If your fridge comes with an ice maker — or even stacked with a water and ice dispenser — then it also comes with a very important upkeep responsibility. In order to ensure clean, safe water to come out of the fridge, you’ll need to maintain an up-to-date water filter. One important aspect of preparing a fridge filter is flushing it. This essentially means running water through it to get all of the kinks and loose carbon particles out of the way before you use it.
Why Flush a Fridge Filter?
Most all fridge filter contain a carbon-based cylindrical block. Why carbon? Carbon absorbs bacteria and particles in the water, acting like a sort of net as water passes through the filter block. If the filter hasn’t been flushed, you’ll see the little loose bits of carbon that escape. Now, the little pieces of carbon won’t be harmful, but for all purposes of having smooth, clear water, you’ll want to take care of this before you install the filter and carry on. It’s not uncommon for folks to replace a fridge filter without flushing and then finding gray-tinted water and thinking that their filter is a dud. Before tossing out a perfectly good filter and buying a new one only to find the same problem right off the bat, knowing how to flush your fridge immediately can change the water that the filter produces pretty immediately.
How to Flush Your Filter
While it often goes overlooked when replacing a new fridge filter, it’s a small step that can make a real difference in your water right off the bat. So, what does flushing a filter entail? It’s actually easy and is done after you’ve installed the filter to your fridge.
There are two different routes to take, depending on whether your fridge has an icemaker or if it has an icemaker and a water dispenser. If your fridge has an icemaker only, then you can properly and adequately flush a new filter by running the icemaker and dumping out the first two batches of ice. After that, all of your ice should be clear and carbon free.
If your fridge has both an icemaker and a water dispenser, you can run two gallons worth of water through the water filter to get all the kinks and extra loose carbon bits out of the filter.
