How Does A Refrigerator Determine When The Water Filter Needs To Be Replaced

I would venture a guess that @Tester101's suspicion about your floaties coming from your glass (unrinsed soap, dust, etc.) may be heading down the right path. I would try rinsing a glass, scrubbing it with a new sponge or clean washcloth, wiping it dry with a clean towel (not paper towel, as this may leave pieces of paper behind), and then refilling it. @NiallC's comment about asking for a water report from your municipal water supply is a pretty good alternative, but doesn't factor in anything that may come from the pipes between them and you. Most health departments will do water testing, so you could always fill a bottle and take it in.

Beyond that, if you really have to know what's in the water, your only real solution to absolutely know with 100% certainty (technically, unless you watch the health department do the tests, and can verify their results, you can't KNOW that they're right...but I'd probably just accept it) is to get testing kits for this, that, and the other thing (that was just the first page offering a wide range of kits that I found), that operate similar to what you might use for pool water. Depending on the sensitivity levels, you may pick up on things like trace amounts of chlorine...but of course this is going to get back into the more expensive end of things, as those kits aren't cheap (Grainger's seem to run around $40-$50 and up...it's about $20 for their cheapest, which is testing for copper, on that first page of results).

You could pick up a pool test kit, which will cover a couple of parameters (chlorine, calcium, hardness, etc.), but it's not going to cover everything and may not operate in the range you need to identify your floaties...it's designed primarily to help you maintain clear-looking pool water that you're not drinking, not crystal clear tap water.

So really:

• Ask for report from municipal water supply

• Take in sample to health department

• If you're still paranoid and want to know what it is, buy test kits

• If you just want to get rid of the floaties, filter, filter, filter, and make sure your dishes aren't the source

I find with mine that I notice slower flow and reduced pressure which is usually when I change it. Typically this is in the 6-8 month range, but as you mentioned it really depends on your water quality.

I don't believe bacteria growth is an issue but overtime the filtering ability will diminish along with the pressure and flow.

I think ultimately it is just easiest to replace on a fixed schedule. In the grand scheme of costs, if you change it 1 month earlier then you should, over the lifespan of your fridge you are probably only changing it a handful of extra times.

If your fridge has a built-in ice maker then the reduced pressure might be more of an issue - if you notice small ice cubes then this could be a sign its time to replace the filter.