Maintenance of water filters is essential to ensure safe and clean drinking water at home or in the workplace. Regular servicing of these filters helps to prevent the accumulation of contaminants, prolongs the life of the filtration system and ensures the highest possible water quality. Water filters that are not properly maintained can become clogged, which will affect their efficiency and performance. This can lead to a significant decrease in water quality. By regularly cleaning, inspecting and replacing the components of your water filtration system as necessary, you can ensure the quality of your water supply and protect the household appliances that depend on it. So, how different types of water filtration systems should be maintained?
Water softening filters:
Water softening filters are a reliable solution for improving water quality, reducing maintenance costs and increasing overall water comfort. By preventing the formation of deposits, water softeners increase the efficiency and longevity of appliances such as water heaters, dishwashers and washing machines. Therefore, in order to ensure that the filters would work well and efficiently, they require maintenance. Many people recommend servicing softener filters once a year, but such a frequent interval is simply an attempt to make easy money from existing customers. If you choose a product from a quality manufacturer it will certainly not require annual maintenance. Annual servicing is required in two cases:
- If the filter is from a poor quality manufacturer (Chinese)
- If you really liked the communication of the company you bought your filters from and want to contact them at least once a year.
In all other cases, good quality water softening filters will not require annual servicing. Ideally, maintenance should be done once every 2-3 years. If that also looks too frequent for you (2-3 years), it is possible to do the maintenance when decreased water quality in your water is felt. It is very easy to spot if the water softening filter doesn't work properly, as deposits of limestones on household appliances (kettle, faucets, various surfaces) will quickly become visible as soon as the filter stops working. Quality water filters are easy to repair, even after many years without any maintenance being done, thanks to their high quality. parts. Otherwise, a Chinese control valve is difficult to maintain after a few years (even if it was maintananced annualy) due to the poor quality of the plastic. It hardens over time, so if you want to fix something in the future, often the valve just breaks apart.
Water iron removal filters:
Water iron removal filters work by oxidising method. The most common combination for this system is two separate columns. These types of water iron removal filters will inevitably start to clog over time. The maintenance intervals for this type of filters will depend on the iron levels in the water and the amount of water consumed. It is often suggested that water filters should be maintained once a year, but this interval is highly individual. The same iron removal filters can be placed where the iron concentration is 8x times above the allowable limits, but they can also be placed where the limits are exceeded, for example, 20x times. As a result, it goes without saying, that the maintenance period for this type of water filters must also be different. The easiest way to evalute how frequently your water filter needs to be maintained is when you notice a decrease in the quality of the water or when you notice a decrease in the water pressure in your home.
Maintenance:
When cleaning the iron removal water filters, the control valvemust be removed, disassembled and cleaned (all its parts). The oxidation tank must also be opened and washed, air inlet assemblies checked, etc. In short, it makes no difference whether the filter is heavily clogged or not. You will still need to disassemble and clean the same spots, no matter how heavily or lightly the system is clogged with iron deposits. This is because the water filtration process takes place internally and it is simply not possible to see, without disassembling everything, at which point the iron filter may be jammed. Therefore, it is not financially worth to carry out water filter maintenance once a year, because regardless of the level of clogging, the time needed to clean it will be almost the same.
However, the same rule applies here as with water softening filter. If the valve of the water filter is of good quality, then water filter maintenance can only be carried out when certain problems start to occur. If the de-ironing filter has a poorly manufactured control valve, then it is best to service it every 1-2 years, as after a longer period of time, the chances increase that the control valve will simply break due to its poor quality during the servicing.
Reverse osmosis filters:
Modern reverse osmosis (RO) systems are the most advanced water filtration solution for producing the highest quality drinking water. Using a semi-permeable membrane, these systems effectively remove a wide range of contaminants, including salts dissolved in water, bacteria, viruses and chemicals. In order to maintain the same high level of filtration during their lifetime, reverse osmosis systems require maintenance and servicing. It is recommended to change primary cartridge filters each 6 months and talking about mineralisation ir papildomus stages filters - once a year. Membrane changing interval depend on how cartridge filters before it was changed. The main membrane usually needs to be replaced once every 4 years, but the most accurate way to say this is to test water supplied by the drinking water system. Testing the quality of the treated water will give a clear indication of whether it is time to replace the membrane or not.
Cartridge water filters:
Cartridge mechanical water filters are probably the most common filter elements for keeping your water clean and safe in your home. These filters can serve many different functions, which means that the maintenance required for water filters will vary.
Mechanical filters, for example, remove mechanical impurities and rust that can occur when water flows through old pipes. They are usually housed in transparent water filter housings, so they need to be replaced when the cartridge is visually dirty.
Carbon filters reduce chlorine, pesticides, organic chemicals and improve the taste of water. These filters can be replaced every six months as a preventive measure or by regular water tests to see how long it takes for the cartridge to become ineffective. The lifetime of a cartridge depends on the manufacturer, the size of the cartridge and the existing water contamination.
KDF technology filters remove the unpleasant smell of hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs) from the water. They should be replaced when you feel that the unpleasant smell is starting to reappear in your water.
Conclusions:
Thus, the maintenance required for water filters depends on the quality of the filter purchased, the level of contamination of the water and the intensity of water used. As a general rule, quality water filters need to be checked and maintained less frequently - once every 2-3 years, or only when problems such as reduced water pressure or degraded water quality are noticed. Worse quality water filters should be maintained more carefully to avoid possible breakage during maintenance. However, some filters, such as reverse osmosis systems, are recommended to be serviced more frequently, replacing only certain parts every 6 months or once a year to ensure optimal performance and high water quality. If you are still wondering how you should maintain your future water filter, but don't know how to choose one, the article "how to choose a water filter?" will help you.
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