Nova Filter Canisters Failing
 

I know we spoke about this about a month ago where some Villagers were complaining here on TOTV of the discovery during a filter change that their Nova filter blue canisters were showing signs of cracking and were told to replace them. Recently, I had a neighbor where one of their filter canisters sprung a small leak and was spraying water in the garage.

Well, I'm sorry to report this because I really like Nova filter and the owners but when I checked my Nova filter today, I found one blue canister started to form a crack on the inside and another started to bulge on the bottom. The third canister was fine on a system that was installed in 2021.

So, I'm 100% positive the water pressure in my home never exceeded 80psi. Also, I replaced my hot water heater's expansion tank and pressurized it correctly to the water pressure coming into my home right before I had the Nova filter installed 4 1/2 years ago and I check the expansion tank every 6 months. I still have and am enjoying my Nova water softener which is working just fine.

Because of all the reports recently concerning the problems with these blue canisters from Nova, I decided to install an Express Water three stage water filter system which is basically the same as the Nova only a little more well built and no reports so far, of their blue canisters having an issue. Most of my neighbors have the Express Water filter installed for a couple of years now.

Again, I really like Nova but I guess something is going on with the filter canisters. The issue I have is I can only get the Nova filter canisters from Nova and I don't know if the replacements will fail since Nova, from the reports, is claiming the issue is from high water pressure and is the homeowners problem. On the other hand, the Express Water filter canisters are generic and are readily available from many manufacturers on-line. Again, after doing some research, I couldn't find any significant reports of filter canister failures with the Express Water system unless someone dropped one when replacing the filter by mistake.

Just wanted to share my experience and in no way am I trying to discredit Nova since I know they are are a very reputable company providing a good service, the owners are Villagers and they have always treated me well. Hopefully they can find out what the problem is for those having an issue. The decision to replace my system with the Express Water filter was based on my personal situation and for transparancy, I didn't reach out to Nova to replace my canisters. But I know Nova will replace any canisters or fix any other problems when requested and they always support the products they sell.

Have you placed a water pressure gauge on your house? These are available with a manually reset pointer for the highest that the gauge measured, and can easily be installed at any hose bib. As I recall our water pressure is around 60 PSI (Brownwood area).

Yes and I have the one you described that shows the maximum pressure so in my case, I know the water pressure never exceeded 80 psi. Typically our water pressure varies from 65-70psi here in Osceola Hills. I can understand Nova's position because the filter canisters have a maximum working pressure and if you exceed that, they can start to crack and eventually fail. I also know that Nova has installed thousands of filters over the years and if there were a problem there would be a ton of reports by now you would think?

I don't think it is the homeowner's problem. If the canisters are failing, it is Nova's problem. They should fix it, or at least tell the homeowner what they are doing wrong, and how to prevent the canisters from failing.

I also had Nova whole house filter installed in 2021 and change my filters regularly, with Nova. I’ve had leaks before but last week I came out to a huge puddle of water and clearly a canister leaking. He said they were bulging and need replacing. He said it would be almost the same price to just install a new system. I went on facebook and started asking around. This seems to be a common issue. So they came out and didn’t fix the canisters because I said I would just get the new system installed and they couldn’t schedule me until the end of this month. I ended up just getting a new system with Pagusus. The kicker is, Nova sent me a bill for almost 300 for coming out to fix a leak and not replace anything. I also wanted to like them but they made it really difficult. When I told the lady on the phone about not understanding why it would need replacing after 4 years and that I was going to price around for systems and she just said, I understand, so can you pay us now for coming out. Pagusus showed me their water and my water and all I can say is, my water from Nova was full of sediment and chlorine and other things.

Sorry to hear about your experience with Nova. I’m sure the Pegasus will work fine but that Pegasus analysis is a scam. Unless you had something dramatically wrong with your Nova system there is no way you should have had any sediment and or chlorine in your water especially since you were changing your filters regularly. Just curious when Nova came out to look at your leak did they do anything to fix it? Did they charge you $300 just to come out and look at the problem and left it leaking? I thought they were charging $65 for a new canister?

Nova is Chinese Junk
 

Nova water system components are not made well. Of course like a lot of stuff you may buy from an outlet store, the canisters are mass produced in China. Just a pile of Chinese junk.

