I have an old house in a small town in South Dakota. There is a drinking water filtration system that I need to change the filter on. The house/plumbing/etc. is very old. The plumbing is PVC and I would guess it is at least 25 years old. In order to remove the old filter I would have to apply a great amount of torque. I sprayed silicon on it but it did not loosen up. I am afraid that in order to loosen the filter housing I would likely break the old PVC. Is there something I can do? I am not willing to risk breaking the PVC in order to change the filter. I would rather not use the system than take that chance.

hard to comment on this one with out seeing the filter and piping.
worst case scenario would be cutting the pipe on either side of the filter, removing the one you have and replacing it with a new filter that has a top with a metal bracket built in.
then secure the new filter very well to some sort of home made frame.
again, not seeing anything, i can't tell you if this is a simple saturday morning project or more complicated.

[www.amazon.com]

it is an issue of getting a 'hold-back bite' on the actual filter top with a large pipe wrench while turning the cartridge 'casing' with a STRAP wrench


you may need a mechanically experienced helper to hold one wrench while you SLOWLY and STEADILLY apply torque with the strap wrench

OR

since you would need to modify the piping to install a bypass if 'abandonning' the filter in place - you may simply want to replace the entire assembly with a more serviceable one

OR

simply call a LICENSED BONDED INSURED plumber


[www.bing.com]

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638