Pentair Pentek CBC-10 Carbon Water Filter, 10-Inch, Under Sink Carbon Block Replacement Cartridge with Bonded Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) Filter, 10" x 2.5", 0.5 Micron

Why did you pick this product vs others?: This is a direct brand replacement. I believe it is the best value filter you can get. It replaced our last filter we have been using for a year, way beyond it's volume and expiration period and still removes most of that reservoir water smell from the tap. This replacement along with a Brita filter pitcher for a fringe improvement gives us near snow melt well water quality you get in the high mountains in the spring. Our tap water isn't anywhere near the hard water you get from a southern California tap but has a bit of lake water smell, occasional mold fungus that immediately starts growing on the toilet bowl with a lot of new PVC pipe leaching into it, while on it's way here. Following any fungus blasts some kind of fungicide usually follows. Needless to say, a chemical reducing .5 micron biological safe water filter is a must here. This is the one that has led the pack for us.

As described

These filters perform well. Easy to install.

My main point of hatred toward these was the fact that they still had the Californian cancerous ingredients. Well- I called the customer service and asked and asked until I received an adequate explanation. Essentially the plastic is fine. It meets anyone's reasonable expectation for a safe product that touches water you drink. The point of issue has to do with the carbon used to filter the water. The testing required to check these hinks of carbon for heavy metals is expensive. So they don't do it. But because of that they can't guarantee there isnt any. Hence the warning label. They say it's likely there isn't an issue but they can't say as much unless the testing is done. Otherwise the filter works fine. Taste is fine.

I love these filters. I have a three stage setup in my RV. I use a 5 micron then a 1 micron and then this carbon block. The water tastes great or actually it doesn't taste like mud or whatever local nasty stuff is in the water. The water doesn't taste like like a high end battled water because they add salts for flavor. This thing removes almost all flavor. Its just plain clean water. I do get a pressure drop after all three filters but this carbon filter preforms better than any others I've tried. My shower isnt getting tons of water deposit anymore. I filled two bowls with water one filtered from my three stage and one unfiltered, covered them with paper towel and let them evaporate. The filtered bowl still had deposits but it was small and minimal, more like a film of dust at the bottom. The unfiltered had yellow/tan crystals that formed in the bottom. It looked like beach sand. If you wanted to try this but fast just boil 1/2 a cup of water in a pan until its all gone. Just make sure to watch it and dont let your pan burn! Some cites have deep wells where they get the water but its not always clean and sometimes doesn't pass regulations. Every once in a while when I change my filters I have chunks of nasty stuck to my first stage filter. sometimes it looks like metal and other times it looks like ectoplasmic residue from ghost busters. I could never drink city/well water. Some day I hope to setup a Reverse Osmosis so I can have clean water from almost any source. I love the water in Colorado but even that has salmon spawn in it :) After about 3-4 months I have to change my filters because they are clogged. My first two stages are heavy as rocks.

Fits well works well. But with all carbon block filters don't forget to put a silver dime down the center before installation. Silver is a natural antibacterial substance. And after the water goes through the filter and the chlorine is removed it's always nice to have the silver there. But that's just my opinion.

It did nothing BUT SLOW DOWN THE WATER flow. My PPM was 250-260 ppm and now it’s still 260. Do not waste your money! Now it’s wet and I don’t know how to return it.

This Pentek filter works great. I use an APEC RO system under the sink. It's a good RO system but the APEC system's second and third stages come with 10 micron filters and the water still has a taste. I replaced the third stage with this Pentek .5 micron and the water is noticeably cleaner tasting. I seriously haven't found better tasting water. However, I did notice a CA Prop. 65 Warning on the label: "This product contains chemicals known to the state of CA to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm." and also that it's "Made in China". Between the two it makes me nervous. And the label says "Not performance tested or certified by NSF" yet also says "This cartridge is tested and certified by NSF International under NAF/ANSI standard 42 for material requirement only".. SO...Which is it? This is not enough to knock a star off the rating but I do lose that peace of mind. I wish I knew what it was that Prop 65 was referring to, the carbon? plastic? Is it NSF tested or certified? I don't see other filters with disclaimers so why the caveat emptor for this one?

Conforme et facile d’installation

Bon produit exactement comme chez le détaillant

Been using these as our second stage filter in our home system for many years now (first stage is polypropylene filter). 0.5 micron is much finer filtering than what you typically find for a carbon block filter. The extra cost is worth it, I think.

High quality and true dense 0.5 microns. The water from my well is pretty good and odorless, but has a color from tanins (I had already tested iron filters). In the pictures, the first 2 cups on the right were 2 different carbon filters of 5 microns and different brands. Then I tested this one, and bingo, the cup on the left was crystal clear. Even the weight of the filter is a lot heavier than the other filters, and while the other filters don't restrict flow, this one does so, I don't think it works high volume applications but for drinking water it's awesome.

Washer seemed to.thick otherwise very satisfied R.M