How Often Should I Change My Keurig Water Filter?

Last Updated on August 9, 2023 By Emma W. Thomas

For optimal performance, change your Keurig water filter every 2 months or after brewing 60 tank refills. This helps maintain water quality and extends the life of your machine. Replacing the water filters remove all types of harmful chemicals and bacteria.

What Is The Need To Have A Keurig Water Filter?

It is crucial to have a water filter in your Keurig coffee brewing machine. There are several benefits of having a Keurig water filter.

  • Keurig water filters help remove chlorine chemicals, pesticides, bacterial contaminants, and other heavy metals from water. Thereby, your water starts tasting and smelling better.
  • Keurig water filters come with a cartridge that removes lead from the drinking water and prevents them from entering your body.
  • A water filter helps in reducing the water’s hardness. Water contains particles that build up limescale and gypsum deposits. To prevent that, it is essential to buy a Keurig machine that comes with a water filter.
  • Most importantly, a water filter helps in optimizing coffee production. It means that the water filter removes the element that negatively affects your coffee’s aroma and taste.

The Keurig water filter comes with a charcoal filter system that removes ordinary tap water’s impurities. The filter ensures that your coffee, tea, hot cocoa, etc. are brewed to perfection.

Why Change the Filter in a Keurig Coffee Maker

  1. For Superior Flavor:
    Maintaining a clean filter in a Keurig coffee maker is directly proportional to the quality of the brew. Impurities in the water can negatively impact the taste. Hence, a replaceable filter maintains the depth, strength, and authentic flavor of the brew.
  2. To Remove Impurities:
    Filters are there for a reason. They trap the impurities present in the water to ensure what flows into the coffee mug is nothing but pure and clean water. Not changing these filters allows these impurities to accumulate, which can, in turn, spoil the content.
  3. For Longevity of the Appliance:
    Regular changing of the coffee maker’s filter promotes its longevity. This is because various trapped sediments and minerals can cause build-ups in the system, resulting in its down-period or complete breakdown.
  4. To Prevent Bacterial Build-up:
    Bacteria thrive in moist environments. Not changing the coffee maker’s filter regularly might lead to a plethora of harmful bacteria, which can contaminate the brew.
  5. For Optimal Performance:
    Ultimately, changing the filter of a Keurig coffee maker is pivotal to its optimal performance. The more it’s maintained, the better will be its brewing performance.
Reasons to Change the FilterImplications
Superior FlavorEnsures the depth, strength, and authentic flavor of the brew.
Removal of ImpuritiesKeeps the coffee free from water impurities.
LongevityPrevents damage to the coffee maker from sediment build-ups.
Bacterial Build-upPrevents contamination of the brew.
Optimal PerformanceMaintains the coffee maker’s brewing performance.

In conclusion, changing the filter in a Keurig coffee maker is a simple way to ensure excellent coffee, a cleaner machine, and a longer lifespan for the appliance. Thus, investing in maintaining your Keurig coffee maker’s filter is invaluable in the long run.

Different Varieties Of Keurig Water Filters And Their Uses

The below chart will help you buy different types of Keurig water filter cartridges available in the market.

SL.No.ProductDimensionsCompatibility
1.2-Pack Keurig water filter Cartridge refillsNAK-Cup brewing machines, Keurig 2.0 and Keurig 2.0 K200/50 water filter brewing model
2.6-Pack Keurig water filter Cartridge refillsNAKeurig 2.0, and Keurig K200/50 water filter brewing system
3.Side reservoir Water filter starter kit 2.4″L x 1.7″W x 8.2″HKeurig K-select, K-elite, K-Cafe special edition and K-classic brewing systems, K300/350, K400/450/490, K500/550/590.
4.K-Classic Water filter started kit2.5″L x 1.6″W x 8.3″HK-Cup brewing system(models before Keurig 2.0 brewers)
5.Rear Reservoir Water filter starter kit7.10″L x 2.75″W x 2.76″H  K-Duo essentials single serve and carafe coffee maker, Keurig K-Compact, Keurig K200 Series, Keurig K-Latte coffee makers

What is a Keurig Water Filter?

A Keurig water filter is a small, replaceable item that attaches to the water reservoir on the Keurig machine. It removes any impurities in the water, such as chlorine and particles. The filter does not change the taste of the coffee or tea and can be removed and cleaned at any time. You should replace your filter every 2 months to ensure you’re getting great-tasting coffee and tea while also extending the life of your Keurig machine.

Is It Safe To Use Tap Water In Keurig?

The quality of water used while making a coffee cup determines the taste and flavor of the coffee. Generally, it is not recommendable to use tap water or hard water in the Keurig coffee brewing machine. The reason behind saying so is that tap water contains several minerals such as calcium. The calcium gets built up in your machine, and it becomes a challenging task to decalcify it.

How To Clean Your Keurig Water Filter Reservoir?

People who love coffee can switch to Keurig coffee machines. Apart from its high price, it is equally essential to regularly clean and descales the machine to enjoy having the best-tasting coffee. To descale or decalcify, you need some vinegar. Take 48 oz of undiluted white vinegar in a ceramic mug. Firstly, you should switch off the Auto switch-off function button. Then take out the water reservoir and the filter from the filter housing unit. Empty the water from the reservoir. Pour the undiluted vinegar and place the mug as usual. Instead of putting a K-cup pack inside it, you need to close the brewer and let the Keurig brew a hot cup of vinegar. Once brewing is over, dump the vinegar into the sink.

Continue repeating the process. Once the “Add Water” light turns on, you need to stop. Leave the Keurig to sit for 4 hours, and after that, rinse it thoroughly to get rid of any remaining vinegar.

How To Change The Keurig Water Filter?

Every Keurig coffee brewing machine comes with a small charcoal water filter. The filter purifies the water that goes into your cup of coffee. It is essential to change these filters every two months. There are various steps involved in replacing a Keurig water filter.

  • The first step involves removing the old filter. Now, if you’re a Keurig coffee machine user, you must be aware that the water reservoir is present on the left side of the Keurig brewing machine. You need to pull out the filter unit. The handle portion sticks up in the reservoir, making it easy to remove.
  • Now you need to open the filter holder and take out the used filter. Gently pull down and release the lower filter holder. The old filter comes out easily.
  • The next step is installing the new filter. The filter comes in a pack of two or more. Take the filters out. Soak them in water for about five to ten minutes. This step ensures that the filter cartridge is wholly soaked and submerged in water.
  • Take filters out and rinse them off under tap water. Do the process for 60 seconds.
  • In this step, you also need to rinse the lower filter holder. The filter holder comes with a thin mesh layer present on its bottom side. It ensures that the filter holder becomes free from any dirt or impurities that might have got built up.
  • Now it’s time to take the filter cartridge and place it inside the filter housing unit. Make sure to keep the rounded top side facing up.
  • Once the installation process is complete, you can now turn the replacement dial, located on the filter replacement unit, ahead of two months.

Set the Keurig to remind you of the next filter change. It will send you alerts once two months get completed. The last step includes inserting back the water filter unit into the Keurig water reservoir.

Conclusion

To enjoy the best-tasting cup of coffee, you should keep changing your Keurig water filters every two months. Besides changing the filter, it is essential to decalcify your water reservoir frequently. It will eliminate any bad taste present in the water and keep your Keurig coffee brewing machine healthy and long-lasting.

References:

https://majestycoffee.com/blogs/posts/how-often-to-change-keurig-filter
https://www.thecommonscafe.com/how-often-should-you-change-your-keurig-coffee-filter/