GE R.O. Water Filter

I installed 3 of the subject GE reverse osmosis water filters about a year ago. (The model number is PXRQ15RBL). My daughter wanted one (because she didn't like Los Angeles city water), so I stalled one at her place. I liked the way it installed easily, so when I returned to my Ohio well water, I installed an identical model here. Our well water wasn't bad. There was an occassional slight sulfer odor, but testing indicated no harmful bacteria. It is also softened.) The filter seemed to work well, but I found myself also drinking water from a bar sink in the basement family room. This seemed silly since I had installed the filter upstairs - so I bought another filter and installed it at the basement bar sink. That's it for background - now to my question:

The manual says to replace the "pre" and "post" filter canisters every

6 months. To make the product seem high tech, they even provide a 6 month timer that lights an LED when the 6 months is up. That is all it is - a timer. It does not measure usage, flow rate, or contaminates at all. So, how often do I really need to change the canisters? The filter installed upstairs is used for making coffee, tea, and meals every day, while the filter at the bar sink is used for only a few ounces of water no more often than once a week.

I can't imagine why both units need to have their filters changed at the same time. Do the filters get clogged? (Mine haven't even on the higher use sink). Do the filters become contaminated with bacteria? In that case, the lower use one might be worse. (In my case, there have been no foul odors nor reduced flow). Both LED indicators went on at 6 months and blinked until the batteries died. I just can't see spending $80 every 6 months for no reason. Does anyone have any inside information or real experience regarding these things? How can I tell when they really need to be changed? Am I being reasonably frugal or risking my life?

Pat

Reply to
Pat
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Oops. I meant this for alt.home.repair. But, maybe someone here knows.

Pat

Reply to
Pat

Pat,

I worked in water purification for some time, the real way to test for a fi lter that needs changing is the pressure drop over the unit. That applies t o the RO unit as well as the prefilter. If you run the filter too long it w ill rupture and the pressure drop will decrease drastically and all of the impurities will flow into your water.

For the un-fun part the manufacturer would be the best person to tell you w hat that pressure drop is to change the filter before you have a problem. I n the home automation group I suspect the solution would be to track the pr essure drop and have a light green as long as it's increasing and red when it decreases.

For the most part you are safe because the contaminants are limited to the input side, any additional bacteria that grew would generally grow on the d irty side of the filter. This will increase the pressure drop but not incre ase your risk.

Reply to
Keith

Pat,

I worked in water purification for some time, the real way to test for a fi lter that needs changing is the pressure drop over the unit. That applies t o the RO unit as well as the prefilter. If you run the filter too long it w ill rupture and the pressure drop will decrease drastically and all of the impurities will flow into your water.

For the un-fun part the manufacturer would be the best person to tell you w hat that pressure drop is to change the filter before you have a problem. I n the home automation group I suspect the solution would be to track the pr essure drop and have a light green as long as it's increasing and red when it decreases.

For the most part you are safe because the contaminants are limited to the input side, any additional bacteria that grew would generally grow on the d irty side of the filter. This will increase the pressure drop but not incre ase your risk.

Reply to
Keith

Some filters have a biocide in them (such as silver) to prevent bacterial growth. This protection only has a limited life and may require the filter to be changed for health reasons long before there's enough debris caught to impact the flow rate.

Similarly, activated carbon filters will run out of pollutant absorbtion capacity without actually blocking or impeding flow rate - they will simply cease filtering out the pollutants, and in some cases could even start releasing trapped pollutants back into the water flow.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Keith, Thanks for the information. That is just what I was looking for. Over on alt.home.repair, someone found that the filters are designed for

900 gallons of use. That would mean about 2-1/2 years on my one unit and 75 years on the other. I decided to change them both every two years or so.

Pat

Reply to
Pat

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