Food Service FAQs

Click here to view a video on how to change your cartridge. 

Or, follow these easy steps:

Change the prefilter once every three months. Or, note the pressure when the prefilter is new and change it when the pressure reading on the prefilter outlet gauge reads 15-20 psi lower than when the filter was installed. When the filter looks like a Mocha Latte or you are experiencing low water flow, it is time to change the prefilter.

Pentair Everpure has been delivering clean, clear and consistent water to businesses for over 80 years, and is a leading manufacturer of innovative, quality and reliable foodservice water treatment products, solutions and services.

Pentair Everpure is one of the most recognized water treatment brands in the foodservice industry, serving well-known companies and local businesses from multi-national quick service and fast casual restaurants, to convenience stores and coffee shops, to the local grocery store and cafe. Hundreds of thousands of operations around the globe trust us to provide them with high quality water.

Pentair Everpure products are tested and certified to the highest standards by NSF International, an independent non-for-profit organization that certifies and writes standards for food, water and consumer goods.

1. Shut off inlet water supply: Locate the black valve with the blue handle. While facing the E-Series Prefilter, this valve is located on the upper left-hand side of the filter. In the open or “water on” position, the valve handle lies along the valve body. In the closed or “water off” position, the blue valve handle is perpendicular to or across the valve body. Turn the valve handle from the open position to the closed position.
2. Release the water pressure from the prefilter: On top of the E-Series Prefilter, there is a red button for the pressure relief valve. When pressing button, some water may come out and spray a little. Press the red button down to relieve water pressure and hold it until water stops flowing out of the pressure relief valve. If you do not relieve the pressure from the Everpure E-Series Housing, it will be difficult to remove the clear filter bowl.
3. Remove the filter bowl: Take the E-Series Filter Wrench with the handle pointing to the right and slide the circular opening over the bottom of the clear filter bowl. Slide the wrench as far up the housing as possible. Move the handle to the left loosening the bowl. This may take some effort to accomplish. Once the bowl is loose, remove the wrench from the bowl and place the wrench in a safe location. Finish removing the clear filter housing with your hands. CAUTION - Keep a firm hold of the clear filter housing because it will be heavy given it holds five to six lbs. of water and a dirty filter. Dropping a clear filter housing full of water and a dirty filter will not only cause a wet mess, but can also crack the filter housing.
4. Dispose of the dirty filter: Take the clear filter housing to a sink to pour out the water and filter. (Ask a store manager which sink to use at your location). Rinse out the clear filter bowl with cold water. After the dirty filter has drained, dispose of it properly.
5. Install new Pentair Everpure EC-210 Prefilter: Remove the wrapper from the new prefilter and dispose of the wrapper. Insert new filter into the clear filter housing with the center of the filter inserted over the ¾”-1” clear plastic nipple in the bottom of the housing.
6. Inspect the O-ring: Inspect the clear filter bowl’s black rubber O-ring for any damage. If O-ring has any tears, cuts, or appears flat instead of round, replace the O-ring.
7. Install the clear filter bowl and new filter: Align the clear filter housing as straight as possible with the black Everpure E-Series Filter Head. Screw the clear filter bowl slowly onto the filter head until hand-tight. Be sure not to cross-thread the filter bowl. It should screw on easily. Over-tightening the clear filter bowl can cause damage to the bowl or O-ring and could result in a leak.
8. Turn the water back on: Slowly open the valve you closed in step one. You will notice the clear filter bowl start to fill with water. Press the water pressure relief valve referenced in step two. Hold down the pressure relief button until water leaks out. This will happen quickly.
9. Inspect prefilter for leaks: Remove any water on the surface of the filter with a paper towel. Observe the filter for any water leaks. If the filter is leaking between the filter head and clear bowl, repeat.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes cause contamination of municipal water systems. Industrial and other chemical leaks can also cause contamination of water supplies. If a water quality emergency occurs in your location, follow your local municipality’s instructions for addressing the emergency. If a boil order is issued, follow that boil order advisory until local authorities notify you that that your water is potable and safe to use.

Contamination due to breaks in the mains, general flooding, or damage to the municipal waterworks itself should not be confused with situations in which contamination by protozoan cysts (e.g. Cryptosporidium, Giardia) is discovered in a water supply. Everpure submicron filters and RO membranes are NSF-Certified for removing such cysts, but not for killing or removing dangerous bacteria and viruses, which are present during the aftermath of a disaster, chemical spill or other water emergency.

When a Boil Water Advisory is issued and it is clear that there has been gross contamination, operators should stop using their filtration or RO system and boil their water as advised by their local authorities, until:

1. The "all clear" is given by local water authorities
2. Plumbing systems in your facility have been disinfected
3. Your Pentair system has been cleaned and any old or contaminated filter or RO cartridges have been replaced with new ones

The following is our recommended procedure for cleaning and start-up of Pentair water treatment systems after a water quality emergency using Pentair filters and RO membranes for commercial foodservice applications.

CLEANUP OF PENTAIR SYSTEMS: When safe water is available, sanitize all water-using equipment with an approved disinfectant such as diluted chlorine bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite). The recommended dosage is 100-200 mg/L chlorine. Fresh bleach has about 50 mg of chlorine in each mL, or about 500 mg in a capful. Mix four capfuls (an ounce) in a 2-1/2 gallon bucket of water, which makes about 200 mg/L. Add a few drops of cleaning concentrate (e.g. dish detergent) to this solution and use it to clean external surfaces.

Sanitize unexposed, interior plumbing surfaces using a Pentair Everpure JT Sanitizing/Flushing Cartridge. This is an empty housing which can be filled with any cleaning or sanitizing solution and then be inserted into Everpure-branded filter heads. When the flow of water resumes, the disinfectant will feed into the lines. When a strong chlorine smell is evident at the closest outlet, stop the flow and leave the sanitizing solution to soak for at least 30 minutes. When sanitization is complete, remove the flushing cartridge and install new, unused filters or membrane cartridges. Rinse the equipment by flushing water through the system as directed in your system’s Installation and Operation manual. Return your filtration or RO system to service. Contact your local distributor or sales agent to acquire the JT can.

POST-EMERGENCY SYSTEM OPERATION: Follow the replacement cartridge change-out schedule per your system’s specifications. Continue to monitor and follow your local water authority’s post-emergency recommendations. Water problems caused by natural disasters often include high turbidity or muddy, conditions. As a result, filter cartridges may clog faster and need replacing sooner than usual.

Pentair Everpure’s water filtration systems provide customers with premium-quality drinking water while offering a cost-effective and economically “green” alternative to bottled water. Producing plastic bottles requires many natural resources, including the oil to manufacture the plastic and expensive transportation costs. Almost 90 percent of all plastic water bottles distributed in this country every year are in landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. Using a Pentair Everpure’s filtration system and refilling your own water bottle cuts back on these numbers. Replace Pentair Everpure’s filtration cartridges only once a year. Used cartridges can be safely discarded with your regular trash.

Our goal is to incorporate recycled materials into the manufacturing process at every possible point. Everpure uses partially recycled metals in the fabrication of the filtration cartridges and partially recycled materials in all of our packaging and shipping materials. In addition, we reuse all scrap material resulting from the manufacturing process.

Recycling Pentair Everpure filtration cartridges would be more costly to the environment than having our customers’ dispose of the cartridges on their own. The weight and contents of the filled cartridges would necessitate special packaging and shipping, resulting in additional resource consumption through packaging materials and fuel for shipping trucks, ultimately a bigger toll on the environment.

You should call Pentair Everpure Technical Service at 630.307.3000 or toll-free at 800.942.1153 (U.S. only). Our Technical Service Representatives will review your needs and put you in contact with a local Pentair Everpure field representative.

Click here to locate a Pentair Everpure Dealer or Master Distributor in your area.

Our cartridges are designed to remove contaminants and particulates from the water. The cartridges will eventually plug as this material is removed, therefore, plugging indicates that the cartridges are working efficiently. If a cartridge plugs soon after installation, there are various things such as construction in your area or changes in reservoir levels that may alter the quality of your incoming water from day to day. This may produce low water pressure or excessive turbidity (i.e. large number of particles) in your water, which may cause the cartridges to plug prematurely.

All carbon-based filters need to be flushed to remove any excess carbon fines that are inside the cartridges. New cartridges are filled with air; therefore, flushing also removes the air from inside the cartridges and replaces it with water. The flush time is written on each cartridge's label. This process will allow any carbon-based cartridge to function at optimum levels without affecting any equipment that may be attached. Note: Be sure to shut off the flushing valve when finished.

The majority of our cartridges are certified by NSF International. This certification means that the contaminant reduction claims certified are true and accurate, the materials of construction do not add anything unwanted into the water, that the system is structurally sound, and that advertising claims are true and accurate. This certification provides assurance to the user that the system has been independently evaluated to confirm its performance. The certification is displayed on the cartridge's label along with the claim(s); for example, chlorine reduction for 1,000 gallons. The majority of our certified products have been submitted for testing under NSF/ANSI Standards 53 and 42. For further information on NSF certification,  please contact Pentair Everpure Technical Service at 630.307.3000 or toll-free at 800.942.1153 (U.S. only). Certification information can also be located directly on the NSF website, www.nsf.org.

