GLACIER FRESH VitaMax Combo Shower Filter & Water Softener SUF-300VTX Removing Bacteria & Heavy Metals, Chlorine etc.

Quick summary:- My tests show that it removes most if not all of the chlorine and chloramine from my water supply.- Carbon filter doesn't appear to do anything from TDS test.- Perceptually, water feels and smells clear.- [UPDATE] Vitamin C filter portion lasts us about 5 to 6 weeks per tube (15-18 weeks per package) for two people whose average shower time is less than 10 minutes.I ordered this unit before anyone had reviewed it because, if I was going to try to filter out the chlorine and chloramine from our shower, I wanted to get some of the other undesirables out as well with a carbon filter. While we're generally satisfied with the unit, it appears we only got one of the two results we wanted.Delivery occurred a lot faster than the company promised. I was expecting to wait weeks, and I got it in a couple of days. YMMV.Installation was pretty easy; you just unscrew your shower head, screw in the unit (make sure to use plumbers tape if you don't want leaks) then screw your shower head into the unit. The directions were, at best, confusing. They explained how to put together the unit (it came assembled), it didn't describe what an included tool with the unit is for (it's to detach and put back on the filters), and I ended up ignoring them for what was really a simple and obvious job.Once installed, I decided to measure the effectiveness of the filter. I'm not aware of a kit to directly measure chloramine, but you can estimate it by measuring total chlorine, measuring free chlorine, then subtracting the free from the total. I made sure to test water of a similar temperature that I'd use in the shower (hot) as well as from the same source. The total test measures all chlorine in the water, whether it's combined with something else or not. The free tests measure chlorine that is not combined with anything else. Since chloramine (which is chlorine combined with ammonia) is the only other kind of chlorine authorities put in the water, you can estimate that by subtracting the free from the total. I used a waterworks paper test to test the amount of chlorine in the shower water before and after; our water had somewhere between .2 and .5 ppm of total chlorine, and .1 and .2 free chlorine before the filter came on, and around 0 to 0.1 of both kinds of chlorine after the filter was installed. An obvious improvement. There are much better and accurate testing kits available, but they run close to two hundred dollars so I couldn't justify getting one. I don't recommend the water works test as they are hard to read, but they definitely showed a significant decline in chlorine and are better than nothing.I tested the carbon filter by using a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter I had lying around for when I tested whether the reverse osmosis water filter I had installed a while back worked. Disappointingly, the TDS score both before and after the filter were in the high 300s parts per million. While I didn't expect this number to drop a huge amount, I was hoping that half of the TDS would be removed. While it's not a fair comparison, my reverse osmosis system reduced the TDS value to 15, so I know the meter works.I wasn't expecting to perceptually notice a difference in the shower. My wife is the one who smells the chlorine, and complains what it does to her skin and hair versus the water back east, where she didn't have issues. I had the science experiment tests because the water didn't bother me in the shower, and I thought that was the only way I'd see if the unit was working. However, the water feels a lot better and cleaner now that it's been filtered free of chlorine, which was a surprise for me. My wife loves it, and no longer smells the chlorine. It could be psychosomatic, but it was very surprising to me that I could feel the water was cleaner and the shower felt better after I installed the unit.The shower water flow has been reduced somewhat, but that's to be expected anytime you put something between you and the flow of the water.One star off for the carbon filter not doing anything useful (as far as I could tell). Otherwise, seems to be a good purchase. I'll update in the future if there are issues with the unit.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND !Works Incredibly Well! High Quality, Well made, Easy installation.EVERYONE needs this! We don't realize what is in our water,Perfect for rental living where you have no control over what comes in.The EXTREME change in the water quality will be felt immediately.I will have one of these on EVERY shower head in every home forever.

Easy install - excellent flow (no noticeable restriction). Doesn't look awesome, but that's not why I bought it. Looks like a high tech filter!No noticeable change in water for me, but I had already been using a chlorine filter. I am going after the chloramines (which you can't smell) so no surprise.When I change out the carbon filter, I'm going to switch to the combo carbon plus sediment filter cartridge. Wish I had read more before buying this version since I do have sediment concerns. No problem to switch though.

I've had it for a month so far. It's really great. My skin and hair feel the difference. the sideways angle drains the water well from the filters.

The packaging came without an instruction manual so I dont know how long i am supposed to change the filters. The extra filter packaging was already opened when I received my package. Also there is a spray leak on the inline to the filter.

Easy to install. Don't know it actually does anything but wife wanted it for the LA water.

We live in a city where the water smells like sewage, put this filter in & it smells and is just as clean as bottled water.

Excellent filter.