Metals | PPM | 0.0764 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Fluoride | Inorganics | PPM | 1.2 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Molybdenum | Metals | PPM | 0.0023 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Strontium | Metals | PPM | 0.108 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Sulfate | Inorganics | PPM | 7.8 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Uranium | Metals | PPM | 0.0099 | 0 | -100.00% |
| Carbonate | Minerals | PPM | 0.052 | 0.0012 | -97.69% |
| Magnesium | Minerals | PPM | 6.07 | 0.28 | -95.39% |
| Calcium | Minerals | PPM | 25.3 | 1.4 | -94.47% |
| Chloride | Inorganics | PPM | 15.4 | 1.4 | -90.91% |
| Bicarbonate | Minerals | PPM | 88.9 | 13.44 | -84.88% |
| Nitrate (as N) | Inorganics | PPM | 3.2 | 0.7 | -78.13% |
| Sodium | Minerals | PPM | 9.91 | 2.64 | -73.36% |
So, did the SimPure Y7P system effectively remove these contaminants?
We conducted a second Tap Score test on water purified from the system to find out—and our results were pretty great.
Fluoride and uranium were both completely eliminated. Our purified water was also free from barium, copper, strontium, and sulfate, and the system greatly reduced nitrate by 78%.
This was the exact performance we’d expect from a reverse osmosis system—RO is one of the most effective water purification methods designed to target a broad range of contaminants.
Aesthetic Contaminants
Score: 9.90
Aesthetic contaminants affect water’s taste, smell, and appearance, and in city water or treated well water, there’s only usually one aesthetic contaminant present: chlorine. This chemical is widely used to disinfect water and can give it a mild “swimming pool” taste and odor.
We tested for chlorine ourselves using the included test strips in our tests. This gave us more accurate results than a lab test, as chlorine is highly volatile and dissipates from water quickly.
Around 1 PPM of chlorine was initially detected. Post filtration, this had been eliminated entirely—likely captured in the media in the Y7P’s carbon filter.
Minerals, Salts, & PH
The pH and presence of minerals in our purified water don’t currently influence the contaminant reduction scores we assign to an RO system. But given that reverse osmosis is known to influence these water quality parameters, we usually discuss them in our reviews.
Our unfiltered water contained trace levels of magnesium, calcium, and sodium. Post-filtration, these had all been reduced significantly:
- Magnesium by 95%, from 6.07 PPM to 0.28 PPM
- Calcium by 94%, from 25.3 PPM to 1.4 PPM
- Sodium by 73%, from 9.91 PPM to 2.64 PPM
The reduction of these minerals also influenced the pH of our water, which dropped from 7.1 (just above neutral) to 6.3 (slightly acidic). This was expected given that the minerals that had been reduced contribute to alkalinity.
Is this a problem? Not necessarily. Our water still tasted fine, and the lack of minerals shouldn’t be an issue if your diet is healthy and varied. But water with a low pH is more likely to leach metals, and these metals tend to be more toxic. So if you’re going to store your RO water before drinking, put it in a glass container.
The Y7P doesn’t come with a remineralization upgrade, so there’s no way to re-introduce minerals into the water in a treatment stage. SimPure has recently released the YT7-BW-A, which does have an alkaline post-filter and is worth considering if you want to raise your purified water’s pH.
Otherwise, you could stick with the YP7 and remineralize your water using another method.
Performance Certifications
Score: 6.00
As a reverse osmosis system, the SimPure YP7 should reduce or remove dozens of other contaminants that weren’t detected in our test water, including PFAS, other heavy metals, chloramine, pesticides, nitrate, and bacteria.
We can only personally test a filter’s ability to reduce the contaminants our water contains. Because of that, we also look for performance certifications as proof that a system can target a broader range of impurities that other folks might be concerned about.
The YP7 has not yet been certified by any of the three testing and certification organizations: the NSF, IAPMO, or the WQA.
SimPure misleadingly claims that the system has been “SGS tested and certified”, making us believe that SGS is a reputable certification body – it isn’t, they provide testing, not certification.
Since the YP7 isn’t certified, we’re instead going to compare our test results against the SGS testing data.
The report noted that the system removed 97.28% fluoride, 96.26% nitrate, and 99.5% copper, which corresponded with our own test results, although nitrate reduction was slightly lower (78%).
SGS also tested the system to reduce lead, arsenic, total coliforms, and other contaminants. They weren’t detected in our water, so we can’t offer a comparison for these particular impurities.
The YP7’s lack of official certifications is disappointing, especially since other similar countertop RO systems have been certified to reduce at least a few contaminants.
🚦Filtration Rate
Score: 7.00Like most free-standing countertop RO systems, the SimPure YP7 system has a fairly slow water filtration rate.
In our testing, it took 7 minutes and 15 seconds to filter enough water to fill the internal pure water tank (which holds 0.4 gallons of water).
This equated to a filtration rate of 0.05 GPM. The pure water tank is smaller than the unfiltered water tank—from full, the unfiltered water tank fills the pure water tank three times.
