With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.

Many people forget about their refrigerator water filters, and they might not be changed for months or even an entire year. If your water tastes fine, it’s likely that you will be questioning whether it’s even necessary to change the water filter at all. But, the taste of your refrigerator water can taste fine, and it can still be low in quality. Many contaminants found in drinking water are tasteless, odorless, and colorless. This makes it tricky to determine the quality of your drinking water or ice by using your senses alone. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of refrigerator water filters.

How Often Should a Water Filter be Changed?

The actual time between refrigerator water filter changes can vary a little depending on the number of people in the home. A family of four that drinks from their water dispenser or use the ice machine regularly should replace their refrigerator water filter every six months or so. If the occupants are a couple without any kids, they would only need to change the water filter on an annual basis. If you’ve lived in your home for over a year and the refrigerator water filter hasn’t been changed at all it’s likely that your water and ice isn’t fresh and clean.

How Does a Refrigerator Water Filter Work?

Most modern refrigerator water filters use a combination of carbon and sediment filtration to clean and condition the water. Each refrigeration filter has a carbon core that wrapped in a sheath of polypropylene or similar material. The water flows through the outer covering, and this is where suspended solids, debris, and sediment is removed. The remaining contaminants are attached to the outer surface of the carbon filtration media, and this is called adsorption. The contaminants don’t penetrate beyond the surface of the carbon filter block, and only the cleaned water passes through.

What Happens if the Water Filter is Not Changed?

 

Over time the carbon filtration block surface will become clogged with contaminants. Eventually, the carbon block will not be capable of carrying out adsorption, and instead, absorption will occur, and contaminants will pass through into the water supply. As we mentioned above, this may not be noticeable for some time, but the health of your refrigerator water is compromised. Changing the water filter is quick and easy; full instructions are provided, and changing the filter every six months will improve the quality dramatically.

What Contaminants are Removed During Filtration?

On the journey to your home, your water passes through miles of rock, soil, and pipes. Water is an effective solvent, given enough time it can dissolve many materials, and these are added to the water as it passes through. So, water can collect contaminants from a variety of sources, such as industrial processes, agricultural runoff, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Most modern refrigerator water filters are designed to deal with three major contaminants sources; they are chlorine, lead, and VOCs. More advanced systems may be capable of removing chloramine and certain cysts as well. Let’s take a look at each of these contaminants in turn and why you don’t want them in your ice and drinking water.

Chlorine

The use of chlorine in the disinfection of drinking water is a tried and tested method that’s been in continuous use for over a century. Chlorine water treatment eliminated dysentery and typhoid in the first world, making it safe to drink. But, chlorine can also impart a “swimming pool” taste and odor that can ruin your water drinking experience. The carbon filtration block in your refrigerator water filter is great at removing the negative characteristics of chlorine in your water.

Lead

 

Until the late 20th century, lead was considered to be a safe material, and it was widely used in the production of pottery, paint and, of course, plumbing pipes. Approximately 50% of the solder used before 1986 contained lead and as we mentioned earlier water is very good at collecting material and carrying it to your home. Modern plumbing has entirely abandoned the use of lead because it’s extremely harmful and ingesting it can lead to a number of health problems, such as heart or kidney damage, premature birth, learning disorders and a loss of hearing. Sadly, there is still a great deal of lead around in our environment, and it can make its way into our water supply.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

VOCs are harmful chemicals, such as insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides that are used in many modern agricultural processes to increase yields. Any exposure to VOCs can be harmful. This typically takes occurs due to air pollution or contact with preservatives, but VOCs can enter the water supply from industrial waste and agricultural runoff after rain. Some health problems associated with VOCs, include reproductive issues, liver damage, and kidney damage.

Chloramines

Some municipalities use chloramines to treat their water rather than chlorine. Chloramines are created by combining chlorine with ammonia, and they are used to prevent the formation of certain harmful disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethane. But, certain health studies have highlighted that chloramines may be more harmful to health than anticipated, and further research is required. For this reason, it’s advisable to use a filtration system to remove chloramines from your water supply. A refrigerator water filter equipped with a catalytic carbon removal system can separate the chlorine from the ammonia turning the chlorine into a harmless chloride.

The Importance of Water Filtration

A refrigerator water filter works on the assumption that a cleaned source of water is supplying the home. Although all public water passes through a water treatment plant, this is no guarantee of cleanliness. There are miles of pipes to traverse, and inevitably there are smaller and larger breaks where the pipes are compromised. Even a small crack can allow foreign material to enter the water supply such as microbes, pollutants, and other contaminants. Also, it’s important to understand that certain contaminants may not be removed at all. For this reason, many people use a refrigerator water filter and install their own water filtration system to treat all of the water coming into their homes. This is an ideal way to get rid of hard water issues and improve the overall health of the water in the home for drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning.

If you want to install a water filtration system in your home, contact your local water treatment professional.