A fridge filtration system offers both advantages and disadvantages. Naturally, it makes it easy to ensure your water is clean before you drink it. Unfortunately, if you already have a larger filtration system on your mainline, it’s hard to bypass the now-extraneous one in the fridge.
Like many modern appliance manufacturers, Samsung now builds water filter systems into many of its refrigerators. This particular “HAF-CIN” model of filter is made for several of their french-door models.
Samsung Refrigerator Water Filter Review: What Makes It Tick
- Custom-fit for your fridge
- Stays out of sight and out of mind
- Hard to bypass if you don’t need the filtration
- Expensive
- Not NSF-401 certified
Samsung HAF-CIF Filter Certifications
The National Sanitation Foundation, or NSF, is the American body most trusted to evaluate filtration systems. This Samsung filter meets their two most critical standards, known as NSF 42 and 53. It is not, however, certified against NSF 401 (to remove newer pesticides and herbicides) the way many modern filters are.
NSF 42
This standard centers around flavor and particles ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometers. Though not always harmful, the particles can give your water undesirable flavors and a cloudy appearance. Certain chemicals like chlorine must be removed to meet this certification. If your municipal water has a particularly strong chlorine flavor, Samsung’s filter can make it more pleasant.
NSF 53
Unlike NSF 42, which is largely concerned with aesthetics, NSF 53 focuses on more worrying problems: hazardous chemicals. To get this certification the filter must remove lead, arsenic, and various other heavy metals and industrial chemicals. Some of these contaminants are linked to birth defects, cancers, and other dangerous conditions. It’s good to have the peace of mind that they won’t be an issue in your household water.
Filtration is never 100% perfect. Most filters boast a removal rate of 99% of contaminants or more, but the certification criteria are complex. The technical information is found on the NSF website. Just realize you’ll have to sift through a lot of jargon (not to mention poor web design) to get it.
Related post: Whirlpool Refrigerator Water Filter Review
Samsung HAF-CIF Use and Replacement
The installation of the filter is quite straightforward. If you have trouble finding its port, your fridge’s manual will tell you where it goes. Just make sure it’s seated securely and there are no cracks in the filter casing. Some customers have reported leaks or flooding because of a broken outer casing.
Once in place you’ll need to run several liters of water through to rinse the filter. All carbon-based filters will cloud up the first bit of water with charcoal dust. This is normal, and reportedly harmless, but it doesn’t look very nice. Once the water starts coming out clear, you’re ready to go.
The HAF-CIF filter should cover you for roughly 300 gallons worth of water. That’s a better capacity than some refrigerator filters, but not quite on par with a quality countertop unit.
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