Carbon Media - Ancient Water Treatment Works the Best!

One of the most powerful ways to deal with unwanted water contaminants and hard water minerals these days is to consider a water treatment device that contains carbon media (you can see me holding a spoonful one some in the image on the left). They have come a long way since they first appeared decades ago and are probably the way forward in the years to come as they have been proven to work time and again.

Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a piece of activated carbon to remove contaminants and impurities using a process known as chemical adsorption. Each piece of carbon is designed to provide a large section of surface area, in order to allow contaminants the most possible exposure to the filter media. One pound (454g) of activated carbon contains a surface area of approximately 100 acres (1 km²/kg). This carbon is generally activated with a positive charge and is designed to attract negatively charged water contaminants. Carbon filtering is commonly used for water purification, but is also used in air purifiers.

Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. They are not effective on their own at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds and are usually used in combination with other filter media to remove hard water minerals.

Typical particle sizes that can be removed by carbon filters range from 0.5 to 50 micrometres. The particle size will be used as part of the filter description. The efficiency of a carbon filter is also based upon the flow rate - When the water is allowed to flow through the filter at a slower rate, the contaminants are exposed to the filter media for a longer amount of time.

Carbon Filters in ancient Times

Carbon filters have been used for several hundred years and are considered one of the oldest means of water purification. Historians have shown evidence that carbon filtration may have been used in ancient Egyptian cultures for both air and water sanitization.

2000 B.C. Sanskrit text refers to filtering water through charcoal (1905 translation of "Sushruta Samhita" by Francis Evelyn Place) The first modern use of a carbon filter to purify potable water occurred in 1862. Carbon filtration was further advanced in the mid 1970's by H. Allen Rice and Alvin E. Rice when they first manufactured a porous carbon block for drinking water use.

Carbon Filters in Homes Today

Currently, carbon filters are used in individual homes as point-of-use water filters and, occasionally, in municipal water treatment facilities. They are also used as pre-treatment devices for reverse osmosis systems and as specialized filters designed to remove chlorine-resistant cysts, such as giardia and cryptosporidium.

As described above, carbon filter media is granulated carbon that works by trapping unwanted water contaminants in the microscopic cracks within the granules to remove them from solution. It is also know as activated carbon media and is the basis for may water filters and reverse osmosis water filters. 

If you are looking for the best type of water treatment device, reverse osmosis water filters are hard to beat - the one opposite is by Watts and is worth considering if you want one that's been proven to work. They contain all of the necessary stages to provide ultra pure water and are great if you're looking for the piece of mind for you and your family.