My Brita filter is leaking carbon flakes!

[Ika]

I replaced the filter on my Brita pitcher yesterday and it constantly sheds little carbon flakes into the top reservoir whenever I pour water into it. Occasionally the filtered water has some carbon in it, too.

I've never had this happen before in the 4+ years I've been using Brita pitchers. Why is this happening? What can I do? I soaked the filter in water for a good half hour and the flakes continually come out.

 

[NoShangriLa]

A common occurrence in water filters. Run water through it a couple of times before usage should get rid of the floaters. Some filter manufacture suggests up to 5-6 minutes (RO can take up to 2 complete fill/empty cycles) of running water through the filter to clean out the floaters.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa

A common occurrence in water filters. Run water through it a couple of times before usage should get rid of the floaters. Some filter manufacture suggests up to 5-6 minutes (RO can take up to 2 complete fill/empty cycles) of running water through the filter to clean out the floaters.

I've been doing that. I've been constantly refilling, emptying out, and cleaning the pitcher, to no avail. There are a LOT of flakes, too, not just a few. It's like an infestation of carbon flakes.

I'm using the filters that came with my pitcher when I got it, I think. The first two didn't have this problem.

And the flakes are showing up on the top part of the filter (i.e. the part you pour water into). Running water through the filters doesn't seem like it would help in this case. I did some googling but didn't really find an answer.

 

[IGBT]

..they all do it. no big deal. gives ya hair on your chest.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa

A common occurrence in water filters. Run water through it a couple of times before usage should get rid of the floaters. Some filter manufacture suggests up to 5-6 minutes (RO can take up to 2 complete fill/empty cycles) of running water through the filter to clean out the floaters.

I've been doing that. I've been constantly refilling, emptying out, and cleaning the pitcher, to no avail. There are a LOT of flakes, too, not just a few. It's like an infestation of carbon flakes.

I'm using the filters that came with my pitcher when I got it, I think. The first two didn't have this problem.

And the flakes are showing up on the top part of the filter (i.e. the part you pour water into). Running water through the filters doesn't seem like it would help in this case. I did some googling but didn't really find an answer.

It could be that you have a poorly pack filters which does happens quite often.

A bout 10-15% of the hundreds of the sand filters that I've seen are poorly packed and/or having mixed up layers, however they still function just fine. I haven't bother cutting out carbon filters to check the condition of it because carbon filter tend to be made of a single size carbon particle or simply a solid block.

 

[Omegachi]

happens to my filters all the time, its no big deal. its not going to kill you.

 

[Ika]

I'm not really worried about my health, I'm just really confused as to why it's happening. My old Brita filter *never* did this. I got a new pitcher this year and the first filter didn't do anything like this either. It just seems really strange to happen so suddenly and to two filters (my last filter did the same thing, and didn't stop).

 

[z0mb13]

Did you soak the filter in water first?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
Did you soak the filter in water first?

Originally posted by: Aflac
I soaked the filter in water for a good half hour

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
Did you soak the filter in water first?

Soaked for half an hour, then ran about 10-15 batches of water through it.

I kinda neglected to mention that the last filter I had had this problem too. It never stopped, even after about 3 months of use.

EDIT: yoyo beat me to it

EDIT2: I was going to post pics but Imageshack's been timing out on me and pics.bbzzdd is taking forever. Maybe later, if I still care when I wake up.

 

[0roo0roo]

defective
it shouldn't take 15 batches of water to get rid of flakes. at most it should be in the first 2 or so batches.

 

[sandorski]

Carbon Flakes, not just for breakfast anymore!

 

[CptCrunch]

I have had a brita filter for the past 2 years, this has occurred for every filter I have purchased, typically 6-12 flakes, no big deal

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Happens all the time to me as well.

 

[randomlinh]

Happens all the time for ours as well. Always has. Usually a couple of full passes of water does the trick. And that's after soaking it for 20 minutes and then running it under water for a minute or two more.

 

[moshquerade]

switch to a Pur filter/system ftw

 

[gnumantsc]

Call Brita and complain since those filters aren't cheap?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
switch to a Pur filter/system ftw

actually, we had the same problem w/ our pur system too. That and it was impossible to find filters it seemed

 

[SunnyD]

Ironically, I just installed one of these on Saturday, switching for a PUR 3-stage faucet filter. While the PUR 3-stage did produce better tasting water (3rd stage is mineral addition, adding various minerals to the water which gives it a "crisper" taste), the problem was that I was going through filters too often because of the amount of water we use. I got the filter mostly to remove the sulfur from the water, and the faucet filter wasn't working well on the "hardware" in my apartment. I don't know if PUR started making things cheaper since my last one before we moved (which I can't find) or whatnot.

In any event, I figured the GE would do just as well, and the filters are rated at 6 months of use, and they cost about as much as a single PUR filter. The water doesn't taste quite the same as with the PUR 3-stage, but it's palatable, and most of all doesn't smell like sulfur. Best thing is that it has it's own tap, so there's no fiddling around to get water. Just turn it on.

My experience with the Brita filters, they drop carbon like crazy no matter what. It's not going to hurt you, in fact your stomach will probably feel a bit better with it. But it's not really very appetizing.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

It is normal even if you soak it. As long as the carbon is in the top and not the bottom why care?