I purchased my kitchen faucet 6 months ago with an integrated GE filtration system that requires these filters. At 6 months, the filters need to be replaced per GE instructions. The original set of these filters that came with the faucet was purchased at a national big-box home improvement retailer with orange shopping carts (this will become important later). I bought a new replacement set of filters from Amazon. I wanted to see how much better a new set of filters performed against a 6-month-old set at the end of its lifecycle (several reviewers report that these filters fall well short of the claimed 6 months), so I bought a recommended Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) water test meter from Amazon. I tested water samples from the old filters, the new filters, cold tap water and store-bought distilled water as a baseline control sample. Interesting results: 6-month-old filter set: 175ppm Tap water (cold): 156ppm Distilled water (control): 1ppm The old set of filters were adding TDS to the water? Hmmm. Then I replaced the old filters with the new set from Amazon and ran the water through the new filters for 10 minutes per the instructions from GE. I tested the water again: New filters from Amazon: 156ppm Tap water (cold): 150ppm Distilled water (control): 1ppm The new filters seemed to be performing better at removing TDS (156 vs 175), but there was less TDS in the tap water? Huh. So, I called GE to see what they could tell me about this result. I told them all about my experiment and the resulting data, but they could not provide an explanation for the results. Perhaps the filters were defective so we began to discuss making a warranty claim. This conversation went on for a while and seemed to be going well right up until the precise moment I told the representative that I purchased the filters from Amazon (rep had assumed I got them from the orange big-box store where I got the original filtration system). I was told, emphatically, that GE will not cover these filters sold by Amazon because “we don’t know where they get them.” I asked several times (in several different ways) if GE was implying that these filters sold by Amazon were counterfeit, but they would only repeat that they “do not know where they get them.” GE explicitly told me however, that in the future, I should purchase them at the orange big-box store or directly online from GE. Hmmm. I contacted Amazon to tell them about my filter experiment and what GE told me about these Amazon-sourced filters. Amazon promptly refunded my money (which was unsolicited). I asked that Amazon look into why GE will not honor their warranty with these Amazon-sourced filters. Amazon told me they would investigate and get back to me. I have not been contacted yet on the matter. Amazon also told me that they would stop selling this product pending the results of their investigation. I’m not sure if that ever happened as they are clearly still available for sale. In the meantime, I do not know if the Amazon-sourced filters are entirely safe to use as they could be counterfeit, so I bought a new set from the orange big-box store per the recommendation from GE. I closely inspected both sets to see if I could detect any differences that might indicate counterfeiting. I could not. The items, construction, packaging, etc. appeared exactly the same. I installed the “orange version” of the new filter set and ran the same TDS test: New “orange” filters: 156ppm Tap water (cold): 148ppm Distilled water (control): 1 ppm There was effectively no difference in TDS reduction performance between the Amazon-sourced filters and the “orange” set. Curiously, there was also no net reduction of TDS from ANY set. In fact, the filters seemed to be ADDING to the net TDS regardless of the testing conditions. For example, after letting the “orange” filter set sit at rest for approximately 30 minutes after getting a 156ppm reading, a subsequent test returned 181ppm (cold tap @ 152ppm). What exactly are these filters adding to the water? Aren’t filters supposed to REMOVE stuff? Hmmm. Although not exactly scientific, I can report that all three filter sets (old, Amazon, orange) eliminated any chlorine odor from the tap water, so the filters are clearly doing SOMETHING beneficial. Perhaps these filters are not designed to reduce TDS. GE did not address this possibility, nor did they address the additional TDS coming from the filters with their logo on them when I spoke to a representative. All three sets of filters did fit perfectly with zero leaks, a problem several other reviewers have reported. In conclusion, if you’re buying these filters to reduce TDS in you water, I’ll let the data speak for itself. Further, if you buy this product from Amazon, do know that GE will not honor warranty claims and that, according to GE, you will have to take up any issues directly with Amazon.