Scale is caused when dissolved minerals, usually calcium and magnesium, are deposited as a white, flaky solid on to the heating elements of your steamer. This material acts as an insulator which increases energy usage. Over time, this can cause your equipment to fail altogether. Pentair Everpure offers several products designed to reduce or prevent scale formation. One product is the Pentair Everpure Kleensteam® system, which reduces scale buildup. Another alternative is the ScaleStick®. The ScaleStick contains a special Hydroblend™ that inhibits mineral scale deposits in low flow water-fed equipment. Our MRS line  of reverse osmosis products also remove minerals that cause scale. To determine how much mineral is in your water, it’s best to have your water tested.  

• Municipalities have a primary objective of ensuring safe water. They can use a variety of technologies, but most all use some form of disinfection, either chlorine or chloramines. Unfortunately, chlorinated water has a distinctive off-taste and smell.
• While municipal water treatment plants do meet USEPA minimum requirements, they do not remove all contaminants nor do they filter for taste and odor.
• Water always contains some dissolved mineral, and mineral is not removed by water treatment plants. This mineral causes hard scale in equipment that heats or freezes water, causing increased energy costs and reduced equipment life. Pentair Everpure offers products that reduce scale buildup.
• As water travels from the treatment plant to your location, it can also pick up contaminants from older distribution piping systems.
• Cysts are microbial living organisms (protozoans) that can be resistant to chlorine disinfection. Cysts have been known to cause health problems. Examples of cysts are Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
• Not all water contaminants are bad, such as minerals, which Pentair Everpure filters do not remove. However, many contaminants such as chemicals, gases and particles can affect water's appearance, taste and smell. Some can even cause health problems.
• Pentair Everpure removes chemicals like chlorine, along with dirt, rust particles, asbestos, small living organisms called cysts, and more, leaving you with crystal clear, clean and great-tasting water.

Click here to download the PDF.

Click here to download the PDF.

Our quick-change filters remove contaminants as small as 0.5-micron by mechanical means (see individual system specification sheets for performance claims and FIFRA registration information). Microns are extremely tiny, in fact a human hair has the width of 40 microns. This means our filters are very effective at removing many contaminants. However, if your water is particularly dirty, we recommend placing a prefilter in front of your system. Prefilters are typically 10 to 25 microns, allowing them to remove the larger particles that might prematurely plug your system. Many of our systems offer a prefilter option.

Many things besides the quality of your water have an impact on the taste of your post-mix soda. If after checking all the items related to the filtration system and you are still concerned about the quality of your sodas, you should call your post-mix service personnel.

Some municipalities have migrated from using chlorine to chloramines. Chloramines is chlorine combined with a small amount of ammonia. The addition of the ammonia allows the disinfectant to stay in the water longer, for greater distances. Chloramines is more difficult to remove from water that chlorine, and requires filters with much more carbon. There are two ways to determine if your water has chloramines: 1) contact your local water utility company, or 2) have your water tested. By testing your water for Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine, we can determine if your water is being treated with chloramines. Our Everpure CLM and CB20 product lines are effective at removing chloramines.

Click here to download boil order instructions. 

Water softeners use an ion exchange process. Typically sodium chloride is exchanged for hard minerals like calcium and magnesium, which makes water “soft”. Hard minerals cause a hard scale on equipment that heats or freezes water, and this scale is difficult to remove, often requiring frequent delimings. Softener systems are usually comprised of a resin tank, where the ion exchange process takes place, and a brine tank where the salt solution is created. A softener can exchange other contaminants depending on the resin used, for example it can help remove iron from water. However, a softener does not filter the water, so many contaminants such as dirt, cysts and particles can pass through a softener resin bed. Learn more about water softeners. 

This is rare, but results from too much phosphate being released into the water. There are two possible causes of this:

1. The water is too hot. Be sure that your bowl is not too close to another heat source.
2. Water is extremely hard (has very high quantities of dissolved calcium and magnesium). First, have your water tested for Total Dissolved Solids and Hardness. Second, install a system to reduce the hardness, either a softening or a reverse osmosis system, depending on your water condition.

This is caused by hydrogen sulfide in water, produced by bacteria in deep wells and in low-use stagnant water mains. It is highly corrosive, so other problems may accompany the smell. Odors such as this can be removed or reduced simply and cost effectively with a combination oxidizing filter, sediment filter and carbon filter. For assistance with this problem contact Pentair Everpure Technical Service at 1-800-942-1153 or email us at watertest@pentair.com. Learn more about sulfur water. 

