Filters for washing machines and their types - which one is better to choose

A washing machine such as an automatic machine is not some part of the interior, but an assistant in household chores.

Such a design is a rather expensive pleasure, and the future owner wants to give her all the necessary conditions for it to serve him for a long time.

One of the main points of longevity is providing the washing machine with high-quality and clean water.

Understanding the reasons

Where does all sorts of dirt come from?

As many already know, the water supply system in Russian cities is not in very good condition, so the water from this system that enters the washing machine contains a certain amount of rust and dirt.

Getting into your washing machine these impurities:

• Can break your solenoid and exhaust valves, as well as drain pump. This happens due to the fact that these impurities are superimposed on the above parts of your washing machine and can disrupt their performance, thereby reducing the life of one or another element.
• clog filter. Mechanical particles get into all layers of the filter and clog it, thereby reducing the pressure at the inlet.
• May affect wash quality. In order for your things to come out of the washing machine clean, you need a large amount of detergent (powder, or conditioner).
  Very dangerous for washing machines and high concentrations of hardness salts.
  During the washing process, these particles sit on the heater, seal and drum.
  As soon as you notice such a deposit, clean it immediately, otherwise it threatens you with a breakdown of all structural components.
• May reduce cutting efficiency, as well as the throughput of pipelines, thereby creating blockages that will increase the load on the pumping device.
• May impair heat transfer from the heating element, which significantly reduces the efficiency of the washing machine and increases the consumption of electrical energy.
  Overheating can damage the heating element.
• Increase the development of corrosion, which contributes to the rapid wear of the elements and reduces their service life.
• Reduce the elasticity of seals (rubber), which threatens to depressurize.

Accessories for water treatment

It is possible to get rid of mechanical particles (impurities) only by preliminary purification of water before it enters the washing machine.

In order to reduce the level of hardness and gently protect the washing machine from scale, use special chemicals during the washing process or prepare water in advance - soften it.

To solve such problems, it is necessary to put special cleaning filters on the water inlet.

Coarse filters

In order to reduce the amount of impurities, water must be treated with coarse filters.

One such mesh filter is installed at the inlet to the washing machine, but, unfortunately, the size of the cells of this device, which pass mechanical pollution, is designed only for large particles, which means that small particles pass unhindered.

Manufacturers design filters for the supply of clean and high-quality water. But as a result of a high concentration of impurities, such a filter becomes clogged very quickly.

In such cases, you require additional external pre-filters.

main filter

The best option is the main filter.

Why is the filter called main? Because it serves the main cold water pipeline at the entrance to the apartment. It purifies water from all sorts of contaminants before it enters the apartment.

The best solution to the above problems is to buy mesh filters with a mesh size of 50 - 500 micrometers.

Such filtration is considered good for household needs.

If you need to purify water even more (that is, get water even cleaner than it is and at the same time of good quality), then you should resort to additional purification of water.

In this embodiment, the filter includes sorption filter parts with activated carbon and parts that use other similar principles of operation.

When installing a main filter, additional post-treatment of the incoming water is not required.

If this main filter is not installed at the entrance to your house, then to clean it from mechanical particles, such a filter is mounted in front of the washing machine.

The dimensions will be slightly smaller, and the required cell sizes will be selected according to the recommendation of the manufacturer's company.

In such cases, the design is installed on the outlet of the water supply system, to which the hose (inlet) is directly connected.

Liquid softeners

In order to prevent large scale formation during the process of heating water in a washing machine, I install special softener filters at the inlet of the structure.

Important! The cost of such a special softener filter is small, however, the installation of such a device will require you a lot of time and some money. To install this filter, it is necessary to change the piping, because it is placed in a pipeline break.

Basically, such a filter is installed according to the results of a chemical examination, precisely in the case when the answer is: “increased rigidity”.

Let's be honest, these special softener filters do not particularly reduce the hardness of the water entering the washing structure.

Water softening is the removal of various dissolved hardness salts from it, especially calcite (calcium carbonate).

