These work as described. I bought 4 of these 6mo ago for a bucket filter setup. I wanted to set up another for our cabin but these doubled in price. Decided to move 2 to my 2nd system and dropped a filter and it shattered. My bad. So I bought a replacement and a spare. The filters are packed with bubble wrap in the factory box, then wrapped again with bubble wrap yet they were shipped to me in a envelope instead of a box. Not smart in my opinion but they did arrive without damage.We had a broken one that i replaced. Works and installs fine.Don't know why these are not less expensive, however this one was a quality filter for less than what others charge.Great value for safetySo the Berkey filters that are coal have been a charging nightmare. There are zero issues with this filter and it lasts years. Light sanding if needed and no soap and the junk comes off. They look light brown to dark brown and are a lighter shade after cleaning.Never have I seen such a night-and-day difference with an outer clay filter over a core coal filter as opposed to a coal filter. 5 years later there is no end in sight with the daulton filter it just works!!Well made filter. After a rinse, we installed it and it worked immediately. No frustrating "charging" the filter like some filters and this filter produces clean filtered water immediately. It was super easy to install, has a much better price that other filters and the flavor of the water is great.I have these for water emergencies