Customer Reviews

Whirlpool KitchenAid Side-by-Side Refrigerator Quarter Turn Cyst Reducing Water Filter

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It hard to tell about water filter either it is working or not. I feel better to have it. I found this is one the reasonably priced store.
4396510 is newer model of 4396508 and "p" means "pack".

I have used this filter and find this to be a very good filter for this cartridge type.
These little filters cannot remove everything from your refrigerator water system, you'll need a high quality reverse osmosis system for that.
Recently I found a website* that lists the actual impurities that this 4396510 filter removes, I quote:

* 99.35% of Lead at pH 6.5
* 99.31% of Lead at pH 8.5
* 96.70% of Mercury at pH 6.5
* 91.20% of Mercury at pH 8.5
* 99.93% of Asbestos
* 96.30% of Benzene
* 99.70% of P-Dichlorobenzene
* 99.99% of Cysts
* 85.60% of Atrazine
* 92.96% of Toxaphene
* 93.06% of 2,4-D
* 97.60% of Chlorine
* 99.30% of Turbidity
* 99.90% of Particulates (Class I)

As with all built-in refrigerator water filters, the 4396510 does not remove Fluoride.
The 4396510 cartridge is tested and certified by NSF International to meet or exceed NSF/ANSI Standards 42 & 53.
The other model cartridge (4396508) does not filter quite as much as the '10' model.

*Because HTML is not allowed in these reviews I can't show the web address....

The term, "Particulates" refers to particles of rust, dirt, sand, and sediment found in drinking water. Water that contains Particulates is typically cloudy, and as you might expect, tastes and smells "dirty". By themselves, Particulates are not known to cause any adverse health effects, but they can sometimes carry other harmful organic, inorganic, and microbiological contaminants through the drinking water system.

In general, better filters will remove finer particles. Each filter's ability to remove particulates is measured against a certain "particulate class", or particle size.

Class I - 0.5 to 1 micron
Class II - 1 to 5 microns
Class III - 5 to 15 microns

Where one micron is one millionth of a meter or approximately 1/25,000 of an inch.

For example, if a filter is rated to remove "95.1% of Particulates (Class II)", that just means that it will remove 95.1% of all particles that are between 1 and 5 microns in size

We have a Sears Kenmore refrigerator model number 106.53582300 (made by Whirlpool) that we purchased from Sears. It has the round water filter in the base of the refrigerator that should be replaced every year. Sears sends post cards wanting to sell us a filter for $40 plus shipping. After some research we came across this one for less and it works superbly.
Highly recommended to save money over the Sears option.

The result of fitting this filter was very clean, very pure tasting water. I'll certainly buy it again.

One niggle I have is that I can't find anywhere what the "Class II particulates" it claims to remove are.

This is the second batch of these refrigerator water filters I have ordered from Amazon. Any place else you buy them will charge a lot more.

However, I learned something from another review on Amazon that I'd like to pass on: My refrigerator has an indicator light system that supposedly tells when the filter should be replaced. But the indicator lights indicate only the time since they were reset, not the amount of water that has passed through the filter.

Supposedly the filter is good for 400 gallons of water. The refrigerator assumes that by the time six months have passed you will have run 400 gallons of water through the filter. Hence, six months after resetting the indicator light system, it will again show that the filter needs replacing, no matter how much (or how little) water has actually gone through the filter.

Since I use the water dispenser on the refrigerator infrequently, and since I don't use that much ice, that means I have probably been replacing the filter before it really needed to be replaced, based solely on the fact that six months had gone by since I last replaced the filter and reset the indicator lights.

Starting with this batch of filters, I will not replace a filter until the water tastes like the filter isn't doing anything. Your mileage may vary.

We always used the original filters 9010 by Kenmore that you would get at Sears. The prices have gone up to $45 per filter! At first we were leery of how another filter would fit or how the water would taste! These replacement filters went in easier and you can taste the change in the water right away! I highly recommend these filters!

I have a Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator and have used sveral brands of replacement water filters.

