Why coconut is the best activated carbon water filter

May 7, 2020

Jim Galloway is a highly experience water filtration technician based in the USA and writes regularly on water topics, including water filtration, technology and politics and he suggests there are many reasons why coconut derived activated carbon water filters are the number one material for water filters.

What is activated carbon?

Carbon is a basic building block or element in organic life on earth, it is in plentiful supply and forms an important part of our lives.

Activated carbon is carbon that has been processed with oxygen at high temperatures so that it opens up millions of pores in between the carbon atoms. This means the carbon has a huge surface area with pores of different sizes that allow water molecules through but traps impurities which stick to the surface of the carbon due to a process called adsorption.

This all happens when the contaminants are dissolved in the water and their molecules are smaller in size than the carbon pores and so get adsorbed onto the surface of the carbon. Therefore the higher the surface area of the carbon, the higher adsorption of contaminants, and a better water filter.

In a carbon block, such as those used in the TAPP 2 water filter available in Malta the carbon granules are held with a binding agent so that the carbon remains in a static position allowing for use of a greater surface area.

Activated carbon can have alternative sources such as coal, wood or coconut. By far the most renewable source is coconut.

Why coconut is the best source for activated carbon water filters.

Coconut derived activated carbon contains a far higher proportion of micro-pores which are less than 2 nanometers (nanometer=1 billionth of a meter=very, very, very small). In-fact, 50% more micro-pores than from coal. The coconut shell used in the process mean these carbon blocks will have a high surface area with a large number of micro-pores, exactly what we look for in a top quality water filter for use with a kitchen tap. The carbon blocks themselves give up very little dust as they are very hard and the material used is a green, renewable, harvest-able material.

Coconut activated carbon blocks used in water filtration are significantly more expensive than coal or wood derived carbon blocks but are far more efficient and better suited to a high quality domestic water filtration from your kitchen tap.

Most importantly - coconut is a green raw product that is sustainably managed. A perfect choice for the TAPP 2 water filter, the only sustainable water filter available in Malta.

Coconut derived activated carbon water filters adsorb effectively deals with: