Time to change out the filter cartridge on the 3M Scale Inhibition System installed ahead of the tankless water heater.

While the instructions for this cartridge recommend changing every 3-12 months, I went about 25 months on this first time. My hot water use is fairly low, using at less than 1 therm (29 KWH) of natural gas per month.

I did have a chance to speak with a representative from 3M who reached out to me as a result of this video. He was interested in how I found this system to with with my tankless water heater. In my experience, it does seem to work well and has reduced hard water deposits in my shower.


I also asked him if something like this would work on a refrigerator type ice maker (which I had to replace in 2020 due to hard water deposits) and he said it probably wouldn't do a lot in that application. He had a background in the icemaker business and said the the "white" icemakers in refrigerators work by freezing the entire volume of water in the mold. This leads to minerals being forced out of the water as it freezes. It's these minerals that cause the non-stick coating on those type of icemakers to wear out over time. The Siliphos material mainly works my bonding to dissolved minerals and keeps them from attaching to hot surfaces and instead stay dissolved and in the water. My takeaway was that this product is most useful on a hot water system. It can be used in a whole house application and would help with water deposits forming in things like coffee makers, teapots, etc.


My take is that the biggest "bang for the buck" comes with the AquaPure cartridge feeding the water heater. That way 100% of the water flowing through the cartridge is for the hot water system where the Siliphos treatment is most effective. As these cartridges are fairly expensive, especially if replacing them every 3 months or so, it makes sense to use them where they are most effective. For my coffee/espresso maker, I'm looking into getting more of a commercial type coffee maker water filter for my water dispenser (to replace the generic activated charcoal filter).

3M AP-430SS Hot Water System Protector and AP-431 cartridge:
https://www.aquapurefilters.com/store...


Some pages describing polyphosphates/Siliphos:
http://www.philsplumbing.com/siliphos/#
https://www.filterwaterdirect.com/inf...
https://www.webquestions.co/questions...

Links for AP431 replacement cartridges, US$33.25 retail (Jul2019 price on 3M store):
Genuine 3M cartridges:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Aqua-Pure...
https://www.allfilters.com/wholehouse...
https://amzn.to/2G10KRh

AquaCrest clone, about half the price of the 3M cartridge:
https://amzn.to/2FZojtX

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Intro:
Louisiana Fairytale by Austin Rogers
https://web.archive.org/web/201704022...