Water & tank care
Looking after your water filters
A water filter isn’t set-and-forget. It works by trapping things, and once it’s full it stops helping and starts hurting, dropping your pressure and, in the worst case, letting trapped gunk back through. Keeping on top of cartridges is the whole game.
How to tell a cartridge is due
- Your pressure or flow drops noticeably, a clogged filter chokes it.
- The taste or cloudiness starts to come back.
- The cartridge looks visibly dirty (on a clear housing).
- Or it has simply reached its rated time or litres. Sediment filters clog fastest; carbon fades on taste over months.
Why a blocked filter matters
A full filter doesn’t just stop working, it restricts flow. That shows up as weak pressure at the taps and makes your pump work harder than it should. So if your pressure has dropped and you have filters, check them before you suspect the pump.
Rough change intervals
Follow the maker’s rating, but as a guide: sediment filters every few months (sooner on dirty tank water), carbon filters every six to twelve months for taste, and UV lamps roughly yearly (the lamp weakens long before it stops glowing). Dirtier water means more frequent changes.
Simple upkeep
- Change cartridges on time, not just when they fail.
- Keep a spare cartridge on hand.
- When you change one, check the housing O-ring and seat it properly so it doesn’t weep.
- Housings are directional: match the IN and OUT marks (or flow arrow) to the direction of flow. A housing plumbed backwards clogs quickly, filters poorly, and can collapse the cartridge.
- On a multi-stage setup, change them in order (sediment first) so the fine stages aren’t doing the coarse work.
Common questions
How do I know if it’s the filter or the pump causing low pressure?
Check the filter first, it’s the quickest thing to rule out. A clogged cartridge restricts flow and mimics a weak pump. If pressure returns with a fresh cartridge, it was the filter.
My filters keep blocking much faster than they should, why?
Heavy sediment load is the usual reason, but if a setup has clogged from day one, check each housing is plumbed the right way around. Flow through a backwards housing hits the cartridge from the wrong side, so it blocks fast and filters poorly. The IN and OUT marks on the housing head tell you which way it should be.
Can I just clean a cartridge instead of replacing it?
Some sediment cartridges can be rinsed a few times to extend them, but carbon and fine filters can’t really be cleaned. Once they’re spent, they’re spent, rinsing a carbon filter does nothing for taste.