Store Whale Aquasource filter over winter and use again?

[dutyhog]

I fitted a Whale Aquasource filter last May to one of our sink taps. It certainly improved the water taste, including in hot drinks. But we didn't get much use from it over the sailing season. I removed it yesterday after having drained the system last month.

I read in an Amazon review "In winter I remove the filter, bring it home, back flush it, store it full of water and use it for a second season." Is that reasonable? Would it be likely to remain active for next season? I would have thought it better to store dry to slow down any chemical or biological activity.

 

[Champagne Murphy]

Good question. We’ve got a Jabsco filter but the same query applies

 

[lpdsn]

I certainly get a few season's use out of an AquaFilta cartridge, but I don't drain the system annually.

I believe the active ingredient is Silver so someone like VicS might be able to give more info on the chemistry and whether drying it has an affect.

 

[VicS]

I fitted a Whale Aquasource filter last May to one of our sink taps. It certainly improved the water taste, including in hot drinks. But we didn't get much use from it over the sailing season. I removed it yesterday after having drained the system last month.

I read in an Amazon review "In winter I remove the filter, bring it home, back flush it, store it full of water and use it for a second season." Is that reasonable? Would it be likely to remain active for next season? I would have thought it better to store dry to slow down any chemical or biological activity.

The instructions from Whale for caravans reads

To drain the filter for winterization

Open all taps in the caravan
Open the drain valve
Tilt caravan so drain plug is lowest
Let the water run out of the drain valve​

Why not do the same . Drain the system, leave the filter in place

 

[[70521]]

When I bought my previous boat the filter was damaged, but usable, so I took it to a local Caravan and Camping shop. The nice man behind the till said they stopped making those about 20 years ago - nobody died because of the old filter! A new one was purchased and is now on that boat.

 

[thinwater]

How do you determine if the filter is still useable? First, ask yourself what it is doing for you. Most people don't actually know what they expect a filter to do. Maybe it's to make the water safer, or to taste better. Ask what it is removing and they mumble.

Particles. If it removing dirt it will plug. But a unless your tanks are just horrendous, the dirt settles out there. If the sink filter is clogging, you've got some cleaning to do.

Bugs. This is a granulated carbon filter It will NOT remove any manner of microbes. It has a little silver in it, to control growth when not flowing, but not enough to have any effect on flowing water. It needs the silver because...

Chlorine. Carbon is very good at removing chlorine. The chlorine burns the carbon and the result is salt and Co2. However, this means there is no chlorine to kill any bugs that are in your tank.

Taste. Yes for chlorine. Other things... not so much. Generally the effectiveness fades pretty quickly. If the bad taste was skunky water due to low levels of sulfur, the carbon can make it worse, by allowing bugs to convert it to H2S.

The truth is most of us don't need it for safety. Taste is a personal matter. There is also a good chance the filter isn't doing anything useful.

As I said, do you know what you want it to do, and can you measure that? If it is taste, change it according to when you notice a difference. That said, if it is at the faucet, most bad tastes start frm things growing in the tank, so clean and chlorinate that first.

 

[GrahamM376]

The truth is most of us don't need it for safety. Taste is a personal matter. There is also a good chance the filter isn't doing anything useful.

As I said, do you know what you want it to do, and can you measure that? If it is taste, change it according to when you notice a difference. That said, if it is at the faucet, most bad tastes start frm things growing in the tank, so clean and chlorinate that first.

The only useful thing ours does is remove the antiseptic taste from sun baked hose pipes. It stays in place until the water starts tasting "iffy", usually a bit over a year. Instructions about draining/removing may have more to do with potential for caravans freezing in winter.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I replace my Whale Aquasource every three years or so. It has never occurred to me to do anything special to it over winter - what's going to happen to it?

 

[thinwater]

The only useful thing ours does is remove the antiseptic taste from sun baked hose pipes. It stays in place until the water starts tasting "iffy", usually a bit over a year. Instructions about draining/removing may have more to do with potential for caravans freezing in winter.

Yes, freezing. That's all. Some growth is possible, but probably not worth worrying about. Less than a few weeks unused in the summer, because it is cold.