Culligan FM-25R Faucet-Mount Replacement Water Filter Cartridge, 200 Gallon, Chrome

Hi, I'm a 16-year-old calico named Annie. My human companion, Stu, tells me this is the first product review by a cat. I don't know why; after all we cats have opinions on everything, mostly negative, the result of being perfect animals in an imperfect world.I have a pretty cushy setup for a cat. The bay window has a deep sill with cushions and there is a comfortable futon which I sometimes let him use. In one corner of the king size bed he put a covered, heated cat bed which he found online and which is why I let him spend there.But there was one major problem – the water. Each morning he would give me food, I would be ravenously hungry and dive in because I can't get him out of bed at a decent hour, like 4:30. While I'm busy eating, he would fetch a bowl of water then disappear without waiting for my opinion. One morning he gave me my chance by reversing the order. I put on an Oscar level performance, dour expression, wrinkled nose, head shaking, the whole nine yards. He asks “is there is a problem with the water?,” as if he thought it came from some holy spring. He gets down and sniffs. Few things look more ridiculous than people on all fours, which is why they walk upright. He proclaims “that's a bad smell.” Tell me something I don't know. If his nose worked, he would not need to half drown himself to find out. Now he tells me, with a straight face mind you, that the people with the big pipes have a machine that puts that smell in the water so that no one gets sick. You believe that? A cat could fall over with one whiff. Stu tells me he will get a machine called a filter to take away the bad smell. That is just like a human – first their machine causes an awful problem so they need another machine to fix it – these people with their machines, always with the machines. On the computer, he types Amazon, then faucet filter and picks the Culligan. A few days later, a box comes with a filter that looks just like the picture on the computer. He unscrews something called an aerator from the faucet, screws on the filter, puts a thing called a cartridge inside it and explains that the bad smell goes in the cartridge and when there is no room in it for more bad smell, one must replace it. He told me that Amazon has a very big computer that knows when each person needs a new cartridge and sends him one, since people cannot be trusted to remember.Now I drink the fresh water given me three times per day, Stu is happy and so is my doctor. Nirvana? Fat chance. Stu still makes me wait for my needs instead of responding immediately to my requests – err, demands – like an obedient slave.

***Long short of this review, THIS IS AN AMAZING WATER FILTER!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!***Here are the facts about this water filter:1) Consumer Reports highly rates this filter, "EXCELLENT (highest rating)" for LEAD REMOVAL, CHLOROFORM REMOVAL, & CLOGGING. Rated FAIR for FLOW RATE. The flow rate isn't fast, but it is decent, and steady. I personally fill up several gallon jugs of filtered water & put them in a mini-frig for convenience.2) DO NOT RUN HOT WATER through the filter EVER, ONLY COLD WATER, or you will significantly reduce its life-cycle. I live in Pittsburgh where the water is over the federal lead limit & the water tastes bad unfiltered. This filter does an excellent job if you use the filter appropriately & the water tastes amazing. Some people say it doesn't last more than a month. Filtering HOT WATER is possibly why so many people complain about it not lasting as long, or their water quality is so bad that the filter is working overtime.3) As previously stated, the FM-15A replacement filter is the SAME w/ a different color = BUY IT TO SAVE MONEY (b/c you can't see it anyway unless you put your head under the faucet)4) Depending on whether your faucet has threads on the INSIDE or OUTSIDE of the nozzle, you MAY OR MAY NOT need to buy a cheap $3 METAL adapter at the hardware store. BUY THE METAL ADAPTER! DO NOT TRY TO MESS WITH THE INCLUDED PLASTIC ONE, the weak properties of plastic means it will fail either immediately from over-tightening or within the 1st month. TRUST ME, SAVE YOURSELF THE FRUSTRATION OF GETTING SPRAYED IN THE FACE OFTEN, & SAVE TIME. Note: Faucets use a STANDARD size, so just ask an employee about the correct & cheapest metal adapter that accommodates BOTH inner/outer threading. The only exception where this filter would NOT WORK is if you have a "DROP DOWN FAUCET" as noted in the description.5) The filter housing is PLASTIC, so when you screw the filter in to the housing, it should be tight, but there's no need to try to torque it to make it super tight or anything, the filters deep threading seal it up very well.6) What to expect for the 1st use after installing the Culligan filter: 1) The water will spray WILD for a little while 2) You need to run COLD water through the filter for about 3 minutes to properly prime it & then it will normalize 3) If you followed the advice from all of the above, I believe that you are going to really love this water filter too! Enjoy!

This filter replacement works as it should and as the original that came with the kit, it works great, the water flow is amazing and the flavor is pretty much non-existent and one of the best filters I ever owned.However in order to get those benefits there are some cost, first if you live somewhere with below ideal water quality, they will wear out fast, really fast and you won't get those claimed 200 Gallons before the water flow drops drastically to a few drops flow.Also it's not the easiest filter to change, sure in theory is just unscrewing and removing the old and screw the new one, but the position and the format makes it not the easiest to get a grip to be able to do that, and the shell that covers the filter feels flimsy and there is a constant feeling that will snap if you apply a bit more force to open it.All in all it worth the investment for the quality of the water you get, however depending on how much water your household consumes and the quality of water where you live or even the age of the pipes on your house, that can become a bit expensive considering the replacement cost is not that low and when the filter lifespan is done it becomes useless until you replace it.