Culligan FM-15A Level 3 Faucet Filter
by Culligan
|
List Price: Our Price: $14.99 You Save: $11.00 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Culligan FM-15A Level 3 Faucet Filter
Customer Review: Great if you follow this simple advice...
Summary: 4 Stars
I have no complaints about the construction or operation of the filter. It's one of the nicer faucet-mounted filters there are, with a very nice solid feel of quality. However, I did experience what some of the other reviewers mentioned: after a short while the filter didn't appear to have any affect on the taste of the water.
The problem, I discovered, is that if you run the water through the filter too quickly (by opening up the tap all the way) the charcoal filter just can't do its job. As a rule of thumb, only allow enough flow through the filter so that it takes about 15 seconds to fill up a glass of water, and you'll have great tasting water. So, if you have high water pressure, make sure you don't open of the faucet all the way when filling a glass. There's just no way a filter as small as this can do its job properly at the max flow rate of most faucets. You really need a large in-line filter for that.
Note that this only applies to the filter's odor and taste removal properties, because this involves a chemical reaction of sorts where activated charcoal pulls chlorine (and other chemical) out of the water by binding to them. This is a completely different mechanism than what you normally associate with filtering, such as particles being caught in a mesh (which is essentially how the rest of the filter works in these, and so it's really only the odor and taste that is affected by the rate at which you let water through the Culligan).
Customer Review: Simple design but well construction.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using the Pur Water filter for years but I have never been completely satisfied with it. The biggest complaint is that it's poorly construction with flimsy plastic parts and is always prone to leaking no matter how tight you have things. Usually after a year, they begin leaking profusely and the only option is to replace the entire unit. The water pressure coming out of the filter was never consistent, sometimes with poor flow and other times it would stream out which made me wonder if it was filtering the water at all.
The Culligan FM-15A filter is a godsend. The adapter that connects to the faucet can be tightened by hand without any leaking. The whole unit swivels back and forth on the adapter, which is very nice when you need to move it out of the way (ie doing dishes). The best part, it doesn't leak after moving it unlike the Pur unit, which always leaks when you try to move it on the adapter.
The other neat feature is the valve that activates the filter. When you turn on the water, simply pull it out and it begins filtering the water. After you turn off the water, the valve pops back in automatically so there's no need to remember to switch it off. You wouldn't think it would be a big deal but it is!
Some people mentioned the water tastes bad. I strongly disagree as it tastes like clean, pure water. If I wanted water to satisfy my taste buds, I would buy some artificially flavored water.
Customer Review: Doesn't even change TDS tester reading, poor taste!
Summary: 1 Stars
So I purchased this filter because I've had the Pur 3-stage FM-9700 for a few years and it kept breaking on me. Luckily I bought it at Costco so I could keep returning it for a new one. I finally got fed up with having to return the PUR filter ever six months or so (The cheap plastic would crack and leak at faucet or the sediment screen would get rusted out). So I returned it for good to Costco and figured I'd give this filter a go. I already use Culligan's WSH-C125 filtered shower head, which I like a lot. So I figured I'd try their water filter. It has good reviews and is real cheap, plus it has a metal thread ring, unlike PUR's plastic one. Well, I used the TDS meter from the Zero Water pitcher and it barely changed from my straight tap water's reading to the "filtered" Culligan's reading. I live in San Diego with notoriously hard water, it reads in the high 400's on the TDS meter straight from the tap. The reading is around 430ppm on the TDS meter filtered with the Culligan filter! That's really high. To put it in perspective, the PUR water filter reads at 50ppm on the TDS meter! I know that's not everything to healthy water, but it's a huge difference between 50 and 430. The taste is poor as well. It's decent at first, but now a month since I installed it, it's almost same taste as tap. I will return this and go back to the PUR filter from Costco. Even the the PUR filter is poorly made, it puts out exceptional water quality, that's the point, right?Customer Review: So Far so Good
Summary: 5 Stars
8/17/2010 Installed fairly easily. Came with adapters which I did use to install. The construction looks very durable, unlike some of the competitors like PUR(At the store the display model was already broken) and Brita. I also did research in reviews for other models, most reviews of the competition such as brita and PUR never really complained about the taste of the water, just mainly the products flimsiness and prone to breaking in a fairly short time (2 to 6 months for bad cases) average being 2 years. One recommendation for using any faucet filter after reading so many reviews don't use full pressure if you want it to last longer. I currently live in San Diego and the tap water is not the greatest. As per taste, its not bottled water but the filter makes the water just taste like nothing and there isn't much of an after taste that I can notice(both me and my roommate agree to this). That is pretty darn good for me. I wanted a faucet filter because it saves the hassle of filling jugs constantly and keeping it refrigerated. I don't like really cold water and for me tap water temperature is nice. It works nicely you turn the water on. pull on the nob tab out. Then the water flows through the filter, instead of having to push the tab back in. You can shut off the water and it will automatically go back in defaulting to the non filtering. I really like that system. I will do a follow up in 2 months as per how long the filter will perform.Customer Review: C'mon, you can do it, too
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, I have to admit, that I have had this filter for a few months, never removed from the box. In the meantime, I've been environmentally unfriendly, by toting home bottled water. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I had an air of intimidation, that I would have difficulty installing this thing, or that it would not function as well as I had hoped. Yeah, I'm a bottled water snob and can probably identify my favorite brands blindfolded by the taste. So, I suspected my water would still taste hard, with its ghastly offensive, chlorine odor, and taste. To avoid disappointment in myself, or it, I denied I needed to tackle this job.
Well, I feel so foolish, now. It took me all of 10 minutes to install it today, without even reading the instructions, so ANYONE can do it---trust me. Then I gave it a taste test and was more than satisfied. I could no longer smell, or taste the chlorine. My water tasted almost as good as the spring water sitting on the counter. So, I have happy, dancing feet, today. I feel I have accomplished something that is worthwhile, not only for myself, but for the environment. I also think my lumbar spine will enjoy a break from toting water home.
I don't know how well the system will hold up in my very hard water environment. But it is quite inexpensive, so if I have to replace it due to hard water damage, it will not be that problematic.