With increasing water pollution, to drink potable water directly is not safe as it contains too many impurities. Therefore, water filter system has become an essential commodity for every home, office, hotel, mall, hospital and other places where there is need for potable water. As after a period of time, any machine needs repair or maintenance, similarly, water filter cartridges also need to be replaced or changed in water filters to maintain the consistent taste and continuous supply of pure water. If you don’t replace it at the right time and tend to overuse, you won’t get pure water and the smell of water would also be changed. However, it is an important thing to remember, how often these cartridges should be changed. There is no fixed period for changing the cartridges because it varies with various factors.
Factors on which water filter cartridge replacement depends:
- The type of water filter installed at your place
- Brand of water filter
- Indicator in water filter
- Quality of water in your location
- Frequency and quantity of water usage
- Level of water pretreatment
All these factors affect the working and life expectancy of water filter cartridges. For example, if your locality is supplied with hard water, then scale buildup process on the cartridge will be faster in comparison to soft water. If a large amount of water is used per day, it can be presumed that more water is needed to pass through cartridges that will eventually reduce the lifetime of a cartridge. So, the replacement of cartridges in water filter does not depend on a single thing, its life expectancy depends on the aforementioned factors. Now, the question arises, how many kinds of water filter cartridges are present in a water filter and do all cartridges need to be changed at the same time. So let’s take a view.
Type of Water Filter Cartridges
Generally, there is only one kind of cartridge which is known as a sediment pre-filter cartridge. Generally, it is replaced after every six or nine months. Some water filters also contain another cartridge called as a sub-micron post filter cartridge. The presence of the second cartridge depends on the type and brand of water filter. This cartridge can work perfectly for nine to twelve months and after that, it also needs to be replaced. Now when you have idea of why cartridge needs to be changed, what factors affect the life expectancy of a cartridge and how many kinds are there, there are some tips for you which will help you to know when you need to change these cartridges.
Some tips to consider for deciding when you need to change water filter cartridges
- When you start noticing the change in water taste, it is high time to replace the cartridge
- When water starts to smell different, you should think about water filter cartridge replacement
- The flow of water is reduced, when cartridge is clogged. However, when this happens, you filter is doing fine but to speed up the flow, you might need to change the cartridge.
- When the indicator starts to highlight for changing water filter cartridge.
If you notice any of these factors, call the customer care of your water filter company and ask to check the water filter or to change the water filter cartridge. However, renowned water filter companies also do a routine check up after a fixed period of time. But that does not mean, you filter cartridge needs to be changed only when professionals visit for service. You also need to keep a check on the above tips and factors to assure that you are getting pure and odorless water with perfect taste.