Think about how much water you drink in a lifetime. Eight glasses a day adds up to thousands of liters over the years. Even tiny amounts of contaminants accumulate in your body over that time.
Since most of us grab water straight from the fridge dispenser, the question matters: how well do refrigerator water filters actually work? Most refrigerators come with a built-in filter or can easily accommodate one. If you’re wondering whether you even need one, read our guide on whether you can use a refrigerator without a water filter.
Refrigerator water filters are effective at removing common contaminants like chlorine, lead, and sediments from your tap water. The level of protection depends on the filter type: activated carbon handles chlorine and particles, UV light kills bacteria and germs, and reverse osmosis removes dissolved chemicals and heavy metals. Regular maintenance is critical to keep any filter working properly.
How Dirty Is Your Refrigerated Water?
Water in most developed and developing countries has already been treated to remove harmful bacteria and contaminants. This treatment happens in specially designated water treatment plants before the water is supplied to your house through a pipeline network.
Since water has been treated at the plant, people often get a false impression that the tap water entering their refrigerator is completely safe. However, water from treatment plants may still not be considered healthy enough for consumption.
It’s known that tap water can have a wide range of sediments, chemicals, and germs that can escape the filtration process at water treatment plants. This initial treatment is necessary, but we can always take further steps to make sure the water we drink is of the highest quality.
Since we consume such large quantities of water, it becomes our responsibility to make sure every drop of water we drink is safe and of good quality. This is where the need for a refrigerator water filter arises, to make sure that the tap water you drink is of superior quality.
So let’s look at the different types of contaminants that a basic refrigerator filter is effective against.
Common Contaminants in Tap Water
A basic refrigerator filter is effective against several types of contaminants. Here is what you should know about each one.
| Contaminant | Source | Health Risk | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | Old pipes, solder, fixtures | Brain damage in children, kidney and heart problems in adults | High |
| Chlorine | Water treatment disinfection | Alters taste and smell of water, minor health effects | Low |
| Sediments & Debris | Cracked pipes, old municipal systems | Rust, stones, and particles in water | Medium |
| Nitrates & Heavy Metals | Industrial waste, chemical runoff | Long-term health effects from accumulation | High |
| Bacteria & Pathogens | Contaminated water sources | Fever, nausea, digestive problems | High |
Lead
The Flint Water Crisis brought the issue of lead in drinking water back into the spotlight. Even though lead was the main contaminant, people across the country realized that their drinking water could be contaminated with several chemicals or germs.
Through various similar events in the past, we know that drinking water can easily be contaminated by even a single harmful source. This harmful contamination can hurt the health of a large number of residents before people even realize the cause of the problem.
During the Flint water crisis, over 100,000 residents were exposed to a water supply contaminated with lead. Lead is toxic and has been linked to several physical ailments in both the short and longer term.
Some direct impacts of lead poisoning include impaired brain development in children and infants. In adults, lead is known to cause heart and kidney problems as well as high blood pressure.
Good quality refrigerator filters use activated carbon or charcoal to remove lead before the water from the refrigerator is consumed.
Chlorine
Chlorine is primarily used in water treatment plants as an effective way to get rid of unwanted contaminants. Chlorination is the most common and widely used method of disinfecting water to make it suitable for drinking.
Besides water treatment plants, we’re all very familiar with the use of chlorine to keep our swimming pools in usable condition. While chlorine in water doesn’t have any big adverse health effects, it tends to alter the taste and smell of water.
Thus we can see that while chlorine has its important function in disinfecting water, we still wouldn’t want traces of chlorine in the water that we finally drink. Refrigerator water filters are most effective in removing traces of chlorine that may remain in drinking water.
Sediments and Debris
Water can have a whole list of other contaminants, usually in trace amounts. Physical debris and sediments like stones and rust are rare in developed countries, but there are still instances of this happening.
Physical sediments can enter your pipes even after the water has left the treatment plant and before it enters your home. Simple issues like a cracked pipe can lead to sediments entering the water before it reaches your house.