If your system doesn’t leek yet, it will. IMHO, it is best to make a plan to eventually swap out components or start pricing what may be your next option. Anything is an upgrade!

Happened to us this year. System was 5 years old. Replaced it with new system from Nova.

Last year I called Nova because one of my cannisters was leaking. They came and wrapped teflon tape on the threads at no cost. It happened again. Again, they came, this time using a much wider tape. It happened again. This time, though, I saw the water pressure on the gauges at the top reading 90 psi, then surging to 100. I called South Sumter, our water provider, who assured me their water pressure was okay. I ended up having a plumber install a pressure regulator below the filter to insure against excessive pressure. When they changed my filters last month there was indications of stress in the filter housing that had been leaking.

One other thing to note. I called Mike Scott Plumbing to install the pressure regulator. They flat refused to do it. I ended up talking to the guy who schedules the repairmen, and he said no. Ross Plumbing did the job for about $400.00.

I live in the Lake Sumter area and the water pressure is always around 75 - 80 psi

A pressure regulator will only control the pressure in one direction. So, if you have a pressure regulator installed on the incoming side of your house, it will control the pressure entering your house, but it will not control the pressure that can build up inside your house as a result of a defective expansion tank on your water heater. That is why your water heater has a pressure relief valve on it to relieve the pressure if it exceeds 150 psi. This can occur if the expansion tank is defective and you have thermal expansion as a result of using a lot of hot water and then shutting off all faucets and plumbing fixtures. I would suggest that you buy a pressure gauge from Amazon for about 10 dollars, so you can easily measure your house pressure by screwing it onto an outside hose bib. You can also place a plastic cup under the relief valve discharge pipe to see if any water is being released by the relief valve. However, I am surprised that the Nova canisters are not designed to withstand an occasional increase in water pressure to 150 psi.

Very disturbing to hear this about Nova. They seem to have a good reputation. I had a Nova filter installed in my house about five years ago. Scary to think this is happening and could happen to us. Would be nice if Nova posted a statement explaining the situation. They have posted on TOTV before. It must be especially unnerving for snowbirds, part-timers, or those who travel often.

Same pressure in this area.

They are watching these post for sure, but no reply. I have NOVA filters that are 4 years old and I am worried.

4 years old too
 

I also have the Nova 3 filter system, Approximately 4 plus years old. I am not having leakage or cracks that I have observed. But every year when I go to change the filters, I attempt to do it myself however I can never loosen the filters with the wrench provided. It seems as though I'm going to rip them off of the wall or break some pipes so instead I call Nova and they come over and install the three filters I forget what they charged me for that I think it's around $200.

Reading all these comments makes one wonder if there is a problem with the product. Wouldn’t be surprised if they end up with a class action case against them. I’ve had a GE unit (same one) for 25 years, never had a leak in it, unless I screwed up the o-ring during reinstallation of a filter.

RO Canister Failed
 

About a month ago one of my reverse osmosis canisters failed under the kitchen sink. Luckily we were home as the emergency cutoff also failed to cut off the water. Flooded a good bit of the kitchen. The blue canister had cracked, the other two clear ones were fine. I asked about it, and the Nova guy told me that they had gotten a 'bad' batch of the blue ones and that this was not an isolated incident.
They charged me $50 to replace the canister and emergency cutoff.

We had Culligan install a filter and softener 7 yrs. ago. Never had the first leak or problem.

Prv
 

Bob can install a pressure reducing valve. Set it to 55 psi. Your ice maker will thank you too.

I had a three cannister (blue) Nova whole house water filtration system installed in my garage last year. They put two pressure gauges on the system - one prior to the start of the water going into the filters and one at the end. The installer never indicated what I should be looking for with these gauges though they pretty much show equal pressure.

On another topic, can you purchase filters separately from Nova or do you have to have Nova replace the filters? I presume each filter is different and remove different impurities.

3 stages
 

There are 3 stages: 20 micron, 10 micron and 5? You can buy filters through their warehouse. They will change them for you for about 40 to 50 dollars extra.

Some posters have said that their water pressure is "always" 60 psi or 80 psi. However, there is no way to know that unless you have a pressure gauge that you monitor 24/7. You can buy a pressure gauge that has an extra needle that goes up when the pressure increases, but it doesn't go down when it decreases. So, you can see how high the water pressure has actually increased to during a certain time period. You can buy these pressure gauges from Amazon for about 10 dollars that will screw onto any outside hose bib.

