Do I have to change the water filter on my refridgerator?

[glen]

The town I live in has RO water.
Why do I even need one in the first place?
What will happen if I leave the current filter in place, but just don't change it?

*edit*
Doh!
I knew I would spel, "refrigerator " incorrectly!

 

[dainthomas]

refrigerator

 

[waffleironhead]

It will clog.

 

[gorcorps]

I wouldn't leave the filter in, but I don't think you'll have any problems after taking it out. Unless the fridge has some sort of sensor that refuses to dispense water until you put a filter in.

 

[olds]

Any containments will settle there eventually giving you prostate cancer.

 

[glen]

It will clog.

I wondered about that.
I bet I can go one more year with out a clog.


I need to figure out how the fridge calculates a filter change - does it sense particles or reduced flow? or does it just assume 1 year?

 

[ViviTheMage]

It starts to taste funky if you don't replace it.

 

[waggy]

most will till work if you take it out. I know mine has that option (we have a RO system in place).

 

[gorcorps]

I wondered about that.
I bet I can go one more year with out a clog.


I need to figure out how the fridge calculates a filter change - does it sense particles or reduced flow? or does it just assume 1 year?

Pretty sure it's just a timer. Our fridge you can reset it without changing it and it won't whine about it again until the "right time".

 

[cheezmunky]

I kept mine in at least a year after it said to replace before it clogged. Water/ice tasted fine to me

 

[JulesMaximus]

Just change it out annually. I do ours every 6 months because we have very hard water here and it clogs up the filter after a while.

What's $45 a year...

 

[Raizinman]

We change the water filter about every 18 months. Normally it will start to restrict the flow and you will notice ice cubes 2/3 formed, or if you have a cold water dispenser, you will notice a restriction in that flow. When you do change the filter, make sure you write in big print on the new filter the date. This way 18 months down the road you can just replace it. On some refrigerators you cannot leave the filter out as it is part of the water passage. Without it will result in no cold water or no ice cubes. These filters are normally expensive $25 to $35 dollars. I normally try to find a Home Depot or Lowes coupon when purchasing.

 

[crownjules]

The town I live in has RO water.
Why do I even need one in the first place?
What will happen if I leave the current filter in place, but just don't change it?

*edit*
Doh!
I knew I would spel, "refrigerator " incorrectly!

You don't really need it, no. Those types of filters are usually just carbon filtration - they'll get out particulates of > 10nm. Stuff that should have been easily filtered by an RO process.

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/gfilters.asp

No filter will give you good performance over the long term unless it receives regular maintenance. As contaminants build up, a filter can not only become less effective, but actually can make your water worse, by starting to release harmful bacteria or chemicals back into your filtered water.

http://homewaterfilters.org/

And if you don’t change the filters as per manufacturers’ recommendations, such systems can do more harm than good, says Dr. Paul Chadik, professor of environmental engineering at University of Florida. “If the carbon isn’t replaced, bacteria will actually colonize the filter and thrive there.”

Even in well-filtered RO water, the filter can build up a "slime" inside...that gets released when you use the water from the system.
Is it harmful? I don't know...but water filters are pretty fucking cheap...why take the chance?

 

[mooncancook]

I wondered about that.
I bet I can go one more year with out a clog.


I need to figure out how the fridge calculates a filter change - does it sense particles or reduced flow? or does it just assume 1 year?

It will. I didn't change the last one for a long time and I noticed water flow started getting slower, eventually to a drip so I had to replace it. I don't understand why filters have to be so expensive though.

 

[Texashiker]

Why do I even need one in the first place?

Because contaminants build up in the distribution lines, breaks occur in the lines, pressure drops and contaminants enter the lines,,,,,,.

Regardless of what the treatment plant uses, there are dozens of things that can happen along the way to your house.

If your fridge has a filter, keep it replaced.