Is Carbon Filtration Dechlorination Necessary?

[OscarRuns]

Do I really need a carbon filter for my home water filtration system? I am thinking of getting a Hellenbrand system installed with an Ecowater RO system. Contemplating adding in a carbon filter as well. We have city water (hard water). Is carbon filtration really needed? What are pros and cons?

Also, for a family of 4 (3.5 bathrooms used regularly, but also have a 4th bathroom in the basement), master bath has multihead shower.....what size valve/what capacity unit should I be getting?

Thank you for your expertise! I am so glad I came across this site!

 

[Reach4]

I don't know. One thing people put in carbon tanks for is to remove chloromine or chlorine, and which the water company uses can impact which kind carbon gets used. This can also remove some other things too. I would expect if the town were getting water from a river where many towns upstream have been putting their effluent, there might be some heavy metals to remove. For deep wells, where you get high hardness, there would seem to be less worry about such things, but perhaps some arsenic and radon. So I just don't know, but I may be talking myself into it.

I have not read studies on this. I have a tank using Centaur Carbon media, which is a type of catalytic carbon. It is there to remove H2S and iron. But I was also pleasantly surprised that my lab water tests show it dropped arsenic from a level to considered safe to a level below the threshold of the water test. My well water does not have chloromine or chlorine to remove.

 

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[OscarRuns]

I don't know. One thing people put in carbon tanks for is to remove chloromine or chlorine, and which the water company uses can impact which kind carbon gets used. This can also remove some other things too. I would expect if the town were getting water from a river where many towns upstream have been putting their effluent, there might be some heavy metals to remove. For deep wells, where you get high hardness, there would seem to be less worry about such things, but perhaps some arsenic and radon. So I just don't know, but I may be talking myself into it.

I have not read studies on this. I have a tank using Centaur Carbon media, which is a type of catalytic carbon. It is there to remove H2S and iron. But I was also pleasantly surprised that my lab water tests show it dropped arsenic from a level to considered safe to a level below the threshold of the water test. My well water does not have chloromine or chlorine to remove.

Since we have city water, our water is chlorinated. But I am not sure if we have chlorine or chloramine in it by the time it gets to us. I read on here that some carbon filters are not great at getting chloramine out?

 

[Reach4]

Since we have city water, our water is chlorinated. But I am not sure if we have chlorine or chloramine in it by the time it gets to us. I read on here that some carbon filters are not great at getting chloramine out?

From what I read, granulated activated carbon (GAC) is good at removing chlorine, but not chloromine. For chloromine you use catalytic carbon, and that may call for larger amounts. I think the catalytic carbon works with either. Tank sizing is hard to do with calculations , and a tank sized similarly to the softener is often chosen. There is a limited life in this chloromine/chlorine service, with 3 years sometimes cited. The implication seems to be that the carbon adsorbs the material and the storage ability is limited. Home users don't have the ability to re-activate as some commercial/government users might.

If you get the carbon, you want it to be backwashed periodically. You would locate the tank and connect it in such a way to make swapping media easy enough later. I am thinking that flex stainless lines for the connections to the controller would help this so that re-positioning of the re-loaded tank to the exact same spot would be required.

If I had this, I would get some low range test strips to check for residual maybe every 6 months???

I have no experience with this stuff. Just trying to imagine how I might address it. My carbon tank is connected with rigid copper pipe. My media is said to last about 8 years in this H2S+iron service. I am hoping for longer since my levels of those in my raw water are pretty low.

 

[ditttohead]

The arsenic reduction is likely not done by the carbon but rather through co-precipitation onto the ferric iron.

Do not get a carbon tank without a backwash valve, ignore what the companies try to tell you... this is simply to save a few bucks. Backwashing the carbon once a month is adequate and necessary to keep the carbon from getting nasty. I may post a video in the future of an extraction of a 1-3 year old carbon tank that has never been backwashed... these things get nasty. When we extract carbon from a backwashing system the condition of the media etc is usually excellent. Get the RO from the same company you get the softener and carbon tank from.

 

[OscarRuns]

The arsenic reduction is likely not done by the carbon but rather through co-precipitation onto the ferric iron.

Do not get a carbon tank without a backwash valve, ignore what the companies try to tell you... this is simply to save a few bucks. Backwashing the carbon once a month is adequate and necessary to keep the carbon from getting nasty. I may post a video in the future of an extraction of a 1-3 year old carbon tank that has never been backwashed... these things get nasty. When we extract carbon from a backwashing system the condition of the media etc is usually excellent. Get the RO from the same company you get the softener and carbon tank from.

Interestingly, my local company is doing softener and carbon tank from Hellenbrand and RO will be thru Ecowater. I will ask them about the backwash valve. I have to do this MONTHLY??

 

[ditttohead]

It does it automatically. If you have heavy sediment then every few days to weekly is typically adequate. Low sediment amounts... monthly is fine. The valve does this for you.

 

[Reach4]

It should go without saying, but whoever sets this up should set the regeneration time to not happen while the softener is regenerating. Regenerating (backwashing) the carbon tank is probably 10 minutes or less. Softener regeneration will run about 1.5 hours, give or take.

 

[OscarRuns]

Do

From what I read, granulated activated carbon (GAC) is good at removing chlorine, but not chloromine. For chloromine you use catalytic carbon, and that may call for larger amounts. I think the catalytic carbon works with either. Tank sizing is hard to do with calculations , and a tank sized similarly to the softener is often chosen. There is a limited life in this chloromine/chlorine service, with 3 years sometimes cited. The implication seems to be that the carbon adsorbs the material and the storage ability is limited. Home users don't have the ability to re-activate as some commercial/government users might.

If you get the carbon, you want it to be backwashed periodically. You would locate the tank and connect it in such a way to make swapping media easy enough later. I am thinking that flex stainless lines for the connections to the controller would help this so that re-positioning of the re-loaded tank to the exact same spot would be required.

If I had this, I would get some low range test strips to check for residual maybe every 6 months???

I have no experience with this stuff. Just trying to imagine how I might address it. My carbon tank is connected with rigid copper pipe. My media is said to last about 8 years in this H2S+iron service. I am hoping for longer since my levels of those in my raw water are pretty low.

My company I am considering uses a Centaur Carbon that removes the chloramine in their city but said it will also remove the chlorine which is in our city's water (so I am guessing it is a catalytic carbon?). I am not sure if they plan on installing it as a separate tank or as a filter in the softener itself. I vaguely remember them citing it as a plus not to have ANOTHER tank so that it is less parts that could malfunction/break over time. Thus I didn't even consider where they would connect the tank or with what type of lines! And I didn't even think about replacing the carbon. All good questions - thank you! Do you have any recommendations of companies for reverse osmosis?