Serious question. Why would you replace the Nova canisters knowing that they will need replacing again in several years.

This is a good point I forgot about. If the water pressure in you home for whatever reason reached a point where your fixtures including the Nova filter were impacted you would probably see some discharge from the water heater tank pressure relief valve if you have a tank system.

I was reluctant to post my experience since I agree, Nova is a very reputable company and anything can happen with a product. But I felt it was important to post because I've seen a canister spring a small leak and it's just spraying water around in your garage but I had a neighbor who dropped one of his canisters during a filter change and while he was away the bottom of the canister broke off about 3 AM. The Villages neighborhood watch saw the water pouring out from his garage and called my neighbor and had a neighbor shut off the water since he was away. Fortunately, these filters are in the garage so if you get a major leak it shouldn't do much damage but I agree, if you have the Nova filter, check the filter canisters at least once a year and start planning on what course of action you will take if yours are having a problem. The only concern I have is if Nova is saying it's the homes water pressure causing the problem then won't the problem still exist with a new Nova system or did they change it?

Just fyi, if you tap the wrench lightly with a rubber mallot, the canisters will loosen up and you can unscrew them but remember when they are full of water they are very heavy and will surprise you when they release from the manifold so be very careful.

In doing more research on the filter canister/housings, the "Big Blue" housings have a peak pressure rating of 100psi. Most residental water devices have a max rating of 125psi and some even 150psi so my guess is this 100 psi rating is a peak rating vs a failure rating. In reading the Express Water user guide they say the operating pressure range for their system is 20-80psi. They also say if you have water pressures over 80 psi then you need a pressure regulator before the filter system.

So, as discussed, one thing you can do is install a pressure regulator but even if you do that, if you have a tank hot water system and your expansion tank fails, you can possibly exceed 80 psi and never know it because most don't ever check their expansion tanks and they typically last about 5 years or so.

The last though on the subject I had was quality control. Since most or all these housings come from China, how does one know if the housing is meeting any spec or how good the quality control is?

Update: Forgot to mention the pressure gauges on the Nova filter, in my experience are not very good. For some reason over time they freeze up and when glancing at them you may not be seeing the actual pressure so be aware of that. Fortunately, you can buy replacement gauges on Amazon that last and are reasonably priced. Maybe Nova has improved their gauges since I got my system but with any filter system just be aware now that we need to monitor the water pressure in our homes.

They are not the same canisters that’s why.

Can you explain? Is Nova replacing the cannisters with a new version of the cannister? If they are that's a good thing and should be mentioned.

I can tell you, before all this happened, I did try to replace one of my filter cannisters with one of the Big Blue ones and it wouldn't seal properly in the Nova manifold. My guess is the Nova manifold is different and will only support a specific type of cannister/housing.

We truly value your trust in our water filtration systems and take product concerns very seriously. We would always want to clarify the cause of any isolated canister leaking and ensure you the customer has the right guidance to keep your system running safely.

Canister leaks are not the result of faulty product but rather excessive incoming water pressure or in instances hot water expansion tanks. All filter canisters are designed and tested to withstand normal residential water pressure upto 90PSI; however, if water pressure exceeds recommended levels, it can place undue stress on the housing.

Our recommendations: We strongly advise installing a pressure regulator if your homes water pressure is higher than the recommended range (typically 40-80 PSI). This not only protects your filtration system but also helps extend the life of other plumbing fixtures in your home.

Please rest assured that our products are manufactured with high quality materials and undergo rigorous quality checks. When installed with the proper pressure regulation, they provide safe, long-lasting performance.

If you have experienced an issue, our customer support team is here to help troubleshoot and provide replacement guidance. All of our systems are under a one year warranty with an available five year warranty.

Thank you for being one of our valued 25,000+ customers and allowing us to provide you with properly filtered purified, safe water for your home.

