I just bought one from Amazon, but how can you tell that is "New"? It came with the retail box with one sticker and information to waste 3 gallon of water before use, but I am still skeptical.... sigh.

Was it not sealed?

the box itself isn't sealed, I opened it and there is just the filter + one sticker + 1 small piece of paper inside the box. So the box isn't sealed, and the water filter isn't plastic wrapped in anyway.

So I am concerned.... This is my first time replacing it, so I have no idea if this is what I should get versus the one sold in local stores.

The water filters I purchase at Sears are never sealed and just in the box... might have a loose plastic cover or something... but it all depends I guess

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I'm thinking...

it doesn`t matter of sealed product, i bought water filter for refrigerator from amazon and it`s just in the box.

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Better than wasting water and plastic.

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Patience, grasshopper.

I am assuming a "ceramic" filter with ends of some other material attached to it. Instructions to waste the first few gallons normal because inside may be some loose/powdered ceramic material from when the ends fastened to the ceramic. When the ceramic is a plain disk/slab for example and the sealing rings part of where it mounts instead that's usually not necessary.

You didn't specify the filter maker. When I got ceramic filters from Katadyn they were just in a cardboard box, no internal wrapping.

My filters just come in a box too (no extra wrapping), with caps over the connectors. Regarding the water waste, it doesn't have to be a waste. You can use it to water plants.

The average American household uses a few thousand gallons a month directly (by which I mean not including all the water that goes into the plants you eat or making every piece of plastic you use and all that). If you really want to worry about the small amount of water necessary to rinse the filter, I can't stop you, but I find that it's a waste of my precious anxiety.

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Occupy Babel!

I think the OP's worry was that he was getting an old non-functional filter that had that instruction to make it sound like it was a new one

Still hasn't said what kind of filter.

If it is a ceramic, then you check for "non-functional" by examining for cracks, looseness from end caps (if any), or wear down below specified thickness (they come with a caliper for that).

If a cartridge filter, then "non-functional" would be clogging so bad the flow rate is too low for practical use.

Yes, I was replying to daal and phrax. Not that phrax's advice is bad.

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Occupy Babel!