The other countertop RO systems we tested had filtration rates ranging from 0.03 to 0.1 GPM, so the YP7’s water production rate is on the slower end of a fairly slow bunch.
Efficiency Ratio
Wastewater production is a side effect of the reverse osmosis process, but the good news is that modern countertop RO systems like the Simpure Y7P are designed to minimize water waste as much as possible.
The Y7P uses something called Recycling Multi Filtration Technology, which means it circulates the wastewater back into the feed tank to continuously circulate it through the filters until the inlet tank is nearly empty. Filtering water repeatedly through the system means that the maximum volume of water is purified, limiting how much is wasted.
As a result, the system is highly efficient, with a pure-to-wastewater ratio of 4:1. That means only 1 gallon of water is wasted for every 4 gallons purified, the exact opposite of the conventional under-sink system’s 1:4 efficiency ratio.
Other countertop RO units have recovery rates ranging from 2:1 to 4:1, putting the SimPure YP7 among the best in this category.
📐 Design
Score: 8.50The SimPure YP7 has the standard design that we’ve come to expect from a countertop reverse osmosis system.
It consists of a main unit that contains the filtration cartridges and water storage tanks (accessible via a panel at the back) and a dispenser spout and cupholder for dispensing purified water into a glass of your choice.
The system requires electricity to power a pump, sending water through the filters and eliminating the need for connection to a water line.
In terms of its appearance and functionality, we found the system similar to Waterdrop N1, another countertop RO system that’s currently around $150 cheaper.
We awarded the Y7P’s overall design score by combining scores from our design quality analysis and the system’s design certifications (or lack of).
Component Quality
Score: 7.50
We were a bit disappointed with the quality of this SimPure RO model.
The system is primarily made from plastic and BPA-free food-grade material. The tanks, including the purified water tank, are made from plastic—something to keep in mind if you’re trying to limit your plastics exposure.
Note: See our reviews for the AquaTru Carafe or the BlueVua ROPOT if so, which both collect water in glass jugs.
While the Y7P’s design feels sturdy enough, it had a few issues that brought its score down in this category.
First, we found that having a small volume pure water tank was a hassle because we’d have to dispense all the water from it every time it got full if we wanted to purify all the water from the unfiltered water tank.
Plus, the unit beeps for around 20 seconds to let you know when there’s a shortage of pure water, as well as when you remove the unfiltered water tank to fill it up. While some folks may find this useful, we found it annoying.
Once you’ve got the unit up and running, you can dispense water into a cup of your choice. We noted that the cupholder that goes under the dispenser spout is made from cheap plastic and doesn’t feel like it’ll withstand much wear and tear.
And finally, we found that the lid that covers the unfiltered water tank slips down, meaning it gets in your way when you’re trying to install the tank after filling it up.
Little design issues like these might not make a huge impact on the system’s overall value but would have been so easy to address in the manufacturer’s initial prototype testing.
Filter Design
We mentioned that the SimPure Y7P has a similar design to the Waterdrop N1, and these similarities extend to the filters used in each system.
Both models use two filters: the Waterdrop N1 uses a PP cotton & carbon block filter and an RO membrane, and the SimPure Y7P uses a sediment PP membrane & pre-carbon filter and an RO membrane. We’re pretty certain that these filters are exactly the same but have been branded differently for each manufacturer.
In fact, we think multiple countertop RO systems, including the RKIN U1, the Bluevua ROPOT, and Waterdrop, are using very similar filters in their systems, which could be all sourced from the same manufacturer in China.
That’s why it’s important to focus not just on the filtration process itself (which tends to be pretty similar across all RO systems anyway), but on additional features that might justify a system’s higher cost, such as:
- Performance/design certifications
- Additional treatment stages, like remineralization
- Tech capabilities such as heating/cooling of purified water to a desired temperature
- Features to limit wastewater production
- Design elements that minimize contact between purified water & plastic parts
Along with its filters, the Y7P also has a UV light, which is capable of “disinfecting and treating 99.99% of viruses, germs, e-coli, and coliform bacteria”. We appreciated the addition of UV but can’t corroborate these claims as we only filtered treated, potable water that did not have microorganisms detected pre-filtraiton.
Certification
Score: 6.00
Although it doesn’t have any performance certifications, the Y7P does have a design certification: it’s certified for materials requirements only under Standard 58 by the NSF.
This begs the question: why didn’t SimPure apply for a performance certification as well? NSF 58 is the performance standard for RO systems and can be used to validate a manufacturer’s claims to reduce many contaminants, from fluoride to PFAS to lead.
If SimPure went to the effort to obtain a design certification under this standard, why didn’t it also get performance certified—especially when this is arguably the certification that customers care about more? Was it a financial decision? Or did the company believe that certifications weren’t achievable? We can only speculate.
Regardless of the reason, it’s good to see that the system is at least certified for conforming to material requirements.
⚙️ Setup
Score: 7.00The initial setup process for the SimPure Y7P couldn’t be easier, but its score was affected in this category due to its time-consuming filter flushing process.
