When you open the box, your new filter is white. But when you open the housing to replace it after a year, you may be shocked! Sometimes it is dark brown or black, slimy or mucky. A common reaction is “Yuck, does this mean I have been drinking this?” And the answer is NO!
What you see is what you are NOT drinking! Let me explain: What you are seeing is the sediment that has been removed by the filter. With Multipure, the water goes through the filter from the outside to the center before you drink it. The brown color on the outside indicates that the filter has done its job and you have been protected. When you change the old filter, you will dump out the water in the container, but no need to be concerned if that water appears murky. By the same reasoning, there is no need to scrub the walls of the housing clean; after all, they are all BEFORE the water goes through the filter.
One more thing to consider: Most contaminants other than sediment are invisible and colorless. Thus dissolved contaminants like chlorine, chemicals and lead cannot be seen when you change your filter. So even if a filter LOOKS clean when you change it, all that is telling you is that your tap water is low in sediment. The filter has still protected you by filtering out all those invisible contaminants. That’s why you should change the filter on schedule regardless of the color of the old filter. Some people wait until the filter’s flow rate slows down, but that can also be a misleading indicator. Do it once a year, on the average, by the calendar.