Carbon
For
many years, granular activated carbon (GAC) has been the most
commonly used medium for home and industrial water filter
applications, effectively removing chlorine, odors, bad taste &
color from tap water. Most water filter systems use GAC even
today.
While GAC is an excellent
means of organic pollutant removal, it is unable to cope with bacteria
problems. In some instances silver impregnation has been utilized in an
attempt to prevent the common problem of bacterial growth in the carbon
filter, with questionable results.
Granular carbon will remove
chlorine, bad taste, odor, color and organic compounds from water, but it is
not effective against metals and other inorganic pollutants. Solid
carbon, a block of carbon formed under high pressure, can remove some
things that granular carbon cannot.. However, carbon technology, by
itself, has become overwhelmed by the enormity of the pollution and other
contamination problems we face today.
Nonetheless, carbon remains
an essential component of water purification because of its unique pore
structure and adsorptive quality. Because of the microscopic caverns
throughout activated carbon it is able to hold a great amount of contaminants.
A small amount of activated carbon is equivalent to a large surface area.
But to deal with today's level of contaminants, carbon needs to be combined
with other media.
For example, granular carbon
combined with sub-micron filtration (ceramic or solid carbon block) will
accomplish much greater removal of contaminants than carbon alone, including
bacteria, parasites and heavy metals. Many purists believe that
distillation plus carbon, deionization plus carbon, or reverse osmosis plus
carbon are the ultimate choices in water purification.
The combining of carbon with KDF (Kinetic Degradation Fluxion) represents a
major technological breakthrough in affordable water filter systems, and
is perhaps the best industry news of the last 50 years. (More on KDF
later.)
Other Drinking Water
Treatment Methods
Distillation is the
process of capturing recondensed steam from boiling the source water. Small home distillation systems usually cost
$300-$400. If done properly, the resulting distilled water is very
pure.
It
is essential to use carbon as a follow-up, especially with chlorinated water,
because chlorine and some other chemicals in the water will be heated into gas
and travel with the steam. The carbon will remove most of this chlorine
and other volatile organics.
Deionization uses a resin to remove ionically charged contaminants. It is also
important to accompany the resin with carbon for the additional chemical
removal that carbon provides. It is not unusual to spend $350-$400 or
more, for a good deionizer.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a specialized type of screening of water contaminants
using a fabricated membrane. A reverse osmosis membrane is usually one
or the other of two basic types: Cellulose Acetate (CA) or Thin Film Composite
(TFC).
"Osmosis" is
a term you may remember from biology referring to the passage of a substance
through a membrane from a solution of greater concentration to one of lesser
concentration. Reverse osmosis is forcing water under pressure through a
membrane which excludes substances with a molecular structure larger than the
pores of the membrane. A home reverse osmosis unit operates from the
source water pressure.
A unique feature of reverse osmosis, compared to standard water filter methods, is
that the molecules of water actually enter and become part of the membrane as
they pass through. The membrane also allows oxygen through, as well as
some other elements with a very small molecular size, including some colloidal
and subcolloidal minerals.
The pores are small
enough to screen out bacteria and even some viruses. Still, some small
molecule contaminants can make it through, so a reverse osmosis unit should
always include some type of carbon post-filter to catch any residual organic
chemicals.
Prices on quality RO
units run from $170-$800, depending on style and features.
Since
sediment can clog a membrane, a sediment pre-filter is needed. Chlorine
can also harm membranes. Chlorinated water requires a carbon pre-filter.
Water
Purifier Comparison
Both
independent analyses and personal experience with the various methods of water
purification, lead me to the following conclusions:
Distillation &
Deionization
The water
resulting from distillation and deionization is so devoid of mineral content
that it becomes aggressive in drawing up minerals. This can result in a
significant mineral loss from the body which must be compensated for by adding
utilizable
supplementary minerals to the water
or to the diet (which I recommend for anyone, in any case). Also, these
methods result in water that is too acid for biological systems.
Distilled water is also practically devoid of free oxygen, an important
beneficial health factor.
Reverse Osmosis
Although reverse
osmosis water actually has an increased oxygen concentration, and contains
small quantities of colloidal and subcolloidal minerals, it also is lacking in
mineral value and may draw minerals from the body. More problematic,
reverse osmosis units are very susceptible to the growth of bacteria and mold
within them, especially when not in use.
In addition to chlorine, bacteria can attack and ruin a membrane, resulting in
contaminated water coming through. A low bacterial count in the source
water is important. If mold is present, that could foster yeast
overgrowth in the body. Ideally, R. O.'s work best when run constantly,
which in most instances is neither practical nor economical. Finally,
the pH of RO water is usually too acid for the human body.
We do make available unique
affordable reverse osmosis units:
CLICK HERE
for
information on Reverse Osmosis systems.
CLICK HERE
for
information on the AquaWizard Faucet R. O.
NOTE About Minerals In Water:
There are those who would suggest that water is not a dependable source of all
the minerals required for nutritional purposes, as the mineral content may
vary from place to place, and even from the same source over time.
This
is true, however some people get more mineral value from their drinking water
than from their food intake today, because of poor diet and the mineral
deficiency of agricultural soils due to overworking without restoration.