An old or poorly maintained municipal piping system can aggravate the problem of water containing small particles and rust.
Other Chemicals
Chlorine and lead are considered the main chemical contaminants of tap water. However, industrial waste and chemical runoffs can have a devastating effect on drinking water even in small quantities.
They tend to leave trace amounts of chemicals and organic compounds that can have long-term effects on our health. Some of the other chemicals that can enter drinking water are nitrates, organic compounds, and heavy metals.
Over a long period, even a small quantity of contamination with these chemicals can affect your health simply because of the large amounts of water we consume.
Bacteria and Germs
Bacteria and germs are other contaminants that can be minimized through the use of a refrigerator water filter. There’s always a chance that drinking water can be contaminated with pathogens.
Pathogens are germs, bacteria, and viruses. While a lot of bacteria can be harmless, there are still certain strains of bacteria that can harm your health.
Some harmful pathogens can cause fever, nausea, and digestive problems. UV water filters are highly effective in eliminating these pathogens from your drinking water.
The Workings of a Refrigerator Filter
Refrigerator water filters use different technologies to clean your water. Each method targets different types of contaminants.
Activated Carbon
The most widely used material in any filtration system is activated carbon or charcoal. The main property of activated carbon that helps it filter is its ability to absorb materials.
As water passes through the carbon layer, it removes different sediments and chemical compounds. Activated carbon and charcoal can even remove any odor or unpleasant tastes in water.
The effectiveness of carbon and charcoal is the main reason it forms the base of any good filtration system. One reason for the need for regular maintenance is that this carbon layer acts like a sponge.
Over time and with frequent use, this layer gets more and more saturated with sediments and impurities, reducing its effectiveness. If the carbon layer gets completely saturated, the water won’t get filtered.
In some cases, particles that were trapped in the carbon filter earlier may recontaminate the water before it’s dispensed. This is one of the key dangers of not changing your refrigerator water filter on schedule.
Activated carbon forms the base filter material that needs to be changed regularly to make sure it remains an effective filtration medium. If you need help with this process, see our guide on changing the water filter on a GE refrigerator.
Activated carbon is the foundation of most refrigerator water filters. It effectively removes chlorine, sediments, and unpleasant tastes through absorption. However, the carbon layer becomes saturated over time and must be replaced regularly to prevent previously trapped contaminants from re-entering your water.
UV Light
Higher-end refrigerator filters may feature a UV light system to clean your water. UV light has emerged as a very effective way of getting rid of bacteria and germs that can enter a water source.
You can use a refrigerator filter with UV light to eliminate bacteria, germs, and even some viruses without using any chemicals to treat the water. Most UV light filters claim to have 99.9% effectiveness in removing germs and bacteria.
One thing to know: a UV filter won’t remove sediments and chemicals that have contaminated the water. UV light filters work best to eliminate pathogens that are microscopic and invisible to the naked eye.
For physical filtration of particles and sediments, you’ll still require an activated carbon or charcoal layer. Like other filters, the UV filter also needs maintenance because the UV light bulb may need to be changed periodically.
Reverse Osmosis Filters
Reverse osmosis (RO) filters are often used in conjunction with activated carbon to remove additional contaminants that could have entered your water. Usually, RO is used only in areas known to have water with higher quantities of chemicals like arsenic, nitrates, copper, and lead.
These filters use an additional membrane layer to filter out chemicals from water. Since the RO process can remove sodium from water, it can also be used in communities that receive hard water.
An RO system is a great way to improve the effectiveness of your existing refrigerator water filter. You can learn more about countertop reverse osmosis filters for a convenient setup.
| Filter Type | Best For | Removes | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activated Carbon | General filtration | Chlorine, sediments, tastes, odors, lead | Replace carbon filter every 6 months |
| UV Light | Pathogen elimination | Bacteria, germs, viruses (99.9%) | Replace UV bulb periodically |
| Reverse Osmosis | Heavy chemical contamination | Arsenic, nitrates, copper, lead, sodium | Replace membrane layer when saturated |
What the Filter Actually Does
The basic function of a refrigerator water filter is to clean and filter water. You take water with pollutants on one end, and after the entire filtration process, you get clean water dispensed from the refrigerator.
