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Definition
| The "simple" hurdle that must be overcome to turn saline water into freshwater is to remove the dissolved salt. That may seem as easy as just boiling some salty in a pan, capturing the steam and condensing it back into water (distillation). Other methods are available but these current technological processes must be done on a large scale to be useful to large populations, and the current processes are expensive, energy-intensive, and involve large-scale facilities. |
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Term
| Remove color or chemicals |
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Definition
| To remove chemicals and dyes that have been dissolved in your water, you’ll typically need some type of active or chemical filter. The term “chemical filter” is a little misleading, since most of these systems don’t actually add anything to the water – the filtering media has been treated in some way so that, when it’s exposed to certain contaminants in untreated water, causes a change in those contaminants. Once the contaminants have been changed, the filter can usually physically trap and hold them, removing them from the water supply. There are a range of active filter types, from granular activated carbon to bone char to ion exchange, and each method works best for a different water problem. |
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Term
| Removing sand, silt, and sediment |
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Definition
| Most purely physical water filters remove dirt, silt, sand, and sediment from your water. They all basically work in the same way: water flows into the filter and through some type of filtering media like filtering sand or pleated polyester. The larger sediment particles cannot pass through the filter, so they get trapped inside. Cleaner water comes out the other side. |
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Term
| Removing chlorine and chloramines |
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Definition
One of the most common chemicals that people want a water filter to remove is chlorine. Municipal water treatment systems across the U.S. use chlorine and a related chemical, chloramine, as a disinfectant to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. These chemicals are usually very effective as disinfectants, but they can linger in the water supply. Chlorine can make water taste and smell bad, and many people find that it causes skin irritation. Chloramine has similar effects in water, and it can also kill fish and other marine animals. Different types of carbon water filters remove these disinfectants.
Aquatrol Coconut Shell Granular Activated CarbonGranular activated carbon (GAC) is one of the most effective ways to remove chlorine from water. GAC is a form of carbon that has been treated so that it has a very high, porous surface area that attracts chlorine and organic compounds. As the untreated water passes through the GAC, chlorine molecules and many other contaminants get caught in the tiny pores, removing them from the water through a process called adsorption.
While GAC is very effective at reducing the amount of chlorine in water, it cannot remove chloramines very well. What water filters remove chloramines? Catalytic carbon. Although similar to GAC, catalytic carbon media is treated so that the electronic structure of its surface is changed, causing it to act as a catalyst. Catalysts are substances that increase the rates of chemical reactions, and in this case, the carbon media speeds up the process by which chloramines decompose, making them easier to remove. This type of filter can also remove chlorine as well as many pesticides, and when combined with an oxidizing agent like hydrogen peroxide, can be part of a system to remove iron, magnesium, and sulfur. |
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Definition
| Fluoride, a chemical added to the water supply in many places to help reduce tooth decay, can be a challenge to remove from water. It cannot be removed by GAC or catalytic carbon. The most effective and cost-efficient way to remove fluoride from your water is with a bone char filter or a reverse osmosis system – and a combination of the two often works best. |
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Definition
| ecause of its effectiveness at removing organic compounds, a GAC filter is one of the best water filters to remove pesticides and other chemicals. Catalytic carbon, a type of activated carbon, is also effective. These filters attract and hold a wide range of chemicals, including many pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), arsenic, and sediment. |
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Definition
| While carbon filters are usually very good at removing organic compounds, they aren’t great at dealing with many types of metals. Iron and manganese – a mineral often found in water that contains iron – can be removed with an oxidizing filter. When these minerals are oxidized, they become solidified in the water and can more easily be filtered out. Sulfur can often be reduced in water using a GAC filter, but an oxidizing media is often more effective. In many cases, you’ll find iron filters that are designed to remove iron, manganese, and sulfur from your water. |
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