Ecosoft CROSS 90 Balance Replacement Filters

Which one do you need?

Every year: the complex pre filter and the MCB mineralising post filter. Both are rated at 12 months or 4,000 litres, so they come due together. The annual set covers this.

Every second year: the 600 GPD membrane as well, rated at 24 months or 8,000 litres. It lands on top of the annual pair, so every other year is a three cartridge year. The complete set covers this.

That is why we sell them as two sets rather than as three loose cartridges. On this system the intervals line up exactly, so a single cartridge is almost never what you actually need, and a set means nothing gets forgotten.

If you cannot remember what you last changed, start with the annual set. The pre filter is the one that protects everything behind it, and the post filter is the one you taste.

Stage 1

Complex Pre Filter

Replace every 12 months, or 4,000 litres

• Removes sediment such as sand, silt and rust
• Reduces chlorine, organic matter and organochlorine compounds
• Several filtration stages in one cartridge

This is the cartridge that takes the beating, and the one that decides how long your membrane lasts. Chlorine is what degrades an RO membrane faster than anything else, so a tired pre filter quietly shortens the life of the most expensive part of the system. Change it on time and the membrane gets its full two years.

Final Stage

MCB Carbon Block and Mineralising Post Filter

Replace every 12 months, or 4,000 litres

• Carbon block polishing for taste and odour
• Adds minerals back for a balanced composition
• The last thing the water passes before it reaches your tap

This is the one you notice. Reverse osmosis strips out the minerals that give water body along with everything else, which is why unmineralised RO water can taste flat. The MCB puts a measured amount back and polishes the taste on the way through. When your water starts tasting ordinary again, this is usually why.

The Purification Stage

600 GPD Membrane Element

Replace every 24 months, or 8,000 litres

• Ecosoft rate it at 99.8% removal of impurities, PFAS included
• 600 GPD element, the full output the system is built around
• Restores flow and TDS if either has drifted

The membrane is the system. It is the part doing the actual separation, and it is the part that costs the most, which is exactly why the pre filter in front of it matters. Replace it on the two year mark rather than waiting for the water to tell you, because by the time you can taste the difference you have been drinking a tired membrane's output for a while.

Annual set

The complex pre filter and the MCB mineralising post filter together. This is what the system needs in an ordinary year, both rated at 12 months and both due at the same time.

If you are on a yearly routine and the membrane is not due, this is your order.

Complete set

All three cartridges: complex pre filter, MCB mineralising post filter and the 600 GPD membrane. This is what your system needs every second year, when the membrane comes due alongside the annual pair.

Every stage fresh in one go, so the system leaves that day performing as it did when it was first commissioned.

Time for a change if you have noticed

• The tap running slower than it used to
• The water tasting flat or ordinary again
• Chlorine taste or smell creeping back
• A rising TDS reading if you test with a meter
• Simply 12 months since the last cartridge change

Which one should I buy?

The annual set in an ordinary year, which is the pre filter and the post filter. Every second year take the complete set, which adds the membrane. There is no third option to agonise over, because on this system the cartridges always come due together.

Do these fit any reverse osmosis system?

No. These are Ecosoft CROSS cartridges and they are not the standard 10 inch by 2.5 inch cartridges that conventional multi housing RO systems use. The pre filter and post filter suit the CROSS 60 and CROSS 90, and the 600 GPD membrane suits the CROSS 90 and CROSS 90 Balance.

Why does the pre filter need changing twice as often as the membrane?

Because it is doing the dirty work. It catches the sediment and strips the chlorine, and chlorine is what degrades an RO membrane fastest. A tired pre filter lets chlorine through and quietly shortens the life of the expensive cartridge behind it, so changing the cheaper one on time is what protects the costly one.

What does the mineralising post filter actually add?

Minerals for taste and balance, in a measured amount on the way to the tap. Ecosoft do not publish the exact composition. It is nowhere near the levels that cause limescale, so it will not scale a kettle.

Do I need tools?

No. The cartridges twist in and out by hand. Turn off the water supply to the system before you start.

Do I need to flush the system afterwards?

Yes. Fresh carbon sheds a little harmless dust on first use, so run the system through and discard the first fill before you drink from it.

What happens if I leave them longer than the interval?

The ratings are 4,000 litres on the annual pair and 8,000 litres on the membrane, so a light user has a little room and a heavy household has less. The risk is not that the water becomes unsafe, it is that a spent pre filter stops protecting the membrane, and the membrane is the part you do not want to be replacing early.

What if I only need one cartridge?

It happens, usually after a cartridge has been damaged or changed out of sequence. We do not list them singly because on a normal schedule nobody needs one, but email info@nuaqua.ie and tell us which one and we will sort you out.

Can you fit them for me?

Yes. Our technicians service CROSS 90 Balance systems across Leinster, covering the cartridge change and a full system check. Email info@nuaqua.ie to arrange a visit.

Keep your CROSS 90 Balance performing like new

Genuine Ecosoft cartridges. Choose the one you need above, or take a set and save.