Further, the body
needs the subcolloidal minerals in water to accomplish certain electrical
transmissions throughout the system.
The
net loss of minerals from the body due to consuming mineral devalued water can
have a significant long term negative impact on health and longevity.
For this and other reasons, distillation,
deionization and reverse osmosis have serious drawbacks. Distillation
and reverse osmosis are both inefficient in their use of resources. Both
use a great deal of water in the process of their functioning.
Reverse
osmosis uses 4 to 6 gallons of water for every gallon of pure water
produced. This water flushes away the contaminants rejected by the
membrane. Distillers not only flush a lot of water, but most require a good
amount of electricity to operate. Deionizers need to have their resin
"recharged" frequently, a service for which there is a fee.
The distillation, deionization and reverse osmosis methods all require frequent attention to maintenance. No
purification method works well if not well-maintained.
This is most
important, because if people do not keep up with replacement of exhausted pre,
primary & post filters, RO membranes or deionizing resins, the water
quality will be quite bad, often before it is recognized by the consumers.
This is too often the case. Unfortunately, a proper schedule of
replacement of water system parts is seldom followed.
For these reasons, I recommend the combination of KDF and carbon as a superior
affordable alternative for home water purification.
KDF
and carbon in combination maintain their effectiveness longer than
reverse osmosis, deionizing resins or carbon alone, reducing the
likelihood of drinking contaminated water from failure to change
cartridges in time.
A Significant
Breakthrough!
In 1987, an
exciting breakthrough technology for water purification was discovered.
Developed and designed by a leading American scientist, this advanced system,
"Kinetic Degradation Fluxion" (KDF), has been awarded both U.S. and
International patents.
KDF utilizes an all-natural process in which the "dissimilar" metals
copper and zinc are used to create a kinetic charge from the flow of the water
through them, that kills microorganisms and alters or removes many problem
contaminants. It also conditions water with a "softening"
effect.
KDF has been proven to be the best way to remove major contaminants from our
water, and shown to stay active longer than any other purification method.
The result is better water than bottled water, at a fraction of the cost.
In August, 1992, KDF was awarded the U.S. E. P.
A.'s approval as a "pesticidal device", which means it has the
ability to kill algae, bacteria (including Pseudomonas florescens, Ybrio
cholera, Legionella pneumophilia, and coliforms), fungus, mold, and many
parasites and viruses found in drinking water supplies, through the natural
process known as "electrochemical oxidation/reduction".
KDF has also been
certified
by independent water purification authorities to kill a target bacteria within
the "less than 1 minute contact time" required to be effective in
point-of-use water filters. Thus it is "bacteriacidal",
a much preferred classification to that of "bacteriostatic", a term
often used with filters impregnated with silver, which only slightly retards
bacterial growth.
When this KDF technology is combined with
high-quality coconut shell granular activated carbon, the result is truly
revolutionary. The KDF protects the carbon from rapid exhaustion with
chlorine by handling the chlorine first, thus allowing the carbon to have a
much longer effective life.
KDF
itself has TEN TIMES or more the length of life of activated carbon that is
not protected like this!
KDF & carbon working together are proven
effective against microorganisms, chlorine, heavy metals, (aluminum, arsenic,
cadmium, iron, lead, mercury, etc.), hydrogen sulfide, nitrates, odor, poor
taste, THM's, PCB's, dioxin, and thousands of other organic chemicals and
inorganic poisons, for an extended time, . . . at the minimal cost of
approximately one cent per gallon!
Even more effective
purification is provided by following the KDF & carbon with a solid carbon
block and / or a ceramic cartridge. This filters out particles of less
than 1/2 micron in size, which includes parasites and most bacteria which may
be present in water. Most of these that survive the chlorine are killed
by the KDF, but it is still desirable to remove them.
NOTE:
KDF is a relatively expensive substance.
Our water purifiers have the substantial amount of KDF
needed to do a thorough job. There are other brands,
some with the same kind of housing as ours,
that contain only a small amount of KDF so they may say they have
it. These will do a lesser job for a shorter time than ours.
For more details on
our KDF & Carbon water systems,
see below.
Conclusion
While bottled water may be
an improvement over chlorinated tap water, any onsite point-of-use or
point-of-entry water treatment with a well-maintained system would be
preferable over bottled water, which is clearly unreliable and expensive.
With point-of-use purification you know what you are getting, and the cost per
gallon is vastly lower than with bottled water.
The comparison above should help clarify the relative merits and deficiencies
of the various methods of water purification.
For
the cost-conscious individual who is interested in protecting their health,
KDF technology combined with high-quality coconut shell granular activated
carbon offers the most attractive water purification choice when it comes to
quality, value, and maintenance-free performance. Countertop,
under-the-counter and shower units are available at modest cost.
For the ultimate in affordable contaminant-removal, KDF & carbon followed
by a solid carbon block (which screens down to less than 1/2
micron) provides the best of all solutions: the very high quality water you
want, . . . when you want it, . . . at a low affordable cost, . . . with an
absolute minimum of service & maintenance.
