How can I tell when my water filter needs replacing?
You’ll know when its time to replace your water filter when you notice changes in taste, odour, or water flow. A musty or metallic smell, unpleasant taste, or reduced pressure indicates the filter is saturated with impurities and no longer functioning effectively. Replacing it promptly ensures your water remains clean, safe and great-tasting.
Hi-tech carbon water filters will need replacing once or twice a year, and this is often taken care of by the company with whom you have your water filter contract. But are there signs that your water filter needs changing sooner rather than later? Yes, there are.
Here are things to look out for:
- The water has a bad odour
- The taste is different, strange, or bad
- There is a gradual decrease in flow rate (water pressure)
If the water smells or taste different or bad, this is an indication that the filter is losing its effectiveness. Impurities are making it through the filter, resulting in this change, and the filter needs replacing.
Decreased water pressure or the water coming out slower than usual indicates that the filter is full of contaminants. It is taking the water a longer time to get through the filter because it is full. Call your technician and get that filter changed! You’ll be back to clean, clear, tasty water in no time!
How often should a water filter be changed?
Carbon filters trap impurities in their pores, so they need changing regularly to keep water pure and flowing well. How often depends on two things:
- Your water supply: municipal water varies by location. If your local water carries more impurities, the filter fills faster.
- How much it is used: a busy office drinking filtered water all day will need changes more often than a small team.
As a guide, a quality carbon filter should be replaced at least once a year, and twice a year in high-use workplaces. On a Value H2O service agreement, filter changes are scheduled and included, so you don’t need to track them yourself.