The first thing I noticed was how much crisper my water tasted after installing this filter. It genuinely removes that weird chlorine aftertaste from my RO system, and my morning coffee now has zero metallic notes. The coconut shell carbon seems more effective than standard filters I've tried before.

But here's the catch - the threading issue is REAL. Like the reviewer mentioned, I had to hunt down a 3/8" NPT adapter at Home Depot because the new model's ports are slightly larger. Super annoying when you're mid-installation under the sink. IPW really should've kept the original dimensions or at least included adapters.

That said, once I got past the hardware hiccup, the 2,500-gallon capacity is no joke. Three months in with heavy daily use (family of 5 + fridge/ice maker), and I'm still getting that same purified taste. The NSF 42 certification gives me peace of mind about contaminant reduction too.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but with caveats. If you're not handy with plumbing adapters or replacing an older IPW system, maybe look elsewhere. But for pure filtration performance? This coconut carbon filter is top-tier when you get it working right.