Depending on the type of filter system, the speed of dispensing water can vary greatly. This isn’t a big factor, but on a daily basis you would prefer a refrigerator water filter that gives you water quickly but effectively removes any contaminants.
Let’s go through a few of the primary functions of a refrigerator water filter.
Removes Particles
Sediments and debris are some of the most basic things that you need to get out of your water. If you see a glass of water with small visible particles in it, your first instinct is to throw it out.
The visual of muddy water entering a filtration system and coming out clean best describes any water filtration system. Similarly, in a refrigerator filter system, water that may contain sediments and debris goes through the filter and comes out clean.
The sediments and particles get trapped in the layers of the filter, giving you the end product of clean water.
Reduces Chemicals
We’ve seen that water can have several chemicals in it that may need to be removed. Some of these chemicals like chlorine are deliberately introduced to disinfect the water at the water treatment plants.
Other chemicals like lead, nitrates, and organic compounds may enter the water due to a range of reasons including broken pipes, industrial waste, and other sources of contamination. Understanding the different water filter cartridge types can help you pick the right one for your contaminants. The effectiveness of chemical removal varies greatly from one filter to the next.
However, the common consensus is that most filters have the mechanisms to deal with chlorine and lead pollutants. These two chemicals are the ones that are most likely to be found in water that has been contaminated.
A reverse osmosis filter is better equipped to deal with the removal of chemicals than a simple activated carbon filter.
Alters Taste and Smell
One of the main reasons people need to change the taste and smell of water is the chlorine that leaves a distinct taste and odor. Even though chlorine isn’t very harmful from a health standpoint, you wouldn’t want the taste and smell to linger in the water you drink daily.
Activated carbon usually does a good job of removing these effects of chlorine from drinking water. This is the reason why even the most basic filters will usually succeed at chlorine filtration.
A reverse osmosis filter can also remove excess sodium from the water you drink. This is good because it changes the taste of hard water, which many people dislike, especially if you’re not used to it.
Removes Bacteria and Germs
The last microscopic pollutants of water are bacteria and germs. These small living organisms can be harmless, but sometimes they do cause sickness including a few water-borne diseases.
Chlorine is used as a disinfectant at the water treatment plants. However, there are several instances where water gets contaminated before it reaches your refrigerator.
Again, the effectiveness of bacteria and germ removal will vary greatly from filter to filter. The best filters to deal with pathogens in water are UV light filters.
These filters are very well equipped to deal with these types of pollutants. They claim to eliminate almost all pathogens that can contaminate your drinking water.
The Cost and Quality Factor
Having gone through the different contaminants and types of filters, it’s clear that even in a developed country your tap water quality has scope for improvement. Everyone would like to have a refrigerator water filter in their house.
Let’s be honest, there’s no harm in having an additional layer of safety before we drink our water. The refrigerator water filter only has an upside.
However, we see that some people may still not use refrigerator water filters. There are several reasons why a person may feel like the refrigerator water filter is a luxury and not a necessity.
So let’s look at some of the basic factors that have an impact on the actual use of a refrigerator water filter in a home.
Cost
A refrigerator water filter is an additional cost that most people don’t consider when buying a new fridge. Even if your refrigerator comes with a built-in filtration system, it may still require regular maintenance that involves spending money. For some, a water filter for an apartment may be a more practical solution.
If your refrigerator lasts for over 10 years, additional annual spending of $50 on filters can add up to over 70% of the original cost. Cost can be considered the main reason why a person decides against installing a refrigerator water filter.
Regular Maintenance
You want to make sure the refrigerator water filter you use is constantly giving you its best results. This is the reason regular maintenance is necessary.
As discussed earlier, regular maintenance translates into an additional cost that can add up over the life of your filter. In addition to this, you’ll also need to learn how to replace the filter materials yourself to make sure its smooth functioning.
