If you haven't changed your refrigerator's water filter in a few months, a year, or several years, you may be wondering when you should replace it. Maybe your water still tastes good, which is why you're wondering if your fridge filter needs to be changed. Just because water tastes fresh doesn't mean it is. Many contaminants are tasteless.
A family of four who uses their water dispenser and ice maker often must get a new filter every six months; while a childless couple may need to replace it once a year. If you haven't replaced your refrigerator filter in several years, you're not drinking filtered water but something else entirely.
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Purchasing a replacement refrigerator filter from the original manufacturer can be expensive. Aftermarket refrigerator filters cost less, but sometimes put quality at risk. Changing your refrigerator's water filter is crucial, so we'll help you understand the parlance of the replacement filter market to find the best fit for your refrigerator and budget.
What you should know before buying a refrigerator filter:
1. How a fridge filter works ⌄
2. Why change the filter in your refrigerator ⌄
3. OEM filters vs. aftermarket filters ⌄
4. How to install a fridge filter ⌄
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How does a refrigerator water filter work?
Most refrigerator filters are designed to remove bad tastes and odors through a combination of sediment and carbon filtration. Refrigerator filters contain a carbon block core wrapped in a material such as polypropylene. Water mechanically flows through the outer material to remove debris and suspended solids. Other unwanted particles stick to the surface of the carbon block.
Contaminants in water attach to carbon in a refrigerator filter through a process called adsorption. They do not soak into the surface (absorption) of the carbon, but instead stick to a point within the huge surface of the carbon (adsorption).
What a Refrigerator Water Filter Removes
Water travels through miles of underground pipes before reaching your home or business. Along the way, it can accumulate lead from old pipes, agricultural runoff, and other harmful compounds.
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Most refrigerator filters are designed to remove three main contaminants: lead, chlorine, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some are rated to remove cysts and also chloramine.
Until the 20th century, lead was considered harmless and useful in the production of paint, ceramics, and plumbing pipes. 50% of the solder used for plumbing before 1986 contained lead. Because water is a great solvent, it picks up lead from old pipes and carries it to your faucet. A building built before the Safe Drinking Water Act likely has lead and lead-soldered copper pipes and fittings that could leak into the water.
Because lead is toxic, the EPA sets the maximum contaminant level for lead in drinking water at zero. Lead ingestion causes reproductive problems, premature labor, and damage to the brain, hearing, heart, and kidneys. See a full list of lead health effects from the EPA.
Chlorine
Chlorine disinfects drinking water and has virtually eliminated waterborne diseases like typhoid and dysentery. But it also ruins the taste of your water. Charcoal refrigerator filters are excellent for giving chlorinated drinking water a fresh taste.
Chloramines are a combination of chlorine and ammonia used by municipalities to reduce the formation of harmful disinfectant products such as trihalomethane. Few studies have been conducted on the health effects of chloramines, and the results of those that have are unclear. Catalytic carbon refrigerator filters remove chlorine and chloramines by separating chlorine from ammonia and converting chlorine to chloride.
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VOC
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are harmful chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, or insecticides. VOC exposure comes primarily from air pollution, paints, preservatives, but they can enter drinking water through agricultural runoff or industrial waste. Many VOCs are carcinogenic or cause liver, kidney, and reproductive problems.
Are refrigerator water filters necessary?
New refrigerator filters provide clean water, reduce contaminants and prevent bacteria from entering the water. However, carbon has limited capacity. The longer you wait to change the filter, the worse the water will get.
This is what happens if you don't change your refrigerator's water filter:
Your filter gets clogged. It gets to a point where it no longer filters because it's full of dirt and debris. You know it's time to change the filter when the water stops coming out.
The carbon reaches its maximum capacity. Water continues to flow through the filter even if the surface area is full, but the water carries contaminants with it. Imagine going to a mall at Christmas. After going up and down rows of cars and not finding a parking spot, he gets back on the road and heads somewhere else. Similarly, when all the spaces in an old carbon filter are taken up, particles accumulate or pass through the filter.
Your filter breeds bacteria. A charged carbon filter collects the particles that living organisms feed on and becomes a campsite for bacteria.
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Can Old Water in the Refrigerator Make You Sick?
Refrigerator filters are designed to work with water that is already microbiologically safe. The city's water has already been chemically treated against viruses and pathogens. But if you continue to use a filter after a year, your tap water could be improved with all previously blocked contaminants. An old filter becomes the primary housing for living organisms that could enter your digestive tract or gastrointestinal tract and cause flu-like symptoms.
How often should you replace your refrigerator's water filter?
Refrigerator filters should be replaced every 6 months. Never leave a filter in place for more than a year. The longer you use a carbon filter beyond its maximum capacity, the more harmful your water could become.
Are refrigerator water filters effective?
Refrigerator filters are effective for what they are designed to do. They are excellent at reducing chlorine taste, odor and sludge. They will not soften water, remove iron, or prevent health hazards in raw water. If your water comes from a well, then you are responsible for its safety and you need more than a refrigerator filter to treat your water. Well water typically requires whole house water filtration, including some form of bacteria treatment.
