User:Jonathan/Tankless Revers Osmosis Physical DRM (Culligan, Waterdrop)
❗This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
#appeals channel in either Zulip or Discord to request removal.An article may be flagged as a stub when it is missing major elements needed to make it useful to a reader. You can help by adding missing sections, verifiable sources, relevant company policies and communications, etc. to make the article more complete.
🧽🫧This article needs cleanup. It contains sources and content but lacks proper formatting/structure.
Common issues include not following the correct preload outline (incident, company, product), references that don't use <ref></ref> or Cite web, leftover "WIP" markers, or long quotes not wrapped in Quote. You can help by applying the relevant preload, converting raw URLs into proper citations, and removing editor notes.
Culligan and Waterdrop are using a plastic key (physical DRM) to lock their water filters out of each others systems
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | |
| Product Type | Hardware |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://www.culligan.com/product/culligan-aquasential-tankless-ro-drinking-water-filter-system |
I (Jonathan) purchased a Culligan Aquasential Tankless Reverse Osmosis System (RO) a few years ago. Every year the filter beeps and needs to be changed out. Culligan after COVID decided that the filters are now much more expensive than they were when I purchased the RO. The only way to purchase cartridges for the RO are through contacting a sales person at Culligan and either going to their office or paying them $5 to drive to my house and hand it to me.
With the absurd nature of being more or less held hostage to their proprietary filters and process I spent time every year looking for alternatives. This year (2026) I found it! Waterdrop created an RO filter with the EXACT same filter size and locking system that Culligan uses on my model.
I ordered 2 Waterdrop filters from Homedepot and when they arrived I realized that there is a plastic key on both brands of filter that prevents them from being directly interchanged. Luckily they were not very solidly attached and I was able to pry them off with a butter knife. I put one of the Waterdrop filters in the RO with the Culligan key replaced onto it and then put the second Waterdrop filter in without a key and it worked just the same.
Consumer impact summary
Attempting to physically lock two cloned RO filters from one another with a key is anti-consumer behavior that needs to be called out. Culligan profits heavily from locking consumers into a high upfront cost RO system with expensive filters and no other way to get them than to call a salesperson to come by your house.
See also