Culligan R50-BBSA Whole House Heavy Duty Water Filter Cartridge, 24,000 Gallons

It does it's job . Easy to install.

works as it should

Hard to find! Perfect fit!

SUMMARY: In well water applications, this filter is an excellent choice for the first filter in a double-filter setup, but a second filter will improve your water quality. If you're on "city water", you won't need one.DETAILS: Ever since my well pump was replaced, I seem to get more sand and silt in my water supply. I've installed an inline two-filter setup to significantly reduce the amount of silt, and use the Culligan R50-BBSA Level 1 50 Micron Heavy Duty Sediment Replacement Cartridge as the first level filter, and follow it with a Pentek DGD-5005 Sediment Filter (10" x 4.5"), which is a 50 Micron prefilter with a 5 Micron core. Using the Culligan R50-BBSA in front saves money, as the Pentek DGD-5005 will last longer between changes. Both filters are polypropylene, which don't degrade in well water as the paper filters tend to do (such as others made by Culligan, GE and others, which I've tried in the past). Polyproylene is the only way to go.NOTE: I recently installed the Pentek filter to replace a GE unit as the follow on filter, and will provide a review of that at a later date.

UPDATE 7/14/16Now having used these filters for four years I am very, very pleased with their performance. We live in a situation where the filter is of extreme importance (see the original review) and we replace them every 2 to 4 months, as soon as we notice the water pressure dropping in the shower. I have never received a bad one, never had one split or leak, always do their job beautifully. Changing out the old filters is not a difficult job... could only be improved by somehow making them snap on rather than tightly screwed together and requiring the special wrench to remove, but we've never had a leak, thanks to that method.ORIGINAL REVIEW:I live in an old house that uses river water. That sounds nasty, but in truth our river is clear and clean, fed by multiple springs. We do get sediment after rains, but most of the time it's clean for bathing, etc. During the fall season the cypress trees along the river shed needles and clog washing machines and toilets and faucet screens. More important fixtures in the house have standard size filters... the water into the washing machine, also the water heater, and of course there are R/O units for drinking water. But to catch the major debris at the times mentioned, I've always had a back-washable filter located at the pump. These filters have always been a problem because they are small and clog quickly with algae (clear housing exposed to the sunlight), and break after a year or two... and the price has gone up X5 since I started using them.By installing the big Culligan filter with 1" lines at the pump house, I find now the other filters last much much longer throughout the house, and the first 50 micron is now 6 months old and still doing fine. The housing for the filters (reviewed elsewhere) is very sturdy and simple to open to change filters, which I have on a 6-month subscription from Amazon.I really wish I'd changed to this system many years ago because I constantly had to fight sediment buildup in all of the fixtures I mentioned, and it would really mess up the washing machine input valve and fill the water heater with messy slime in the rainy seasons. I don't expect to ever have that problem again. I'm a happy customer.UPDATE: Lost water pressure over a period of two weeks up to the point that it was difficult to take a shower. My 6-month subscription to this filter had just arrived so I put it in. The old filter did not LOOK particularly clogged, but replacing it did the trick. I changed my subscription to every 3 months because I anticipate higher water use in the future. I'm still happy with it. No problem changing filters btw.

Good product

Does the job.

First, let's address the 1 star reviews:The company is in the USA, but the product is assembled in China.I have received 3 of these and all have been the correct R50-BBSA.The filter element itself can't really leak, and hasn't torn or anything like that.I installed this bad boy in mid-November after noticing small black grains of sand coming out of the faucet. We have our own well and it's great water for the most part. After a few days I went down and checked it and you can see in the photo that it's doing the job as intended! Haven't seen a grain of sand since. Changed the filter tonight after 5 months. It was in great shape and could probably have gone much longer, but better safe than sorry. No noticeable taste or odor at all even while flushing a new filter. Our refrigerator filters give a much worse taste and odor when new. If you install or use this filter or system just be sure to follow the directions. Do yourself a favor and put a valve just prior to the system. This will make filter change snap. Gaskets need a touch of grease, and on my model of filter housing there is a pressure relief button to release the pressure and make turning the top valve much easier. All and all it's a great setup and easy to do yourself with a little planning.