See through water filter housings?

I have had many requests for clear (see through) whole house cartridge filter housings. I don't use them and this is why: they cost more and usually accomplish nothing except cause my customers to waste time and money.

My main dislike for clear plastic compared to regular plastic is that clear plastic housings are generally more prone to breaking, especially if I accidentally drop the housing while changing the filter. Another dislike is that I find my customers changing cartridges much more frequently than needed, just because they see some dirt built up around the outside of the cartridge. In almost all cases, there is still a large amount of filtering capacity left in a cartridge after the outside of it gets a little dark (water is filtered as it flows from outside the filter to the inside, so larger sediment is trapped on the outside). Of course, I sell more cartridges, but it is wasteful. A better way to determine if a filter needs changing is noticing a slight pressure drop.

If you are shopping for a whole house filter housing and are thinking of a clear housing, save your money and buy the regular one.