Yes, the Pentair Everpure cartridges that contain any carbon media such as Micro-Pure® carbon, carbon blocks, and/or Granular Activated Carbon will reduce chlorine and improve your water's taste and odor. The label states that the cartridge reduces chlorine taste and odor along with its capacity. Also check our catalog for cartridges with regard to more specific chlorine reduction capacities.

Click here to download the PDF.

• Rust/orange. Dissolved, or ferrous, iron, although harmless, can cause problems with appearance and reddish-brown staining. High concentrations of iron can affect the color of beverages and the appearance of vegetables cooked in water. Dissolved metals such as ferrous iron can be removed with special filters, reverse osmosis or by softening, depending on the amount of metal contamination. Ferric iron are particles that can be removed with mechanical filtration.
• Black. Excessive manganese in water causes staining of household fixtures, and can impart objectionable metallic taste and red or blue-green color to the water supply as well.
• Green. These stains are usually the result of corrosion of copper plumbing, although copper can come from other sources as well. There are two simple methods of reducing copper in your water. The first is to flush your pipes by running the water for 30-60 seconds before using it. A second method is to install a point-of-use water filtration system that is NSF International certified for reduction of one or more heavy metals. Green color can appear in clear filter bowls. This is the result of harmless light algae growth, and can be removed by sanitation.

Click here to download Pentair Everpure’s recommended water specifications by application.

The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments require that all municipal water systems provide customers with an annual report on the quality of their drinking water. This is called a Consumer Confidence Report. These reports are usually posted on their websites. Visit www.drinktap.org to locate your local water utility company.

We offer two means of getting your water tested:

• Our SMARTWORKS Water Test Kit.

• Our Certified Lab Test. 

Many replacement cartridges and parts are listed with our products here in our website. You could start by entering a model name, product description or application into the site's search function. If the part number you need is for a replacement cartridge, it is located on the cartridge's label. The part number is usually an 8-letter/digit combination that begins with "EV". If you need additional assistance, you can either e-mail us at info@everpure.comor call us at 630.307.3000 or toll-free at 800.942.1153 (U.S. only).

Restaurants have discovered a great revenue stream from selling premium bottled waters. However, there are many drawbacks to prepackaged bottled water:

• Energy is consumed to manufacture the bottles, contributing to greenhouse gasses.
• Prepackaged bottled water often travel great distances to get to your operation, wasting fuel and increasing pollution.
• Bottled water takes up valuable space in your operation.
• There is significant waste associated with the bottles.

We offer products that allow your operation to move away from bottled water and all the drawbacks it brings, while still generating revenue.

In order for our filters to perform as represented and to provide the best quality water possible, it is essential that filters be replaced periodically. The frequency of filter changes depends upon your water quality and your water usage. For example, if there is a lot of sediment and/or particulates in your water, then you will have to change your filters more frequently than a location with little to no sediment. Be sure to replace your filters whenever you notice a decline in the performance, whether it is a drop in flow rate and/or pressure or an unusual taste in the water.

Prefilter: The prefilter (coarse) cartridge should be changed when it becomes dirty to within 1/8" of the core or when you see the outlet pressure gauge fall into the red zone. Check the pressure gauge only when the equipment is calling for water. 

Submicron Cartridges: The cartridges should be changed at the first occurrence of a) the gallon rating stated on the label, b) every 6 months, or c) the pressure gauge needle falls into the red zone while your equipment is calling for water.

ScaleStick®: The Everpure ScaleStick™ needs to be replaced before its Hydroblend™ compound is completely used up.

1. Shut off the power to any equipment, if applicable.
2. Shut off the filter system by turning off the water supply. Open the flushing valve to relieve the pressure.
3. Hold the head firmly and turn the cartridge to the left a ¼-turn until the rotation stops.  
4. Pull the cartridge down and out of the head. Some water may drain out of the system. Throw away the used cartridge.
5. Hold the head firmly then align the new cartridge's lug with the label on the head, and insert the new cartridge into the head.
6. Turn the cartridge to the right a ¼-turn until the rotation stops.
7. Turn on the water supply.
8. Now, flush the cartridges by running water through the filter system to the drain for several minutes. Refer to the cartridge's label for specific flushing times. Note: Be sure to shut off the flushing valve when finished.
9. Turn on the power to the equipment, if applicable.

Product literature is posted on the product pages here in our site. Our Master Distributor partners can also provide you literature. Click here to locate a Master Distributor in your area.