The Importance of Regular Maintenance & Cartridge Replacement

Whether you have a water filter system or a reverse osmosis system, replacing water filter cartridges regularly is best practice and highly recommended. For those researching, here is some important information about regular servicing, maintenance and replacement of water filters.

Water Filter Cartridges

The water filter cartridges are the heart of the water filter systems and each serve an important role in the water filtration process from filtering out chemicals and contaminants to producing fresh tasting water.

Why it’s Important to Replace Water Filters

Replacing water filters regularly or as needed ensures that your filtered water system continues to work efficiently at removing the contaminants from drinking water.

Before and After Servicing:

Here are some examples of how much our water filters filter out contaminants and chemicals. These photos have been taken by our technicians during our annual maintenance/service and are common scenarios that we come across.

Before: This is what a brand new sediment filter looks like just before placing it into a water filtering system.

After: You can see how blackened this filter has become just from town water which would have otherwise gone straight through to the tap for your consumption without being filtered.

After: In this photo, you can see how muddy the filter has become. 

It's not a pleasant site to see a filter this muddy but imagine if you or your family had consumed this throughout the course of the year. 

The Lifespan of a Water Filter

Water filter cartridges generally have a lifespan of 6 to 12 months. When the filter becomes clogged or cartridges not replaced on time, they become less effective at filtering out the contaminants and chemicals present in the tap water making them ineffective.

Not changing the water filter means you may end up drinking water that contains contaminants and chemicals such as chlorine, cryptosporidium, giardia, dust, rust and sediments from the tap water.

There are different factors that affect the lifespan of a water filter with the main ones being:

Quality of Water - If the town water supplied to your home or office is lower in quality, the filter will accumulate contaminants at a faster rate. In some cases it’s not necessarily just the quality of the town water being supplied but the plumbing along the way could also contribute to contaminants in the water. Some areas also have more hard water which means that the water is heavy with minerals.

Water Usage – Naturally a family residence will generally consume more than a single household and an office may consume much more with staff generally spending more time in the office compared to home.

Signs that it’s Time to Replace a Water Filter

Sometimes it becomes obvious when a filter is no longer working because the taste or smell of the water changes. There may also be the occasion where a slimy residue on the rim of the filter cartridge builds up and is not easily noticeable. For our customers, if any of these signs appear, we recommend calling us.

There is a misconception that water will flow slower when it’s time for a filter to be replaced but this not always the case. Sometimes the water can even flow faster so please do not simply rely on the speed of water flow to judge whether a filter is still ok.

For our customers, we make contact every 12 months to change their filter cartridges and it’s a great service that they have become accustomed to. Some of our customers require more frequent water filter changes so we accommodate and contact based on the recommended timing.

When filters are changed regularly and water filter systems are serviced and maintained, they work more effectively at removing the contaminants from drinking water providing great tasting and clean water for you and your family.