Refrigerator Filters

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aquaman
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by aquaman »

mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:14 pmFridge water filters can usually filter about 200 gallons before they need to be replaced and manufacturers recommend replacing them every 6 months.
This varies widely. My SubZero fridge filter, for instance, costs $55, and is rated for 750 gallons or 1 year, whichever comes first: https://www.subzero-wolf.com/assistance ... ion-system
Health concerns? Well, your $55 carbon filter will not filter arsenic, calcium, or salt. It will not eliminate ALL heavy metals like lead that are extremely harmful to the human body.
I know you keep repeating the same thing, which doesn't make it true. Here are scientific, peer review papers regarding the risks associated with reverse osmosis:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC182827/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223198/

There's more out there.
Again, if you are worried about the demineralization issue get the cartridge to re-mineralize the water.
Right, and remineralized water comes with its own risks. See the second article above.
mrsmitt
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by mrsmitt »

This is a basic comparison of carbon vs RO filter. Do some research on this if you do not agree with the info and let me know what information on that website is not accurate. Do you have any factual objections or is everything based on "concerns"?

Just checked Brita pitcher filers. They only make two kinds https://www.brita.com/compare/replacement-filters/ and all of them are carbon filters with the following disclosure *See certifications. Substances reduced may not be in all users' water." on the following statement "Reduces contaminants for cleaner, great-tasting water* Fits all Brita® pitchers and dispensers (except Stream)".

Yes, also lots depend on your water source (location) and the only way to test it or get a water quality report from your municipality. However, the fact is that many municipalities have issues with their water and report will not show things like lead or any other conteminants that come from your own plumbing.
aquaman wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:01 am
mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:43 amHere is a comparison between Brita (carbon filter) and RO.
https://www.watersmartsystems.com/brita ... comparison
Your link is to a Canadian plumbing company, which, among other things, sells reverse osmosis systems. Just like your posts, this plumbing company significantly overstates the RO benefits and downplays its downsides and its risks. I've linked a scientific, peer reviewed article above that explains some of the potential risks.

By the way, Brita makes a number of different filters with different filtration properties. Contrary to the so-called comparison above, which suggests that they are all the same, a number of them are NSF 53 certified.
aquaman
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by aquaman »

Just checked Brita pitcher filers. They only make two kinds https://www.brita.com/compare/replacement-filters/
KlangFool provided the correct link to you earlier, which shows all the filter types that Brita makes (I don't know why you suddenly switched to talking about pitcher filters). For the second time, you can see them here: https://www.brita.com/why-brita/better-water/
and all of them are carbon filters with the following disclosure *See certifications. Substances reduced may not be in all users' water." on the following statement "Reduces contaminants for cleaner, great-tasting water* Fits all Brita® pitchers and dispensers (except Stream)".
What the disclosure is saying is that if certain substances aren't in your water, a filter that removes those substances won't make a difference. In other words, you can't filter out substances that aren't there.
mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:31 pmDo you have any factual objections or is everything based on "concerns"?
I have posted links to independent, scientific, peer reviewed papers explaining the specific risks involved. You then provided a link to a Canadian plumbing company, which sells reverse osmosis, and tries to market its benefits.

Is there a reason that you are pushing reverse osmosis so hard? We get it, you like it. OEM NSF 42 and 53 rated fridge filters end up costing people $50 - $100/year. Even putting all the reverse osmosis risks aside, in a number of cases a RO system will end up costing more. Even if it doesn't, the rhetoric that you are using over such a tiny amount of money is quite puzzling.
mrsmitt
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by mrsmitt »

Congrats on your 10K+ fridge:) Most of people do not own luxury fridges with water filtration systems that are rated at 750 gallons a year. Mass marker goes with 200 gallons and every 6 months recommended replacement. In some way, the cost of your water filtration is build-in in the price of the fridge... However again you run into the limitation of carbon filters and you still do not filter our arsenic, fluoride, etc.

There are risks with everything. Risk drinking tap water, carbon filtered water etc. It is like with investing, there are always risks and RO helps to limit risks if you do some serious research.
aquaman wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:22 pm
mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:14 pmFridge water filters can usually filter about 200 gallons before they need to be replaced and manufacturers recommend replacing them every 6 months.
This varies widely. My SubZero fridge filter, for instance, costs $55, and is rated for 750 gallons or 1 year, whichever comes first: https://www.subzero-wolf.com/assistance ... ion-system
Health concerns? Well, your $55 carbon filter will not filter arsenic, calcium, or salt. It will not eliminate ALL heavy metals like lead that are extremely harmful to the human body.
I know you keep repeating the same thing, which doesn't make it true. Here are scientific, peer review papers regarding the risks associated with reverse osmosis:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC182827/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223198/

