Of all the water a house uses in a day, the few gallons that go into a glass, a coffee maker or a pot of rice are the ones people actually taste. A drinking water system treats just those gallons. It sits in the cabinet under the kitchen sink, runs the cold line through a series of filters and a reverse osmosis membrane, and delivers the result through a small faucet of its own, so what goes in the glass is handled separately from what fills the bathtub. We install two WaterCare reverse osmosis lines for this job, the InterFlo QuadPro SST and the Clear Flo, and this page is about how they differ and how we decide which one belongs in your kitchen.
Two WaterCare RO lines, one kitchen tap
Both systems do the same fundamental thing: they reduce the sediment, chlorine and dissolved impurities that make tap water taste, smell and look worse than it should, and they take bottled water off the shopping list. Where they differ is in form and in how they use water.
InterFlo QuadPro SST: tankless, compact, less reject water
The InterFlo QuadPro SST is WaterCare's tankless reverse osmosis system. Its patented Superior SmartFlow Technology is designed to deliver better water quality, less water waste and longer filter life than a standard RO. The number that gets people's attention is the drain ratio. The EPA notes that most point-of-use RO systems produce five or more gallons of reject water for every gallon of filtered water; the QuadPro SST produces about two-thirds of a gallon per filtered gallon.
Three-stage filtration reduces sediment, chlorine and other chemical contaminants and improves taste and odor. Because there is no storage tank, the unit takes up a fraction of the cabinet, which matters in the compact kitchens of newer Leander and Liberty Hill houses and in a wet bar. The filter is rated for 12 months and the membrane for 48, so cartridge changes come around less often.
Clear Flo: molecular-level filtration
The Clear Flo is WaterCare's conventional RO. WaterCare rates it to filter at the molecular level, rejecting heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine and larger suspended particles, to the drain. Specifically, it removes large and small suspended particles along with dissolved solids and reduces heavy metals, fluoride, sodium chloride, sulfate and chlorine. It is rated to treat up to 100 gallons per day, which comfortably covers a large household, a fridge line and a coffee station.
Why the drain ratio matters in the Hill Country
Lake Travis hit a record low of roughly 34 percent in 2023, the Bee Cave and Dripping Springs utilities were in Stage 3 restrictions this year, and the Hays Trinity groundwater district has been curtailing pumping since 2024. Households on private Trinity wells count gallons. A tankless RO that sends two-thirds of a gallon to the drain instead of five is an easy recommendation on any of those supplies, which is why the QuadPro SST is usually our first suggestion west of Austin.
Which one fits your water: the test decides
Every recommendation starts with a water test at your tap. What we look for:
- Disinfectant. Austin Water, Cedar Park, Leander, Lakeway MUD and Horseshoe Bay run chloramine; Bee Cave and the Spicewood-area systems we have checked run free chlorine. The prefiltration is set for whichever your supply carries.
- Hardness and TDS. Unsoftened Lake Travis water at 10 to 11 grains, or an Ellenburger well at 27, is tough on a membrane. On water like that we usually want a softener ahead of the RO; the water softeners page explains why.
- Volume. A family that cooks nightly, fills a fridge dispenser and makes ice draws differently than a couple who drink from it. High demand points toward the Clear Flo's 100-gallon-per-day rating.
- Cabinet. Space under the sink, an available drain and whether a fridge line is wanted shape the install.
Installation and upkeep
Our crew fits the unit in the cabinet, ties in the cold line and drain, installs the dedicated faucet and adds a fridge line if you want one, then flushes the system and checks the water at the faucet before we go. You get the filter schedule for your specific water. The longer discussion of how reverse osmosis behaves on Austin-area and Hill Country supplies, and what it does and does not remove, lives on our RO service page.
Get a free estimate
If your kitchen is running on bottled water, tell us what you are tasting and where you live. Call (512) 587-8188 during business hours, Monday through Friday, or request a free estimate, and we will test first and recommend the WaterCare drinking water system that fits.