Dangers of not changing your fridge filter every 6 months

A common misconception is that if the indicator light does not turn on after 6 months, the filter should not be changed. This can be hazardous to your health. Contaminants are trapped for 6 months and the water that passes through can even come out dirtier than without filter. Make sure you always have clean water and change your filter in time.

Refrigerator water filters use an activated carbon filter media that is certified for use with a limited quantity of water before you need to change the cartridge out. Activated carbon filters out contaminants from water using  adsorption. As the water passes through the filter impurities are  captured by the filter media and adhere to the surface of the carbon.  Once there is no more surface area available to adsorb new contaminants  the filter’s capacity has been reached.

At this point most contaminants in the water will simply flow past the  filter, unless the filter has become clogged by larger particles. However, if a contaminant passing through the filter has a h2er bond with the activated carbon than one that has already been adsorbed, the h2er particle will “push” the weaker one out and take it’s place on the media. So the water leaving the filter could have different contaminants in it than the water that originally entered the filter.