If you own an Aerogarden or several and live in an area with hard tapwater you quickly discover the importance of having at hand an ongoing supply of distilled water. Under present circumstances as well as from an economic standpoint, a home distiller is a good investment. There are many available and what I found is that, compared to this CO-Z unit, you can spend twice as much for one made of plastic which takes half as long again to distill an equivalent four liters. You also can spend well over twice as much and get one made of stainless steel and glass which does the same thing in the same amount of time. At this very reasonable price and given its features and build quality, my opinion is this CO-Z model is the best overall value.You'll see, above, a one-star review or two warning that the glass carafe is brittle and prone to breakage because the lid is too hard to remove. You can take that at face value or, firstly, consider that (spoiler alert): Glass is brittle and prone to breakage. Secondly, read the manual and note the warning against attempting to remove the NON-REMOVABLE lid.Other reviewers complain about having to scrub mineral deposits from the reservoir upon completion of distillation. Consider that the purpose of distillation is, in this application, to remove minerals from the water and they have to go somewhere. The unit has an auto shut-off which evidently works by sensing excess heat, such as would be expected when the reservoir has boiled dry. You can easily minimize after-use maintenance by not relying on this temperature sensor and instead using aheavy duty appliance timer with a countdown function. I set mine to three hours and forty-five minutes and have no problems with baked-on deposits. In addition, scrubbing or the use of specialized cleaners is, in most cases, unnecessary. A half cup of white vinegar allowed to sit for a brief period, followed by light wiping and rinsing of the interior of the unit will easily remove the mineral residue. A3M Dobie cleaning pad (the one with a thin plastic mesh for light scrubbing on one side and sponge on the other) is ideal for this.[NOTE: I noticed the particular timer linked in the preceding paragraph is no longer available. It was rated at 1800W/15amps. The distiller is stated to operate at 750W, which is (according to online calculators) about 6 amps. I am NOT an electrician or electrical engineer but know enough to know that you need a timer that can handle the load, for safety's sake. It appears to my untrained eye that there isa newer version of this timer with the same 1800W/15amp capacity.]Incidentally, the unit is much larger than it appears in the photos, about the size of a medium-sized coffee urn. Not having extra counter space in my small kitchen, I keep it and the jugs of distilled water on this very sturdy and inexpensive cart (see photo).One final tip: I strongly recommend placing a small plastic funnel in the spout of the carafe during the distilling process, and not relying on the strange metal cap provided (see photo). This will ensure the distilled water reliably dripping into the carafe during operation.Overall, I am entirely pleased with the value, quality and performance of the CO-Z Water Distiller.ONE YEAR UPDATE: This distiller continues to give excellent results. I have five small hydroponic units and distill from six to nine gallons of water per week, usually over a two to three day period. Cleaning is done after all distillation is completed, using only white vinegar and the soft scrubber pad mentioned in the review, above. If there is especially heavy mineral buildup in the tank but I still have a few gallons to go before completely finishing, I will use aScotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scour Pad (the blue ones, NOT the green--which are very abrasive) to remove it.I noticed one or two reviewers reported rust and corrosion. I suspect that is the direct result of improper maintenance and storage...leaving the distiller assembled and wet between uses or overnight when it is not being operated. After cleaning I set the components on wooden trivets (see photo), the distiller head upright and the tank inverted, to air dry thoroughly. The unit looks as good as new with no signs of corrosion. [I assembled these trivets from scrap wood but any similar object of sufficient diameter with an open design will serve the purpose.]One other small tip: Using afunnel with a wide spout makes transferring water into storage jugs much faster and easier.TWO YEAR UPDATE: As seen in the accompanying photo, proper care and maintenance ensure reliable, long-term operation. After two years of regular use, using the tips and procedures outlined above, there is absolutely no corrosion or degradation of performance.Incidentally, I've never used any of the activated charcoal filter packets and see no reason to do so in my application.