[schwoll]

How does this apply to our water filters inside our refrigerators?

[sithadmin]

It's a risk if you don't swap the filter regularly as recommended by the manufacturer, and everything downstream of the filter (tubing etc) is at elevated risk for biofilm buildup when the filter is stripping out chlorine/chloramine.

It's an even bigger risk, generally, with pitcher/reservoir type systems (e.g. Brita or Pur) that require manual fills, given that they get a lot of environmental exposure. If you use a Brita pitcher for a while and then leave the filter media and pitcher somewhere at room temp for a couple weeks, you can often see evidence of fungal/microbial growth popping out of the bottom of the filter cartridge. It's pretty gross. I've also had a relative end up in the hospital with a pretty severe amoebic infection, which investigators traced back to her Brita filter cartridge she had neglected to change for some time.

[crazygringo]

Sure, but as long as you change the filter every 2-3 months and keep it in the fridge there's nothing to worry about.

And if you leave almost anything out at room temperature for weeks kept moist you're going to see gross growth. It's nothing specific to a filter.

[freitzkriesler2]

Part of the reason I purposefully bypassed the filter on my fridge. The tap water is fine and doesn't need filtering but an old water filter can cause all sorts of nastiness.

[crazygringo]

Well the main point of a Brita filter is to remove the chlorine so you tap water doesn't taste like it was mixed with pool water.

But this is why you replace your Brita filter every 2-3 months and wash the container.

Refrigerator filters generally need to be replaced every 6 months.

It's both because they lose effectiveness and because bacteria builds up inside them.

[ars]

Ice machines are open to the air, water lines in a fridge are not.

And your ice maker is normally always cold.

But clean any parts that do get warm.

[bluSCALE4]

Cheap filters don't do much and the more expensive ones don't remove chlorine.

[sithadmin]

It's really shocking how ineffective things like pitcher filters are when compared to a quality cartridge filter. The pitcher filters really do practically nothing.

[ars]

Yes it will. Any carbon filter will remove chlorine, it's impossible for it not to.

Cheap filters improve taste, not water quality. And in most places that's all you need.

[lnsru]

They are dirty and risk for your health. Unless you clean it carefully every week.