When they break - and they do break - it's brutal. But if it's the only way to do it, it's not the worst thing in the world. You just need to be prepared to deal with serious disgustingness when it inevitably bites the dust. You also need a good leak detector on the floor near the macerator. I've been through 3 Saniflos in 9 years and I've switched to the Chinese knock offs from Amazon now - but I'm only a few months in, so I can't speak to whether paying 1/3 actually makes sense yet... This is with small kids, who don't always treat it the way it should be treated...