Brita Filters

I just saw a great new commercial by Brita that pictured miles and miles of empty water bottles lining the coasts and forests of the world. There were plenty of stats regarding waste and sustainability too. I've got to say that the Brita line of faucet attachments and filtration pitchers is top of the line. In fact, I used to have one. So my post today is about the stuff inside... activated carbon.

What is it? Basically its carbon (the natural element from the earth) that has been processed ("activated") to become extremely porous which increases its surface area. The media then acts like a sponge for contaminants (colors and odors) to adsorb to. If you looked at the stuff under a microscope, it would look like another world with huge black craters and valleys. The combined surface area of a tablespoon of activated carbon is the size of football field (according to the Water Quality Association). Anyway, the stuff is like magic. It can even take out chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). One of our common applications is to treat areas with gas spills. Gasoline had an additive called MTBE (which has been replaced with ethanol from corn... another post). Not only is MTBE a carcinogen, it is also soluble in water. That means that it can get into the ground water and flow straight into your well. Anyway, we put tons of carbon filtration units in homes and business around major gas spills in the Hudson Valley. Point is, AC is awesome and Brita found a way to get many people to give their water a clean taste and smell. And hears the downside. If you don't change you filters, they can breed bacteria. The monthly maintenance is constant and those filters aren't cheap. Also, I think the ones that screw onto your faucet are ugly. Another point is that they don't take out anywhere near all the potential contaminants of your water. The most advanced system for drinking water filtration is Reverse Osmosis, which I'll write about another time. A very popular alternative these days is the Aqua Flo two stage carbon filtration unit (http://www.drink-your-tap-water.com/ecdrwasy.html).

The unit mounts under your sink and comes with a designated tap just for your drinking water. The filter has two carbon filters (a carbon "block" and an activated carbon "cartridge"). The maintenance is annual and it looks very cool. Comment if you have one and let us know what you think!