As a plug-and-play system with pre-fitted filters, the Y7P doesn’t need to be installed at your plumbing. We simply placed it onto our kitchen countertop and plugged it into a power outlet.
There were a few basic assembly requirements, including:
- Unboxing the unit
- Attaching the drip tray
- Removing and filling the unfiltered water tank
…And at this point, the setup process became a lot more time-consuming.
Following the instructions in the user manual, we flushed the filters to prime them ready for use. This didn’t just take a few minutes—it’s a process that lasts up to 2 hours.
The main reason for this is the small size of the internal pure water tank compared to the unfiltered water tank. We had to wait for the pure water tank to be filled, then manually flush it. Then we had to wait for it to fill again, then manually flush it. This was repeated again and again until the unfiltered water tank was emptied and needed to be refilled.
It took us just under 30 minutes to complete the process to flush one full unfiltered water tank, and SimPure recommends repeating this 3-5 times before you can drink water from the system. Not good.
🔧 Maintenance
Score: 9.75We evaluated the SimPure Y7P in the maintenance category by analyzing its servicing requirements and the ongoing filter replacement cost.
Servicing Requirements
7.00
The Y7P’s servicing requirements were simple, but we had to repeat the same time-consuming flushing process every time we replaced the filters.
There’s a filter indicator light on the display that illuminates for each filter when a replacement is needed, which is a handy feature that prevents the need to make your own calendar reminders.
We haven’t had to replace any of the filters yet, but the process outlined in the user manual is straightforward: open the access panel, remove the unfiltered water tank, lift and turn the old filter to remove it, then insert the new cartridge in its place.
Aside from replacing the filters, we also cleaned the water tanks every week in warm, soapy water. The user manual outlines how to descale the system, which is recommended for every 2 weeks to 6 months depending on the TDS reading of your unfiltered water.
Costs
Score: 10.00
We calculated the ongoing spend for the SimPure Y7P by adding together the costs-per-gallon of each filter in the system.
The system’s overall maintenance cost is $0.10/gallon:
| Filter | Replacement Cost | Capacity | Cost per Gallon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF Filter | $23 | 528 gallons | $0.04 | |
| RO Filter | $35 | 528 gallons | $0.06 | |
This cost will vary for each user depending on your water usage and quality, but it’s a good benchmark and allows us to easily compare it to other systems. It’s one of the most affordable RO systems we’ve tested, but all countertop models we’ve reviewed so far have been very affordable.
🏢 Company
Score: 8.20Finally, we looked at SimPure’s company offerings, including its warranty, shipping, and returns policy.
Warranty
Score: 8.50
SimPure offers a 1-year limited warranty for all products purchased on the manufacturer’s website.
The warranty covers any defects in material or workmanship under normal use throughout the warranty period. Under the warranty, you’ll be eligible to receive a replacement part or product, or get your product repaired by SimPure, for free.
There are a few terms and conditions to be aware of: the warranty doesn’t cover damage caused by improper use, unauthorized modification, fire, and other scenarios not related to normal use.
You can find information on SimPure’s warranty policy here.
Shipping
Score: 9.50
All SimPure products are sold with free shipping to customers in the continental US.
Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and several other regions aren’t eligible for the free shipping offer. If you’re getting a product shipped to one of these regions, you’ll need to pay a remote area fee, which depends on the weight and size of the product.
View the shipping policy here.
Returns
Score: 6.50
We were disappointed with the returns policy offered by SimPure. You can only return a product under certain conditions, and there’s no trial period or guarantee.
SimPure allows customers to return products for an exchange or refund in the case of manufacturing defects, damage in transit (but only if you discover this in the presence of the couriers), or the product not matching with the original description.
Every other countertop RO system we’ve tested has had a 30-day guarantee, so SimPure falls behind in this category.
Find more information on the refund policy here.
💰 Value For Money
Rounding up this review, we’re going to end with our evaluation of the SimPure Y7P’s overall value for money.
There are plenty of things to like about this system: it’s pre-assembled and suitable for rentals, and in our testing, it performed impressively, removing the majority of contaminants in our water. It’s also one of the most efficient RO systems we’ve tested and is very affordable to maintain.
But there were a few issues we experienced with the Y7P that we didn’t with other similar systems, including annoying design features and a time-consuming filter flushing process required for setup and filter changes. Plus, because there’s no remineralization upgrade with this particular model, our purified water had an acidic pH, and (despite SimPure’s misleading claims) the system isn’t certified for contaminant reduction.
None of these features are dealbreakers—but remember that the Y7P costs around $150 more than the Waterdrop N1, which has a very similar design (without the Y7P’s annoying features) and performed almost identically in our testing. With this in mind, we think it makes sense to go for the Waterdrop model instead.
But if you want a system with remineralization included, without any of the annoying features of the Y7P, you can spend virtually the same on the AquaTru Carafe. This system is currently the top-performing countertop RO system of all those we’ve tested so far – and it’s extensively performance certified.