There's more out there.
Again, if you are worried about the demineralization issue get the cartridge to re-mineralize the water.
Right, and remineralized water comes with its own risks. See the second article above.
AS7911
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by AS7911 »

We simply removed the filter and dont use one. Our tap water is fine so I see no reason to filter it.
MBster
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by MBster »

TL:DR

If you really want to save money on water filters for your refrigerator, one option is to just buy and install an in-line filter, e.g., Ecopure 60-Month In-line Refrigerator Water Filter (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Ecopure-60-Mon ... r/50319753). You get 5 yrs out of it for $33 in this instance. Basically, instead of running the water line directly from the tap into the fridge, you run it first to the filter and then another water line connects the filter's other end to the fridge. You can then either keep the regular old water filter in the fridge and ignore it (since the water getting into it will already be filtered by the inline filer) or get a bypass plug, e.g., https://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Filter ... B07L732BQS.
AS7911
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by AS7911 »

sixtyforty wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:37 am I don't skimp on water filters. I did one time and bought a cheaper version off Amazon to save about $30. Then I did a test. After flushing about 3 gallons of water, I could still see "stuff" floating in the glass. If you didn't look close you wouldn't catch it. Repeated with a whirlpool filter and after only 1/2 gallon flush, water was completely clear.

If your unfiltered water has "stuff floating in your glass" - you've got a problem with your water supply. If it is public water system, give them a call.
aquaman
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by aquaman »

mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:48 pm Most of people do not own luxury fridges with water filtration systems that are rated at 750 gallons a year. Mass marker goes with 200 gallons and every 6 months recommended replacement.
As I mentioned above, this varies widely. Here's a 750 gallon/1 year Maytag fridge filter: https://arcticarticles.com/pur-water-fi ... 59724.html

Regardless, as I mentioned above, if we are talking about 6 month replacements, instead of $50/year, it would be $100/year. It's not exactly something that people need to stress over.
Last edited by aquaman on Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sixtyforty
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by sixtyforty »

arf1410 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:55 pm
sixtyforty wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:37 am I don't skimp on water filters. I did one time and bought a cheaper version off Amazon to save about $30. Then I did a test. After flushing about 3 gallons of water, I could still see "stuff" floating in the glass. If you didn't look close you wouldn't catch it. Repeated with a whirlpool filter and after only 1/2 gallon flush, water was completely clear.

If your unfiltered water has "stuff floating in your glass" - you've got a problem with your water supply. If it is public water system, give them a call.
Thanks. Unfiltered tap water is clear. Our water here is very good. I'm sure the stuff I saw was coming from the filter. The reason I mention it is that anyone buying generic or cheaper filters should look for themselves just to be sure.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Da Vinci
Broken Man 1999
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

I imagine near 50% of the world's population would dearly love to be able to drink water from America's absolute worse municipal water supplier.

First world problem, by a long shot.

I do find my generic 'fridge filters do a great job reducing the chlorine taste, my only complaint. According to our water supply reports our water is just fine, even with the taste.

And, for whatever reason I do not know, my new Samsung refrigerator w/brand name filter beat my old GE refrigerator w/brand name filter, taste-wise. Maybe filter technology accounts for improved taste from my newer refrigerator.

FWIW, after the initial name brand filters that came with our refrigerators, I have found no difference in taste when I switched to generics.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
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Tubes
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by Tubes »

aquaman wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:13 am
boglegirl wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:50 am I don't buy these from Amazon despite being a few dollars cheaper because of the risk of counterfeits.
Fake online reviews have always been a huge problem, but there's another problem with sites like Amazon that lots of people aren't aware of. People don't realize that on Amazon, the same product page can have different sellers. From Amazon's perspective, this makes sense, as if 10 different sellers are offering the exact same product, people just care about the product and the price rather than about the seller.
Yes and yes. My problem isn't with the generics, it is the counterfeits posing with the genuine name.

I like Felco pruners. Swiss made. Amazon has had huge issues with fake Felcos. The time came for me to get another pair last March, and I went to Amazon and got fed the cheapest price for a Felco. The seller was in business one day, based in Scotland, with a non-Scottish name. I expanded my "other buying choices" and found a highly regarded seller asking $1 more. Also, shipping would take a week.

Worth every penny and shipping day. I got the genuine product. (And Felcos are really awesome pruners, it is true.)

Sorry for the off topic, but Felcos are a good case study in this problem. Here's a bit of information: https://www.nurserymag.com/article/felc ... on-amazon/
“In 2018, we started receiving emails from long-time devoted customers who unknowingly purchased counterfeit tools on Amazon with the FELCO brand and with a remarkable visual likeness to authentic FELCO tools,” said Stephan Kopietzki, chief commercial officer.

