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Maintaining your Star Water Filter® water filter
Simple, regular maintenance helps limit limescale and sediment build-up, preserve a good filtration flow rate and keep your Star Water Filter® system in good working condition.
How often should you maintain your system?
The maintenance frequency mainly depends on water hardness and the amount of limescale, sediment or particles it contains.
As a general guide, maintenance every 2 to 3 months is usually suitable under normal conditions. With particularly hard water or water containing more sediment, an interval of 1 to 2 months may be preferable.
What signs indicate that maintenance is needed?
Visible deposits inside the chambers, limescale around the tap or filters, an unusual reduction in flow rate or a tap beginning to leak are useful signs that maintenance may be required.
There is therefore no need to wait for a fixed date: adapt the maintenance frequency to your water and to the actual condition of your system.
One essential rule for the filters
Ultimate Star Filter® elements must never be cleaned with vinegar, soap, detergent, household cleaner or any other cleaning product.
Only clean water should be used to maintain the filters. Products used to clean the chambers or tap must never come into contact with the filters.
Chambers
Clean the chambers and remove deposits
During use, limescale or sediment may build up on the inside walls of the chambers. These deposits are normal and can be removed during routine maintenance.
Always remove the filters from the upper chamber before using vinegar or any other product to clean the chambers.
Upper chamber
- Remove the filters and place them aside in a clean location.
- Prepare a mixture of approximately 50% lukewarm water and 50% household vinegar.
- Clean the inside of the chamber with a soft sponge.
- Do not use the abrasive side of a sponge on stainless steel, as it may scratch the surface.
- For more persistent limescale marks, pure household vinegar may be applied, left to work for a few minutes and then rinsed away.
- Rinse the chamber thoroughly with clean water before reassembly.
Lower chamber
Clean the lower chamber in the same way. Remove the tap beforehand so that both the chamber and tap can be cleaned properly.
Tap
Clean the tap regularly
Over time, limescale or sediment may build up inside the tap. Significant deposits can interfere with its operation and may contribute to small leaks.
- Unscrew the tap from the lower chamber.
- Place it in the open position, as if water were flowing.
- Turn it upside down and pour household vinegar inside.
- Leave it to work for a few hours.
- Then rinse thoroughly under running water.
- If limescale remains, repeat the process.
If necessary, the tap can also be completely immersed for a few hours in a mixture of water and vinegar, then thoroughly rinsed before reassembly. If you have a level tap, you can remove the glass tube and the ball by unscrewing the cap, allowing all the parts to soak.
Filters
Clean the filter surface if the flow rate decreases
A reduction in flow rate does not necessarily mean that the filters need to be replaced immediately. Limescale, sediment or particles may gradually accumulate on their outer surface and restrict the passage of water.
Use only clean water for this operation. Never allow the filters to come into contact with vinegar, soap, detergent or household cleaning products.
- Remove the filters from the upper chamber.
- Rinse their outer surface under clean water.
- Gently rub the entire surface with a clean, soft sponge, without using an abrasive side.
- Pay slightly more attention to areas with visible deposits, without scraping into or damaging the surface.
- Small amounts of black residue may appear on the sponge during cleaning: this comes from the carbon-based outer surface of the filter.
- Rinse the filter with clean water once cleaning is complete.
Restarting
Re-prime the filters before reinstalling them
After cleaning the filters, prime them again so that they are thoroughly saturated with water before being returned to service.
Follow our dedicated guide to priming and starting your Ultimate Star Filter® elements, then reinstall them in the upper chamber according to the assembly instructions.
Replacement
When should the filters be replaced?
The recommended lifespan of Ultimate Star Filter® elements is 3,000 litres per filter, or 6,000 litres for the pair supplied with your system.
This volume is the main reference point for replacement. Actual usage conditions and water quality may nevertheless influence changes in flow rate and filter fouling.
A persistently low flow rate despite correct cleaning and priming is also a useful indicator of the condition of the filters.
Limescale is not filtered like a contaminant
Limescale naturally present in water may accumulate in the chambers, around the tap and on the surface of the filters. Hard water may therefore require more frequent maintenance.
Visible deposits alone do not mean that a filter has reached the end of its lifespan.
Monitor how your system changes over time
The amount of deposits, water quality, volume used and changes in flow rate vary from one household to another.
Regularly observing your system is therefore more useful than applying a maintenance schedule mechanically.