It’s only hygienic that you regularly change your refrigerator’s water filter. You don’t have to wait for your drinking water to taste stale before replacing your filter. The longer it remains unchanged, the more it becomes a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Also, old carbon loses optimum filtration that it may fail to trap contaminants from water. It is best then to replace the filter once a year, but if you are a family with young children, changing every six months is safe. It’s wise to learn how to change the water filter in the Whirlpool French door refrigerator, for example.
How your Refrigerator Filter Protects you?
Refrigerator filters typically use sediment and carbon filtration to purify and remove contaminants from water. These contaminants are drawn to the carbon in the refrigerator filter, not through absorption, but through a process referred to as ‘adsorption.’ Whereas absorption is all about the contaminants soaking into the carbon like a sponge, adsorption is sticking to the surface of the carbon, like a magnet.
Lead, chlorine, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which cause most water odors, are the major contaminants that a refrigerator filter is made to remove. These contaminants are usually accumulated by water from old pipes, runoffs, and wherever water passes through before it can be accessed from a faucet. Here are more details about the major water contaminants:
Lead
Before the passing of the Safe Water Drinking Act, old pipes used to be made of lead and lead soldered copper. The lead was widely used, especially in paint production, plumbing, and even cosmetics. It was only later that lead was ruled out as toxic and harmful, causing reproductive problems, premature pregnancies, and damages in the body’s major organs and tissues. Water that passes through lead pipes collect these unsafe contaminants and thus have to be filtered out.
Chlorine
Water is treated with chlorine to disinfect it from disease-causing bacteria. While chlorine helps purify water, so water-borne diseases like typhoid fever and dysentery may be avoided, it makes water have an unpleasant taste. Filtration then helps eliminate this, so the water becomes more refreshing.
Chlorine and Ammonia Result in a Byproduct Called Chloramine
This is typically used by municipalities to treat water, despite being awful to the taste, because it is more sustainable than chlorine. Chlorine can only be effective at a certain distance and may lose its disinfecting properties, the longer the water travels through pipes and systems.
Refrigerator filters work by letting the carbon separate the chlorine from ammonia and convert the chlorine to chloride, resulting in drinking water that doesn’t taste like the pool.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Water brings herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, and similar chemicals when it passes through agricultural and industrial runoff. These toxic chemicals are called VOCs. Most VOCs are carcinogenic and cause damages to the liver, the kidneys, and major bodily organs.
Steps on How to Change Water Filter in Whirlpool French Door Refrigerator
Now that you’ve known some of the harmful contaminants that your refrigerator filter protects you from, here are steps on how to change the water filter in Whirlpool French door refrigerator:
- Locate the indication light. This is usually on top of the inside part of the refrigerator door. If you see a green light, then there is no need to change the filter. If the indicator light turns red, it’s time to replace the filter.
- Locate the filter knob. This is usually at the bottom of the refrigerator, somewhere in the grill.
- Make a quarter turn with the knob counterclockwise to unlock the filter. Retrieve the old filter.
- Replace the old filter with a new one and insert it in place.
- Make a quarter turn clockwise to fasten and lock the knob.
- Reset the indication light by repeatedly pressing and releasing the switch for some ten seconds until it turns green.
- The indication light will sometimes turn orange even with a water filter. Bring it back to green by making a long press on the water filter button for about three seconds.
For best care, use only Whirlpool filters and make the most of an accredited Whirlpool technician’s services. However, it is understood that original Whirlpool filters may be a bit pricey, and a dedicated Whirlpool technician may also be over your budget. In that case, you may opt for other filter brands available in the market and other unaccredited persons. But be forewarned that you may run the risk of not getting your money’s worth in the long run. Explore your options. Here’s how to learn more about cleaning appliances.
Conclusion
Trust that refrigerator filters do their work efficiently to reduce sediments, improve water taste, and remove odors from what you drink. However, the filtration that your refrigerator provides will not be able to soften water. Softening water removes the minerals present in water, like calcium, magnesium, and other metal cations.
Knowing how to change the water filter in the Whirlpool French door refrigerator may not be enough to ensure your drinking water is safe. It is still best to do your homework about where your water comes from, filter at source, like from your tap, before transferring it to your fridge. This way, your Whirlpool refrigerator will only do the final stages of filtration, so you’re assured of purer, clearer, fresher drinking water.