“We immediately reached out to Amazon to attempt to resolve the issue but have been unable to settle it satisfactorily. Counterfeit tools continue to be sold on Amazon,..."
investor4life
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by investor4life »

Our Whirpool uses Everydrop 2. We go through two/year. I don't fool around with stuff that goes into the body, so buy the Everydrop only, not generics. $45 at Best Buy and they always match the best online price I find, usually Amazon. (For the air filters in the fridge, I do go with generics.)
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calmaniac
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by calmaniac »

aquaman wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 7:54 am Reverse osmosis also demineralizes water. There's a debate as to the potential for adverse health effects from long term consumption of demineralized water: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223198/ My understanding is that the matter remains unsettled, and you will find articles on both sides of the debate. Personally, even if the risk is small, I don't see any reason to take it, but reasonable people can and do disagree.
The article you cited is in the Medical Journal of the Armed Forces of India, not exactly the New England Journal of Medicine. It is a review article, but includes no actual data and few citations, which is quite unusual for a review. I read it. This article is not substantial evidence of anything.

Quote edited for brevity
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neilpilot
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by neilpilot »

Broken Man 1999 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:21 pm I imagine near 50% of the world's population would dearly love to be able to drink water from America's absolute worse municipal water supplier.

First world problem, by a long shot.

I do find my generic 'fridge filters do a great job reducing the chlorine taste, my only complaint. According to our water supply reports our water is just fine, even with the taste.

And, for whatever reason I do not know, my new Samsung refrigerator w/brand name filter beat my old GE refrigerator w/brand name filter, taste-wise. Maybe filter technology accounts for improved taste from my newer refrigerator.

FWIW, after the initial name brand filters that came with our refrigerators, I have found no difference in taste when I switched to generics.

Broken Man 1999
Chlorine taste & smell in tap water can be very subjective, and can sometimes vary during the same shift. Also, many municipal water treatment plants switch from chloramine to free chlorine as a disinfectant during winter months.

ps - I specifically buy refrigerators without filters and a water dispenser. My unfiltered tap water is excellent quality and has no discernable Cl2 odor or taste.
aquaman
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by aquaman »

calmaniac wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm The article you cited is in the Medical Journal of the Armed Forces of India, not exactly the New England Journal of Medicine.
Yes, and it is a vast improvement over a link to a Canadian plumbing company trying to promote reverse osmosis systems that they sell.
It is a review article, but includes no actual data and few citations, which is quite unusual for a review. I read it. This article is not substantial evidence of anything.
The article does contain citations to comprehensive and frequently cited WHO water quality studies. Regardless, the issue here is that the safety of long term consumption of demineralized water produced by reverse osmosis systems (including those that include re-mineralization) remains a fairly controversial subject and there are a lot of articles on both sides of the debate.

Regardless, it's a bit of a silly debate. As I mentioned above, in a lot of cases reverse osmosis systems won't actually save any money and, in any case, fridge filters run $50 - $100/year. So, the amount of money that we are talking about here is tiny.
Broken Man 1999
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

aquaman wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:29 pm
calmaniac wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:24 pm The article you cited is in the Medical Journal of the Armed Forces of India, not exactly the New England Journal of Medicine.
Yes, and it is a vast improvement over a link to a Canadian plumbing company trying to promote reverse osmosis systems that they sell.
It is a review article, but includes no actual data and few citations, which is quite unusual for a review. I read it. This article is not substantial evidence of anything.
The article does contain citations to comprehensive and frequently cited WHO water quality studies. Regardless, the issue here is that the safety of long term consumption of demineralized water produced by reverse osmosis systems (including those that include re-mineralization) remains a fairly controversial subject and there are a lot of articles on both sides of the debate.

Regardless, it's a bit of a silly debate. As I mentioned above, in a lot of cases reverse osmosis systems won't actually save any money and, in any case, fridge filters run $50 - $100/year. So, the amount of money that we are talking about here is tiny.
Ha! Tiny amounts of money is a favored discussion subject here at BHs! Sometimes it seems the lower the $$ amount the higher the discussion heat!

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
meebers
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by meebers »

My GE Profile fridge will run for ~6 months on the $50 filter then it will STOP. No water, no ice until the filter is replace with a genuine GE filter. It reads an "BarCode"?? signal from the filter, stores that id so that you cannot use it again. This really stinks. Found a way around it, not for discussion here. :happy
michaeljc70
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by michaeljc70 »

Our Samsung fridge dispenses water much faster with the generic filter. Since we have good water to begin with, that is a plus to me. I imagine less filtering is going on and that is why it is faster and that could be a negative if you need filtering. After reading some of the comments I am wondering why I am even using a filter and probably will stop doing so when I run out.
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Voltaire2.0
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by Voltaire2.0 »

I buy generic filters from https://www.discountfilters.com that work fine and cost a fraction of the "name brand" versions.

