Chemical disinfectants, while unpleasant to think about, are a vital part of our water treatment process. Whether your drinking water comes from a WA desalination plant or one of Sydney’s surface water reservoirs, chemicals like chlorine and chloramine are used to deal with bacteria and other contaminants that build up in the drinking water supply. Water disinfection involves adding chloramine or chlorine to kill germs and prevent contamination, ensuring the water remains safe to drink.
Disinfectants are a bit like food packaging: very useful for keeping your food fresh and clean until you’re ready to eat it, but once you’ve actually sat down for lunch, they have served their purpose. Chlorine can give your drinking water an unpleasant taste and smell, so most Australians prefer to filter out the chemicals before drinking tap water.
Carbon filters are a highly effective filtration medium. They are used in jugs, taps, and fridges – even our own systems are often configured with granulated carbon filters. However, with several states switching from chlorine to chloramine as a primary disinfectant, carbon filters alone are no longer enough to keep the chemicals out of your drinking water and out of your body.
The Chloramine Conundrum in Drinking Water Disinfection
Chloramine is a chemical compound produced by mixing chlorine with ammonia for drinking water disinfection. As we discussed in a previous post, either chlorine or chloramine can be used as major disinfectants in public water systems due to their effectiveness in destroying bacteria and other pathogens. Chloramine is a more stable chemical than ordinary chlorine. While it is a slightly weaker disinfectant, it takes much longer to dissipate, making it more suitable for areas where drinking water has to travel long distances through extensive networks of pipes before it reaches people’s homes.
Thanks to this longevity, chloramine has a better chance of killing bacteria that enter the drinking water in the later stages of its journey. However, the chemical is also more likely to be in higher concentrations when the water arrives at your home. Chloramine may have a less noticeable taste/odour than chlorine and not produce the same carcinogenic disinfection by-products (DBPs), but it can still cause irritations to the skin, eyes and lungs – and bring its own set of by-products.
Like chlorine, chloramine is an important part of the water treatment process but becomes detrimental once the water reaches your home. Showering in chloramine water can dehydrate your hair and skin, causing rashes and irritations and even increasing hair loss. Additionally, the smell and taste of chlorinated water are often still noticeable in your water, even if they are less prominent than chlorine.
What Exactly are Activated and Catalytic Carbon Filters?
Activated carbon is essentially purified and powdered charcoal, often used in carbon filters. It is a highly porous substance, making it very effective for trapping any solid compounds present in drinking water or air through a process called adsorption.
Unlike ABsorption, where particles like water droplets are fully soaked up into the body of an object like a sponge or paper towel, ADsorption stops at the surface. Activated carbon filters absorb the organic molecules by trapping them and holding them in the cracks and pores through its body. This means that GAC filters have a fixed filtration capacity; once the cracks and crevices are full, any additional particles will flow right past them.
Activated carbon is the most versatile and commonly used purifying agent in the world; it can be used for air purification, sugar refinement, cleaning vegetable oil, and even as a universal antidote in emergency rooms and hospitals.
Catalytic carbon (CC) is a specific variety of carbon whose surface has been modified by high-temperature gas processing. This treatment significantly increases the carbon’s catalytic properties—its ability to promote and accelerate chemical reactions without undergoing permanent chemical changes.
This surface-modified carbon retains all the properties of other GAC filters, making it suitable for the same wide variety of applications while also offering new advantages. In addition to being more effective for breaking down chemical compounds, CC can filter simpler substances more
Catalytic Carbon Filters Counter Chloramine in Water
Chloramine is a compound favoured for its stability. It takes longer to break down than chlorine, which can significantly impact water quality. Due to its long-lasting presence in the water supply and effectiveness in controlling harmful organisms, chloramine is commonly used to ensure the safety of water supplies for homes and businesses. A standard GAC filter can capture some chlorine particles, but the chloramine molecule isn’t in contact with the filter long enough for the ammonia to break down properly. Consequently, chloramine can pass through the filter relatively intact.
Catalytic filters accelerate the process of breaking down the ammonia, separating it from the chlorine to leave behind harmless chloride. The ammonia alone is much easier to break down and capture in separate filters. CC also has a higher chlorine reduction capacity, capturing more broken-down particles than regular GAC.
Many water utilities are switching from chlorine to chloramine disinfection because chloramine lasts longer in water pipes and produces fewer disinfection by-products, helping to meet EPA standards.
These properties also make the filters more effective for removing hydrogen sulfide and common chlorine DBPs like carcinogenic trihalomethanes and VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Whether you have chloramine in your drinking water or not, CC filtration can bring cleaner, healthier water to your home.
However, the increased efficiency and effectiveness are offset by a higher cost of production. The high-temperature gas treatment requires more time and resources than simple carbon purification, so catalytic filters can be more expensive, even in smaller sizes.
Because of this equation, CC filters are highly beneficial in some areas but unsuitable for others. Complete Home Filtration now offers catalytic carbon filters in our whole-home systems for areas with particularly high chloramine concentrations (like water filtration Adelaide and its surrounding suburbs).
KDF 55 Water Filter and Carbon Filters
KDF55 media and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) water filter cartridges are highly effective solutions to enhance drinking water quality by addressing various contaminants. The KDF55 media, composed of high-purity copper-zinc granules, is crucial in removing chlorine and heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Through a redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction, KDF55 effectively neutralizes chlorine and converts harmful heavy metals into harmless components. This process not only improves the safety of the water but also extends the filter’s life by preventing bacterial growth within the cartridge.
Complementing the KDF55 media, the GAC component focuses on improving the water’s taste, appearance, and odour. GAC is renowned for its exceptional adsorption properties, which allow it to capture and hold organic contaminants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, and industrial solvents. This adsorption process significantly reduces the presence of substances that can cause unpleasant tastes and odours, resulting in clean, fresh-tasting water that is visually clear and free from unwanted smells.
Together, the combination of KDF55 media and GAC in a water filter cartridge offers a comprehensive approach to water purification. By targeting a broad spectrum of contaminants, these cartridges ensure that the water is safe to drink and aesthetically pleasing. This comprehensive approach gives consumers confidence that their water has been treated with advanced filtration technology, offering a reliable solution for healthier, better-tasting water. Whether used in residential or commercial settings, KDF55 and GAC water filter cartridges represent an essential upgrade for any water filtration system, delivering superior performance and peace of mind.
If you want to find out more about what’s in your drinking water, book your FREE water consultation today or send us a message below
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