Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been using these for about 8 years now and moved to the 3 stage when they came out. I use them primarily for drinking water and cooking. They typically last about 3 months for me. I go through a LOT of drinking water and probably less than average for cooking. Based on using them on two different water systems, I also believe the quality of the water going in makes a huge difference in the life of the filter... but then that really is just common sense isn't it? For instance, using it the week after a city wide fire hydrant flushing will use one up very quickly. I can't speak to what that means to anyone else, but it tells me it is WORKING! As another reviewer mentioned... ONE HOT WATER EPISODE WILL KILL A FILTER! It is a shame it is this way, but I have on two occasions had someone turn on hot water and let it run through the filter for a while. The filter would stop flowing within a day after that. The instructions warn against this, but accidents happen. On the other hand, I had one that would not flow at all right out of the box. I called the 800 number on the box, told them what happened and that I had put in a different filter, which worked, and then tried this one again... showing that I had done my due diligence, and I had a replacement in the mail within a week, no cost, without having to return the failed one. Also, if you buy the 6 pack, they are under $10 each. It absolutely DOES make the water taste and smell better than plain tap water.