NEWater Carbon Block Filter

Since 2011, NEWater has offered a highly adjustable and diverse range of commercial and industrial water filters. With its powerful carbon block technology, you can be assured of the exceptional performance of the carbon block filter, which is critical for a successful water treatment procedure. It is possible to use NEWater’s carbon block filter on its own, or in combination with one of our other filtration systems. Our filters are constructed from high-quality compressed carbon and successfully remove many contaminants from water, including chlorine, lead, cysts, certain pesticides, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), among others, with no wastewater. Due to our products’ constant research and development, they have been adapted for use in a variety of industries.

Our research and development team will collaborate with you to design and build a carbon block filter that is of top quality, environmentally sustainable, and economical to assure 0 TDS, odorless, and pleasant-tasting water. Our carbon block water filter has been certified to international standards and is tested meticulously by our quality control team to ensure they arrive in good condition from packaging to installation. If you have any questions about our water filters, please contact us at info.@newater.com.

The Ultimate FAQ Guide for Carbon Block Water Filter

Water treatment applications are at an all-time high courtesy of the ever-ballooning population and industrialization. In response, a myriad of high-level water treatment technologies has been developed. They include media filtration systems such as carbon block filters and membrane-based filters such as reverse osmosis.

NEWater is well known for manufacturing comprehensive water treatment systems custom-made for specific clients. We prioritize quality and customer satisfaction. The following article seeks to extensively address the most frequently asked questions regarding carbon block filters and their role in water treatment.

➣What is a Carbon Block Filter?

A carbon block water filter is a water filtration device that utilizes carbon to extract objectionable components from water. They are essentially made up of activated carbon granules glued together using a binding agent. Carbon block filters are known for their impeccable pollutant reduction rate, which is facilitated by their homogenous pore structure.  They primarily exploit mechanical filtration, physical adsorption, or electrokinetic adsorption to filter out pollutants.

The filters essentially filter out sediments, chlorine, trihalomethanes, pesticides, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) among others. They can be installed as standalone water treatment systems or as supplemental systems. In addition, their size and production capacity can be tailored to allow their deployment in industrial, commercial, or domestic water filtration applications.

In most instances, carbon block filters are employed together with other water filtration systems such as reverse osmosis systems. This increases the range of undesirable impurities filtered out consequently improving the water’s purity levels. NEWater has been manufacturing carbon block filters for over 20 years. Our filters are well known and revered for their exceptional quality, ease of use, and cost-efficiency.

➣How Do Carbon Block Water Filters Function?

They utilize uniformly porous carbon blocks as the primary filtration barrier. However, different impurities are filtered out by the carbon block filter distinctively. Underneath, we briefly look at the three primary mechanisms employed by carbon block water filters to effectively extract unwanted pollutants.

●      Mechanical filtration.

Mechanical filtration is inarguably the most prominent water filtration mechanism. This technique eliminates undesirable impurities through size-based exclusion. Mechanical filtration is quite similar to sieving. That is, raw water is passed through porous carbon blocks, and virtually all pollutants whose size surpasses the size of the pores are filtered out. This filtration technique is chiefly used to strain out sediments, colloids, and debris.

●      Physical adsorption.

Physical adsorption is a unique water filtration mechanism that utilizes activated carbon to attract or draw closer objectionable contaminants. Activated carbon deployed in water filters typically has an enormous surface area, which provides bigger room for impurity removal. To optimize the filter’s removal capacity, compressed carbon blocks are supplemented by special binders, which mitigate the masking of the carbon surface.

●      Electrokinetic adsorption.

Electrokinetic adsorption simply attracts specific impurities by controlling their molecular charge. This mechanism is primarily used in carbon block filters equipped with an outer wrap. Raw water is essentially forced through the outer wrap consequently giving the substance held in the outer wrap a positive charge. The positively charged material has a high affinity for anions hence certain anionic impurities are attracted to the cationic material. Here is a short video demonstrating how a carbon block water filter operates.

➣What Are the Primary Benefits of Carbon Block Filters?

These filters are quite popular water filtration units mainly due to their multiple benefits. If appropriately used, carbon block filters will undoubtedly bear returns that significantly outweigh their costs and limitations.

●      Superior filtration rate.

Carbon block water filters do not only effectively extract specific impurities, but they eliminate a plethora of objectionable pollutants. They extract sediments, a range of chemicals, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) among others. Specific impurities eliminated include, chlorine, pesticides, lead, asbestos, and cysts.

●      Ease of installation and operation.

Installing a carbon block filter is unsophisticated and time-efficient. Installation manuals are provided and you do not necessarily need to hire a professional to install the filters. In addition, they are quite easy and inexpensive to operate and maintain.

●      More palatable water.

Unpleasant tastes and odors in water are primarily caused by objectionable chemicals and gasses like hydrogen sulfide. Carbon block water filters eradicate chemicals and gasses responsible for these unpleasant tastes and smells thereby making your water more palatable.

●      Cost-efficiency.

Procuring and operating a carbon block water filter is mainly cost-efficient. As a matter of fact, carbon block filters are inarguably one of the most affordable water treatment systems. This can be attributed to the existence of carbon as a free and natural resource.

●      Mobility.

They are characteristically mobile water filtration systems. They are compact, light in weight, and easy to transport. Other additional benefits of carbon block water filters include;

• Easy filter replacement.
• Retention of beneficial minerals.
• Environmentally friendly.
• Longevity.

➣What Do Carbon Block Filters Do?

Carbon block water filters simply eject objectionable pollutants from water to provide fresh, potable water. They are mainly exploited as standalone water purification systems or integrated with supplemental water treatment systems. Typical carbon block water filters deployed as the main filtration systems eliminate undesirable chemicals, sediments, and organic compounds. They often employ varying mechanisms to eradicate these distinct pollutants. For instance, mechanical filtration is employed to filter out sediments based on size.

