Troubleshooting

What are some of the common problems I might experience ?
Water leaking is the most common. First it's important to identify the source of the leak. All threaded connections should be checked carefully. Water leaking over the top of the square head is probably just vented, depressurized water and will stop after a minute or two. Water leaking from between the head and the cartridge container is probably the result of a misaligned or twisted O ring. Check all around the circumference of the filter to see if the seal is out of position.

My Clean Water Concepts water filter leaks.
Where does it leak ?

1. Over the top of the sump, below the head. Most leaks are of this nature. It's probably caused by a turned or twisted head seal gasket.
2. Check out the inlet or outlet port. This probably is caused by not enough thread seal tape being placed on the threads of the fitting. Unscrew the fitting, clean off the old thread seal tape and rewind the fitting with a liberal amount of tape.
3. Another potential source for leaks in this area is a cracked head. If the fitting is screwed in too tight it may crack the head. This usually happens with a brass or iron pipe fitting. Unfortunately the only solution is to replace the head.
4. From under the top plate, over the head. If your housing is a standard housing this probably means that a bit of dirt is caught between the vent pin o-ring and it's seat. Press and turn the vent button to see if the dirt particle can de dislodged. Sometimes the vent pin o-ring will dry out and crack (can happen in situations where the water system is shut down and drained for an extended period of time). This requires changing the o-ring. A kit is available. If your housing is a deluxe valve-in-head unit (square knob on top of head), then this may not be a leak at all. It may simply be excess water discharged when turning the valve from ON to OFF. This is harmless and will evaporate in a few days. If the leak is constant then it may mean that the o-ring seals for the valve are leaky and need to be replaced. A kit is available. Contact us for more help on this one.

I installed a new filter cartridge and my water is cloudy or milky.
Draw a glass of water; let it stand on the counter and watch. If the cloudiness or milkiness slowly disappears from the bottom up; this is nothing more than the trapped air in a new cartridge. A new cartridge contains millions of tiny pockets of air. Initially the water pushes these air bubbles into your water. Run the water for a few minutes and the cloudiness disappears.

How do I lubricate washers and O rings?
At Clean Water Concepts we use a food grade silicone based lubricant on all seals. Olive oil or vegetable oil can be used as well..

I have a Counter Top Water Filter and no water comes out of the diverter.
A build-up of lime scale in the interior can cause the diverter to malfunction. Soak the diverter in vinegar to loosen the lime scale.

I just cleaned my ceramic cartridge and I'm not getting a good flow of water.
Remove the cartridge and reassemble the unit and turn on the faucet. If it flows slowly then the cartridge needs to be cleaned or replaced.

How do I clean a ceramic element?
Use agreen 3M Scotch Brite pad. During cleaning, some of the ceramic cartridge body must be scraped away to remove trapped sediment and expose a fresh, clean ceramic surface. If the flow of the cleaned ceramic cartridge is not as good or almost as good as the flow of the new cartridge then the cartridge may not have been cleaned well enough. Try cleaning the cartridge again with a firmer hand and more scrubbing to ensure that some of the ceramic body is removed.

If the flow rate does not improve, you need a new cartridge.