When activated carbon or charcoal gets saturated, the filtering ability greatly diminishes. A completely saturated carbon filter can cause previously removed contaminants to re-enter the water, defeating its whole purpose.
A UV refrigerator water filter also needs maintenance. This usually involves the periodic change of the UV light bulb used to kill germs and bacteria.
In a reverse osmosis filter, you’ll need to change the special membrane layer when it gets saturated. This is similar to the carbon layer that regularly needs to be changed.
Quality and Type
With refrigerator water filters, certification is of utmost importance. Simply put, you want the water filter with the best certification at the lowest cost.
Most water filters have their certification displayed, and distributors like Amazon have made it mandatory that certification be listed. The leading standard is the NSF rating from the National Sanitation Foundation.
The NSF rating is the most important thing to check before you buy your refrigerator water filter. Many big brands have pre-installed filtration systems that are generally reliable and only require regular maintenance costs like replacing the carbon filter.
Using the built-in system also saves you from the hassle of trying to find the right filter type to fit your refrigerator. When you buy a new filter, you’ve to check compatibility with your fridge, from the brand to the exact model number.
This leaves room for mismatch at the time of purchase.
Confusing model codes and NSF rating numbers can be two more reasons why consumers delay or choose not to purchase a refrigerator water filter.
Availability of Filters
Refrigerator water filters are usually widely available without any hassle. You can go back to the original refrigerator manufacturer and ask for a filter, which is the most straightforward option.
The refrigerator manufacturers, however, may charge a premium price for their in-house water filters. The other option is to purchase a water filter manufactured by another company.
You can get these online through e-commerce portals or at different dealership stores across the country. As mentioned before, you need to check the rating of the filter to understand its effectiveness.
Lower-priced models may seem tempting, but they’re often less effective, thus defeating the entire purpose of having a refrigerator water filter. You need to balance the cost, rating, and quality when you purchase a refrigerator water filter.
Conclusion
We hope we answered your question on how well refrigerator water filters work. A refrigerator water filter is a necessity, especially if your locality doesn’t get water that’s completely safe to drink.
Even in developed countries, refrigerator water filters are effective in removing physical sediments and chemicals like chlorine that may still contaminate tap water before it enters your refrigerator. Different pollutants that can contaminate the water you get from your refrigerator are chemicals like lead and chlorine, sediments like debris and rust, and pathogens like bacteria and germs.
Activated carbon and charcoal are the most commonly used materials to filter water. UV light and reverse osmosis filters are more advanced systems that can provide additional safety as for providing safe drinking water.
Bottom line: refrigerator water filters may be looked at as an unnecessary additional cost. But at the end of the day, they’re effective in making sure that the water you drink is safe and of superior quality.
Refrigerator water filters work well for their intended purpose. Activated carbon filters handle chlorine, lead, and sediments effectively. UV light filters add protection against bacteria and germs. Reverse osmosis systems provide the most full filtration for heavy chemicals. Always check the NSF rating before purchasing, and replace your filters on schedule to maintain effectiveness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every 6 months or about 200 to 300 gallons is the standard. Here's why it matters: a saturated carbon filter doesn't just stop working, it can actually release contaminants it previously captured back into your water. Check your fridge manual for the exact schedule.
Standard carbon filters can't handle bacteria or viruses. For that, you'd need a UV light system, which claims 99.9% effectiveness against germs and bacteria. The ideal setup is a carbon filter paired with UV purification since the carbon handles chemicals and sediments while the UV takes care of pathogens.
Without question. Even a basic filter removes chlorine, lead, and sediments, and replacement filters run about $50 a year. That's a fraction of what most families spend on bottled water. When you think about the contaminants that build up in your body over years of drinking unfiltered water, the investment pays for itself.
It's a certification from the National Sanitation Foundation that tells you exactly how well a filter removes specific contaminants. It's the single most important thing to check before buying. Standard 42 covers taste and odor, while Standard 53 covers the serious health-related stuff like lead removal.
