Petmate Gravity Pet Waterer 1 Gallon

I WANTED this in peacock blue but DIDN'T want to pay an additional $11 extra dollars for what? ?Color? Nah. (Even though it WOULD match our blue litter box) So silver gray it is. This is SUPER huge. I mean four gallons, it would have to be, right? l thought Amazon had overpackaged when the huge box arrived. Nope. It all seems sturdy. No cheap plastic. It IS super easy to assemble and clean when refilling. Other reviewers cited the 'filter strap' being difficult. I have pain and numbness in both hands, no nails to manipulate with and it wasn't difficult. ...And I maybe don't change the filter from the first one. I did not have any unpredictable spills - Not that I didn't spill... The bottom (gray) piece is actually two pieces, and they were not quite clicked together....Water splashed through an opening I wasn't aware of, between pieces, at first. And, like with my dog's last gravity waterer, I filled the bowl before I "flip and plant" the filled bottle into the bowl. This prolonged time between needing to fill the waterer again. Also I found this prevented "losing" a lot of water to the bowl that l just spent time putting into the bottle. THAT might be the best method with this product! I have read reviews citing "gushing" water when bottles are planted into empty bowls....so maybe at least put some water in the bowl. Plus with this product....that bowl holds a lot of water, like, a LARGE storage quantity itself without the bottle. the 'big gulp' of water dishes. The bottle then needs to turn to click/lock into dish. Had to learn that. Or the bottle is slightly...off. Not a problem with water flow. But that instinct of: "is that.. off?" Indeed it is my friend. I think there is a definite learning curve to using such a large waterer successfully. But my family is SUPER phobic of water spills (after our fridge water ruined our entire kitchen. Then that plumber left a bathtub running, ruining our bathroom as well) Basically we have PTSD if we see water spills or hear water running. So if we can handle this sitting in our rebuilt kitchen, anyone can! I can not speak to 'freshness'. I don't drink from it. The four leggeds don't mind. The reason we BOUGHT this is we adopted a indoor cat in addition to our dog. And it is DRY where we live. When this arrived and was unassembled, we actually put the cat INTO the gray dish(sorry no photo). Judge all you want, it was adorable.... And freakin' roomy! Anyhow. Water bowl itself holds a lot of water. Then there's the sturdy clear bottle. It all buys you a lot of time between chores, err.. piece of mind that my fur babies will have water. BUT since it holds so much you can go a LONG time without messing with it. There is a certain ick factor when (again) in our arrid climate dust, fur, or cat litter collect in the bowl. this doesn't bother the pets, just me. So I refill/clean/reset the whole thing just to clean the bowl before my beasts need more water. Yes, I have small creatures. this is more than I need for them. Better than having less than I need! And OBVIOUSLY this amount of water, four gallons, weights a lot. Frail people need not apply. Or maybe just use it as an excuse to make people visit you to fill the water bottle. I'll update if theres major change with the product. UPDATE: Product still going strong. Kitten is a cat, still fits in the gray dish. Went from waterer next to litter box to cat tree between them and waterer against wall. Less crap collects in water and cat REALLY enjoys the huge bowl. She will splay over the water like its going places. Other times she sits down dipping her paws in to lick water off her paws to drink. ..not sure if THAT is how she drinks water, or is just a game. This thing is half water dish half swimming pool. And its too sturdy for a cat or my #14 dog to tip over. Makes my cat love water. That is what l? care about.