With the help of special equipment and special processes of biological and chemical treatments, filters purify water.

Household filters cannot do this job. They only reduce the appearance of scale in the washing machine.

To soften water so that it is less hard, magnetic and chemical treatment methods are used.

Washing machine filters based on polyphosphate

The chemical processing method is performed by a polyphosphate filter. Such a filter is made in the form of a transparent container filled with sodium polyphosphate crystals.

As the water passes through this filter, the crystals inside slowly dissolve.

When sodium polyphosphate enters the water, it binds carbonates (the basis of hardness salts) and blocks their path to the heating element and other parts of the washing machine (this also includes a dishwasher).

As a result, the formation of scale on the heating element and other elements of the washing machine is reduced.

The consumer needs to control the level of filling the filter container with sodium polyphosphate crystals and when they will be little replenished.

Polyphosphate filters do not completely treat the water entering the washing machine, because this substance that is in the filter (crystals) makes the water unusable.

Important! Sodium polyphosphate is an inorganic fertilizer that, when it gets into rivers or lakes, causes a sharp growth of algae in them.

So basically, on an industrial scale, this method of dealing with scale is not used.

Such special filters are usually installed in front of the washing structure itself.

The filter cuts into the water supply (into the branch), to which the inlet hose of the washing assistant is attached.

Advice! When buying a washing machine for their apartment, some buyers immediately look at the future installation of softener filters, as well as coarse filters.

For this, two flasks for replaceable cartridges are mounted specially on the water pipe with a special valve, to which the inlet hose is connected.

During installation, such an addition is not particularly expensive, but it will save you from having to change the wiring if the results of the examination are not in a very good position (water analysis).

Magnetic cleaners

The operation of a magnetic filter is based on the effect of a phase transition of a substance under the influence of a magnetic field.

At the moment of treatment with hard water, calcite (calcium carbonate), the concentration of which in the hardness salt exceeds the content in all other substances, when exposed to a magnetic field and a flow of hard water, does not change its chemical composition, but turns into aragonite (another structural form).

The even structure of calcium carbonate is characterized by a large adhesion area. As a result, it is precisely because of this that the substance precipitates on the walls of the washing unit and on the heating elements.

In the structure of aragonite, there is no such flat surface.

Aragonite also forms spatial structures in the centers of crystallization, which do not sit on the walls of washing machines and the heating element, but act on the ionic and molecular levels already with other deposits.

In this case, the scale, which has already settled on the walls of the washing machine, is destroyed, and its particles, also getting into the water, already lose their ability to sit on the walls again.

In this case, the water, after being treated with a magnetic field, is able to clean the walls of the washing machine from various other sediments.

This filter for a washing machine, like the previous ones, does not soften water, but contributes to a kind of barrier against scale and other precipitation when using chemical or mechanical cleaning of the washing structure.

The effectiveness of such filters has so far been confirmed only by the results of scientific laboratories.

Flaws

The use of magnetic filters is a controversial issue due to their disadvantages:

• Used magnets in filter cannot create a high voltage of the magnetic field, and weak will not give a qualitative effect.
  The only way that works is to purchase rare earth magnets, but their price is quite high.
• The effect is lost at high water temperatures.
  Also, the degree of efficiency varies depending on the pressure of the water flow.
  In this case, the simplest and most practical option is electromagnetic filters, which provide a high voltage of the magnetic field due to impulse action.
  However, such devices are used only on an industrial scale; they have not yet been introduced into the household level.

Advantages

The advantages of such special filters for installation in a washing machine:

• Easy installation process.
  It does not require a change in wiring, and is also installed on the supply pipeline.
  Manufacturers have designed magnetic filters with a split housing that are placed on the inlet hose of a washing machine.
• Durability. Even if this filter is used for a long time, the strength of the magnetic field still changes very slowly, and the effect may remain the same for about ten years or even more.
• magnetic filter no cleaning required and service.
• Acceptable cost.