Carbon Water Filters

Carbon water filters are one of the most common types of water filters on the market. Activated carbon is an element that removes many impurities from water and helps to absorb harmful chemicals. Carbon, thus, is not only used in water purification, but also in air purifiers as well.

Carbon water filters are nothing new. In fact, historians have found evidence that they were being used nearly 4,000 years ago when Egyptians would filter water through charcoal. In 1862, carbon filters were used to purify water for drinking. Finally, in the 1970’s, carbon was ground into powder and used to create a block through which water was used.

Modern carbon water filters include not only water filter jugs, but faucet water filters and refrigerator water filters also frequently use carbon technology to create clean and tasteless drinking water.

In order for carbon water filters to work, water needs to pass over the surface area of the carbon. Thus, as the containments are exposed to the carbon, they will filter out of the water. Carbon has a surprisingly large surface area. In fact, just one pound of activated carbon has about 125 acres of surface area that can come into contact with contaminants.

The way that carbon filters containments is by using simple chemistry to remove impurities from the water (or air). Because carbon has a positive charge to it, the carbon molecules attract all negatively charged contaminants in the water, such as lead, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, and zinc. Thus, carbon water filters are popular for removing many volatile organic compounds.

While carbon water filters have proven to be one of the most effective methods of filtering water, they do not filter minerals, salts, and dissolved organic compounds from water as effectively as they remove volatile organic compounds and sediment.

Carbon water filters do remove rather large particle sediments from water. The average carbon filter can remove particle sizes that range from about 0.5 to fifty micrometers. Also, it is important to note that if you are using a carbon water filter, the flow rate of the water helps to determine the effectiveness of the filter. Slower moving water through the filter will have more particles removed from it than water that is moving quickly through the filter. Thus, the longer the water is exposed to the surface of the carbon, the better.

When it comes to the type of carbon filter that is used, there are two basic types of carbon water filters. The first type is a powdered block filter, which is more effective than the second type of filter, which is a granular activated filter. The block filter removes more contaminants and larger particles from the water than the granular water filters.

The majority of carbon filters also use a back-up filtration system, such as silver or KDF-55. The silver or KDF-55 is designed not to filter the water, but to prevent the growth of bacteria within the filter itself. Thus, one of the most effective and popular types of water filtration systems are carbon water filters.