I have used Kenmore 46-9010

I have used WaterSentinel WSW-1

I have used Whirlpool 4396508
(the filter being rated is the newer version of the older filter above)

The Whirlpool #4396510 is the newer version and does not need to have a gallon of water run through it after installing it (even though I did flush a liter or two through it to get the air out of the system and to ensure no leaks).

What I like about this filter is the following:

1) NSF certified/tested to tests #42 and #53 (not all filters are tested at all or do not test to #53).

2) This filter claims to removes cysts (whatever they are), but again not all filters claim to remove whatever this is... so it must be a capability that this filter or the tests above meet and allow for (again, other brands do not state, so they must not)??

What I like, is that this filter is a name brand filter for $25.00/ea, tested and certfied, ships free as it meets the minimum shipping amount due to being a 2-pack (so I have year's worth of filters since I replace every 6 months as required)... and compared to the lower price of the cheaper filters available, I do not mind paying an extra $7.00/ea for the benefits mentioned above.... for me it is worth it!!!

As mentioned above, I have purchased and used various replacement filters that all seemed to work, but for the money, this filter has all the right specifications, certifications and that it is the new/updated part number to the Whirlpool filter #4396508 which does not require a gallon of water to be run through it flush out any loose carbon particles.

Buy and enjoy.

I always believed that the Kenmore water filter was the only one that would work in my Kenmore refrigerator. For 11 years I purchased their filters at least twice a year and paid from $36 in 2000 to nearly $50 in 2011. I was always happy with the taste of the Kenmore filter but not happy with the rising price every time I needed to replace it. Last summer I bought a Kenmore filter and the water tasted "dead". I took it back to Sears and they exchanged it for another one. Same problem. The salesperson said they'd had no other complaints when I returned it a second time but agreed to refund my money. I knew I didn't want to pay nearly $50 for a filter that made my drinking water taste worse than it did from the tap. I began researching filters on-line and realized I didn't need to buy Kenmore's filter to fit my Kenmore refrigerator. This was a revelation.

This Whirlpool 4396510P KitchenAid Quarter Turn water filter had water tasting great immediately-there was no wait for the new filter taste to wear off as I've noticed in other filters. Plus, the price is definitely right. I love that I have a spare when this filter needs replacement. It installs easily and the water pressure coming out of the refrigerator seems better than it was with my old filter. Will definitely purchase again.

Not much to comment about this item except it seems to work fine. Although at first I thought about getting the cheaper, imitation replacements from Water Sentinel but strongly decided against it after doing some research. Here's what I found out:

The NSF International (National Sanitation Foundation) is a non-profit scientific organization that has developed the standards for safe drinking water. Any reputable company will want their water supplies tested and certified by them. For refrigerator filters, the tests are NSF Standard 42 and NSF Standard 53. #42 tests for taste and odor (chlorine, hydrogen sulfide)and non-health related contaminants. #53 is for all the health related stuff like cysts (cryptosporidium, giardia), lead, mercury, asbestos, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), etc.

Evidently this testing and certification is not mandatory because I've learned that Water Sentinel filters are NOT certified by NSF. The official Whirlpool filters are tested and certified by NSF. So already this does not look good. You would basically have to trust that Water Sentinel has done proper and thorough testing on its own product.

Even worse is that Water Sentinel filters DO NOT TEST for Standard 53. They are only tested for Standard 42 (maybe self-tested is the more accurate term). So their filters only affect the taste and smell of the water. They are not tested against health or safety standards which I believe is the more crucial test. Sure we want our water to taste good, but we definitely need it to be safe for drinking.

I emailed the Water Sentinel company asking why they don't test for Standard 53 and they never responded. I then emailed a website, Kleenwater, that sells Water Sentinel filters and asked them about it and they said the most likely reason Water Sentinel does not get the NSF Certification is because of the huge expenses involved. I don't know how much it costs but it's not reassuring to know they want to save money by not having their filters protect against dangerous chemicals and organisms.

I think I'll stick with the safer filters. Plus they're not that much more expensive than the imitation ones. As of right now the Whirlpools are about $14 more than the Water Sentinel 2-pk filters when shipping is factored in. For something that lasts 6 mo - 1 yr that's not a big deal to me.

Hope this info was helpful.