Bob, Brad & Shane

Pressure Regulator Only works on Flowing Water
 

A Pressure Regulator Only works on Flowing Water. It will not reduce pressure when the supply line has a check valve installed, the water heater is working, and the expansion tank diaphragm is not functioning correctly. You have to go back to plumbing code designs 20 to 30 years ago when there were thermal relief valves on the water lines that relieved excess pressure to the outside via the discharge lines through the walls. These were eliminated by changes in the plumbing code when expansion tanks were required. However, the problem is that expansion tanks can fail and the hot water pressure can rise to the heater safety valve setting which is 125 psig or more.
One way to minimize the pressure build up during no water usage is to shut off the water heater when you are away and or keep a few drops dripping from a faucet. This way the internal water pressure should not increase above the water supply pressure even if the expansion tank is not functioning. There is no closed volume being heated up resulting in expansion of the closed section of water which would increase the house internal water pressure.
Alternatively, the filter housing etc. must be designed to withstand the pressure equal to the water heater safety valve setting just as the water heater is designed.

Typically, the T&P relief valve on a water heater is set to open if the water temperature exceeds 210 degrees Fahrenheit or if the pressure exceeds 150 psi. When the relief valve opens, it doesn't take much water to be expelled to reduce the pressure, maybe a cup or so. So, if you see a small amount of water in the overflow pan under the water heater, it could be that the relief valve has tripped. If the Nova canisters are only designed to handle up to 90 psi of pressure, it is very possible that a defective expansion tank can cause the canister to leak, even if you have a pressure regulator on the water supply pipe to your house. A defective expansion tank will not necessarily caused the water pressure to increase. But, what can happen is that you use all of the hot water in the tank, and then you shut off all plumbing fixtures. This causes the tank to fill up with cold water, and the water heater heats it up causing thermal expansion of the water and a huge increase in the water pressure because the water has nowhere to go. Note that older houses with one or two drippy faucets will not experience this pressure increase, or if your ice maker calls for water while the tank is heating up. Also a very high temperature setting on the water heater and a very cold water temperature will exasperate the problem.

And to add to this good information, when Nova came to install my system 4 years ago, before they did anything they checked my hot water expansion tank. The problem is 1) some installers never charge the expansion tank to the water inlet pressure and it fails prematurely and 2) many don't know or ever check the expansion tank. So, it's very possible many of these filter housing failures could be caused by over pressure due to expansion tank problems. But in my house, I regularly check the expansion tank and I pressurized it myself to the water inlet pressure so I know this couldn't have caused my filter housings to show signs of cracking. In addition, as mentioned, only two out of the three filter housings showed signs of cracking. Why was one OK?

Thank you for your reply.
Can you tell us how big a problem this is right now?
How many customers has this affected?
Does it happen when the cartridge reaches a certain age?
Does it matter whether you have tank or tankless heaters?
What is the replacement policy/process?

Thank you.

Yes, the new canisters have thicker walls at the bottom where the cracks were occurring. They have also changed the manifold where the gauges connect to brass fittings rather than plastic. The new canisters also use 2 O rings rather than one.

I could have moved on to a different supplier but I trust Nova and see no reason to change.

Thousands of us south of 44 have tankless water heaters so no expansion tanks. I wonder if we’re less likely to see canisters cracking eventually? Our Nova system is less than 3 years old, and so far it’s okay.

Hopefully they honor the change with current customers
 

Hopefully they honor the change and retrofit out the major issues with all their current customers who are stuck with junk.

So many say “Tough luck Charlie” and move on.

I have a tankless water heater as does my neighbor. He replaced his canisters last year. He did not upgrade. Looking at the difference in price between old and new (~$100) the decision to upgrade was a no brainer. My system was put in sometime in 2018. So, 7 years use.

Not age related we have systems that have been in service over 12 years here in TV

I don't have an exact number of system issues it has been isolated out of 25,000+ installs

Both, more issues with tank systems due to bad expansions tanks on them (not our product)
when we do filter changes our tech's do a quick tap/sound check to tell if it full of water.
They also check for any abnormalities in the system.

The water system in TV is not pressure regulated at each home like other municipalities, they are designed with different size pipes in the street to in theory control pressure.

We have personally seen pressures over 100 =120 psi at times in different villages.

These pressure spikes also effect the rest of the plumbing in your home, the under cabinet water hoses, washing machine etc

We recommend adding a pressure regulating valve on the incoming water pipe.

Replacement policy is 100% first year and and optional 5 year extended plan

Out phones are temp out of order
text works 352.566.2649

or email novafilterstv@gmail.com