Chemical impurities are extracted through physical adsorption while objectionable ions are strained out through electro-kinetic adsorption. In addition, carbon block filters can be paired with other water purification systems to elevate the range of contaminants eliminated. When purifying drinking water, they come in handy especially when the water has an uncharacteristic bad odor and taste.

➣How Are Carbon Blocks Manufactured?

Carbon block is the primary filtration barrier deployed in carbon block water filters. Blocks of carbon can be manufactured from different raw materials. However, most modern carbon blocks are made from nutshells, bituminous coal, coconut shells, or wood. To manufacture top-level carbon blocks, either of the following two mechanisms can be utilized.

●      Compression molding.

Compression molding essentially produces compressed carbon blocks. The blocks are manufactured under extreme heat and high pressure in molds individually. They are later shrunk in size. This carbon block manufacturing process generates superior carbon blocks characterized by effective and steady filtration. In comparison, compression molding often incurs lower production expenses.

●      Extrusion.

Carbon blocks manufactured through the extrusion process are mainly referred to as extruded carbon blocks. Extrusion manufacturing typically blends carbon and other media using binders to create a long continuous block. The continuous carbon block is then trimmed to create smaller carbon blocks. Compared to compression molding manufacturing, extrusion manufacturing generates carbon blocks with a lower filtration capacity.

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➣What is the Difference Between Carbon Block Filters and Granular Activated Carbon Filters?

Granular activated carbon (GAC) filters are filtration units that primarily rely on loose carbon granules to filter out unwanted impurities. They are more proficient at eliminating aesthetic impurities such as organic chemicals responsible for awful tastes and odors. However, they are often utilized to extract other objectionable impurities including chlorine, Volatile Organic Compounds, insecticides, chloramine, and trihalomethanes among others.

Nonetheless, their removal capacity is relatively lower compared to that of carbon block filters. As such GAC filters are mainly used in water treatment applications whose quality demands are not too stringent. Alternatively, granular activated carbon filters are used as pretreatment units for carbon block water filters as well as other water treatment systems.

Both granular activated carbon filters and carbon block water filters however utilize adsorption to eliminate unwanted pollutants. In addition, they are both made from similar raw materials particularly coconut shells, wood, or bituminous coal. They can also be deployed in households, commercial enterprises, or industries. To determine the perfect carbon filter for your application, feel free to consult NEWater’s technicians.

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➣Do Carbon Block Filters Extract Unpleasant Smells and Tastes?

Yes. Bad tastes and odors in water are primarily caused by bacterial activity, hydrogen sulfide, and decaying organics. The hydrogen sulfide particularly gives water an unpleasant smell similar to that of rotten eggs. The majority of water-dependent applications cannot use water with an unpleasant smell or taste. These applications include drinking and cooking water, food processing, and laboratory applications.

Therein, it is important to filter out impurities responsible for the bad odors and tastes. Carbon block water filters as well as granular activated carbon filters are some of the most effective media filtration systems specialized to extract bad smells and tastes. They adsorb organic chemicals responsible for bad smells and tastes. This is in addition to removing volatile organic compounds, chlorine, and chloramine, which may leave the water with a bad smell and taste.

Carbon block filters are at times deployed to polish reverse osmosis permeate or filtered water generated by other water treatment systems. This is because of their unmatched ability to extract bad smells and tastes. They make drinking water more palatable and protect the consumer from illnesses caused by waterborne pollutants.

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➣Which Systems Can Be Used to Supplement Carbon Water Block Filters?

Water filtration systems are generally tailored to eliminate specific impurities from water. To overcome their limitations, most filters are often integrated with supplemental filters. Supplemental water filtration units can be employed in the pretreatment or post-treatment phase. Underneath, we are going to briefly talk about water systems that can be employed to supplement carbon block water filters.

●      Reverse osmosis systems.

Reverse osmosis systems are mainly used to refine filtered water generated by carbon block filters. However, carbon block filters can also be deployed to post-treat RO permeate. The integration of these two systems ensures that dissolved solids, chlorine, VOCs, pesticides, minerals, and unpleasant odors are effectively removed.

●      Granular activated carbon filters.

Granular activated carbon filters are often deployed as pretreatment systems for carbon block water filters. They utilize loose granular carbon to eliminate bad tastes and odors as well as other chemical pollutants.

●      Sediment filters.

Sediment filters are specialized media filters used to remove dirt, sediments, and suspended solids. They are frequently used to pretreat feed water before carbon block water filters are deployed. The prior removal of sediments helps prevent clogging of the porous carbon blocks.

●      UV water sterilizers.

UV water sterilizers are filtration systems mainly used to extract microbial pollution. Carbon block filters hardly eliminate microbial pathogens. As such, they are often supplemented by UV water sterilizers, which inactivate approximately 99.99% of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.

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➣When Should I Replace My Carbon Block Water Filter?

The life expectancy of carbon block filters primarily depends on the quality of raw materials, density, application, and humidity. However, most high-quality carbon block water filters necessitate replacement after 18 to 24 months of uninterrupted service. Filters equipped with denser carbon block layers are likely to outlast filters fitted with thin layers of the carbon block.

In addition, humidity can really impact the lifespan of carbon block filters. The recommended humidity levels should be within 60% to 70%. To determine if your filters need replacement, you can assess two parameters; the filter’s smell and the taste of the filtered water.

If you notice that your carbon block water filter has an unnatural or unpleasant smell, it might be time to substitute the filter. If you notice that the filtered water has a foul taste or smell, hastily replace the filter. This is an indication that the filter’s filtration capacity has shrunk and objectionable pollutants are passing through the carbon block water filter.

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