BTW, the report mentioned above (https://filteritout.org/wp-content/uplo ... Report.pdf) overlooks the fact that "Filteritout.org" is front for appliance makers seeking to justify the overpriced filters they peddle. An old marketing trick.
aquaman
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by aquaman »

Voltaire2.0 wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:26 am BTW, the report mentioned above (https://filteritout.org/wp-content/uplo ... Report.pdf) overlooks the fact that "Filteritout.org" is front for appliance makers seeking to justify the overpriced filters they peddle. An old marketing trick.
The report in question addresses the self evident dangers of counterfeit filters, so I don't quite understand your objection to it. The Consumer Reports article linked in the same post makes the same point.

Trustworthy generic filters with the same NSF certifications are perfectly fine, except that it's very difficult for all of us to distinguish among such filters and cheap knockoffs with who knows what in them. Likewise, it is actually very difficult to find generic NSF 42 and 53 filters (most generic filters are not NSF 53 certified) and then you still have to somehow figure out whether their claims are trustworthy.
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sport
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by sport »

This one seems to meet all the requirements: https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-FMM-2-P ... /205132546?
NSF certified against NSF/ANSI 42 and 53 for the reduction of select chemicals, herbicides, insecticides, sand, silt, sediment, rust, chlorine and other contaminants that may be present in your drinking water
IAPMO certified against NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 372, 401 and CSA B483.1 for the reduction of lead, Cyst, VOC's, Pharmaceuticals, BPA, PFOA/PFOS, chlorine taste and odor
ncbill
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by ncbill »

mrsmitt wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:43 am I didn't say anything about chlorine in my post, so I am not sure how I can be wrong about it...

Here is a comparison between Brita (carbon filter) and RO.
https://www.watersmartsystems.com/brita ... comparison

Brita will not remove important things like arsenic for example. Carbon filters do not completely remove heavy metals that are very harmful to humans. Carbon filters will not remove salt that is used by water softener systems or calcium that makes your coffee or tea taste no so great.

Brita and fridge filters are carbon filters that use the same filtering medium and principle. Some of them might be slightly better than others, but all of them use activated charcoal as a filtering medium. Water passes activated charcoal that catches SOME of the bad stuff that you do not want in your body. RO is very different. It uses a membrane that can only allow pure water to pass through.
Arsenic is, unfortunately, surprisingly common in well water.

Though if it's in yours there are whole-house, iron-based treatments that should be used first.

Not just a RO system under the kitchen sink.
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unclescrooge
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by unclescrooge »

oldlongbeard wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:37 pm
Millennial wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:32 pm What are you trying to filter out? A decent portion (though not all) of the tap water in the US won't really be improved by these fridge filters. You should be able to get a water report from your utility (called a CCR) that gives you an idea what's in your water. If it's not worth filtering, the bypass fitting is much cheaper than even generic filters...
It is the Chlorination taste. It IS in fact safe before filtering, but my coffee (not to mention water) tastes a WHOLE bunch better without the Chlorine taste added.
Leave the water out overnight. The chlorine should dissipate.
oldlongbeard
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by oldlongbeard »

unclescrooge wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:25 pm
oldlongbeard wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:37 pm
Millennial wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:32 pm What are you trying to filter out? A decent portion (though not all) of the tap water in the US won't really be improved by these fridge filters. You should be able to get a water report from your utility (called a CCR) that gives you an idea what's in your water. If it's not worth filtering, the bypass fitting is much cheaper than even generic filters...
It is the Chlorination taste. It IS in fact safe before filtering, but my coffee (not to mention water) tastes a WHOLE bunch better without the Chlorine taste added.
Leave the water out overnight. The chlorine should dissipate.
No thanks....stale water isn't much better ;-)
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unclescrooge
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by unclescrooge »

oldlongbeard wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 12:50 pm
unclescrooge wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:25 pm
oldlongbeard wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:37 pm
Millennial wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:32 pm What are you trying to filter out? A decent portion (though not all) of the tap water in the US won't really be improved by these fridge filters. You should be able to get a water report from your utility (called a CCR) that gives you an idea what's in your water. If it's not worth filtering, the bypass fitting is much cheaper than even generic filters...
It is the Chlorination taste. It IS in fact safe before filtering, but my coffee (not to mention water) tastes a WHOLE bunch better without the Chlorine taste added.
Leave the water out overnight. The chlorine should dissipate.
No thanks....stale water isn't much better ;-)
So you only drink fresh rain water? :D
HettyGreenIsMyHero
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by HettyGreenIsMyHero »

I bought my most recent OEM Whirlpool filter from eBay for $29.99 vs around $50 on Amazon for our 16 yr old fridge. Works perfectly, I don't trust the generic China filters after reading online about them. I always check prices on eBay before I make an Amazon purchase. Lots of times I save money and I like to support small sellers.
toofache32
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Re: Refrigerator Filters

Post by toofache32 »

Note to self....see if my fridge has a filter.
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