How to Change a Water Filter

Welcome to Water Wisdom sponsored by WaterFilters.NET. Today we are springing into action and changing the filter cartridge in our filter housing. The principles I'm about to describe to you apply to filter housings of every imaginable size. So, if you have a larger or smaller filter housing, what I am telling you here is basically the same. You want to begin the process by having everything you need in place. You will need a towel. There will be water involved and you'll probably get water on something. You will need a bucket for the water that spills out of your housing, and also as a place to put your icky old filter cartridge once you get it removed from the housing. You'll need your filter housing wrench, and of course some food grade silicon grease to lubricate the O-ring. Begin the process by shutting off the water supply. There is probably a valve downstream that you'll need to shut off so that water is no longer flowing through this filter housing. Some filter housings have a valve on the head that you can turn to turn the water off. In any case, shut off the water supply, then release the pressure either with a pressure release valve on the housing by pressing this red button, a small burst of pressure to release the pressure, or by turning on a water faucet somewhere in the house. Release the pressure. Now it’s time to remove the cartridge. Take your filter housing wrench, and remove the sump; righty-tighty, lefty-loosy just like any old screw. Now, if you don't have this filter housing wrench, you can use this adjustable strap wrench. You can see that it adjusts to a number of sizes, infinitely variable. Simply put it over your filter sump, tighten it down, and use it to loosen or tighten the sump as the case may be. So remove the filter sump, unscrew it, there is going to be water, pour the water in the bucket, remove your old icky cartridge and now it’s time for o-ring maintenance. Remove the o-ring and inspect it carefully. The o-ring is the only thing that stops this thing from leaking in your house and causing a flood in the middle of the night. Be nice to it. It’s your buddy. Remove it, inspect it. Check for abrasions, cuts, anything that is unusual, and if it does not fit back in the groove, when you put it back in, that means it’s been stretched out and it may not fit any longer and it may need to be replaced. If everything looks ok, take your food grade silicon grease, and generously lubricate the O-ring. You know me, I'm Aquaman, I'm going to tell you for the hundredth time, if you've seen it before, heard it before, do not use anything other than food grade silicon grease on your o-ring. It’s a petroleum o-ring -- petroleum jelly, olive oil, cooking oil -- anything like that is going to penetrate the o-ring and make it swell up, and it’s going to spring a leak. And it’s going to ruin the o-ring. Not a good thing. Food grade silicon grease only. Lubricate the o-ring, put it back in. Also, use this grease to lubricate the threads. Sometimes these things come apart, really hard. I mean, you have to muscle it off of there. That won't be the case if you generously lubricate the threads both on the stump, and on the cap. Vigorously, generously lubricate that. That'll make things a lot easier. It will go together easier, it will come apart easier. Now reinstall your cartridge, make sure you orient your cartridge correctly; many cartridges are simply double open-end cartridges that go in either way, it really doesn't matter, but some cartridges have a specific end that must be up. It will be indicated on the package or the cartridge body itself. Check that, make sure you put it in properly. Install the cartridge, and re-attach the sump to the cap. Do not use the housing wrench to tighten it down. If you do that, you can put too much pressure and you can crush the o-ring. Now that you have the cartridge installed, turn the water supply back on, slowly. You don't want to smash the pressure into this vessel. Slowly turn the pressure back on, and go turn a faucet on and flush the cartridge thoroughly for 15-20 minutes, depending on what kind of cartridge it is. Carbon cartridges will tend to shed little pieces of carbon fines, carbon dust, and that's not nice and you don’t want to drink that, you don't want that in your water. It may require further flushing. Usually it goes away within the first, I suppose, 50-100 gallons, depending on the cartridge type. Other cartridge like this, this is a polyspun. It’s a good idea to flush them no doubt but it’s not as big of a deal. So flush it for 10-15 minutes and you are ready to go. You've changed your cartridge, you've got good pure water, and it’s a beautiful thing. Pure water, from your filter housing, you can feel confident about your safe water, and it can taste good too, especially if it’s a carbon filter. I'm your host Aquaman, and thanks for watching.