# What does a carbon filter take out of town water



## Jkpentreath (21/4/14)

Hi I purchased a carbon filter system like a puratap. Just wondering what the water numbers will be after I run barossa water through it. Every pale I have made to date is quite dark in colour. I was hoping to try pilsner.


----------



## heyhey (22/4/14)

There is no reliable answer to that question.


----------



## verysupple (22/4/14)

heyhey said:


> There is no reliable answer to that question.


Well, this is what Wiki has to say:


> Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), taste and odor from water. They are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds.


Whether Wiki is "reliable" or not is another issue. But it sounds like carbon filtering is quite well understood. So if you spend more than the 30 sec it took me to find that, I'm sure you'll find a reliable answer.


----------



## heyhey (28/4/14)

That wasn't the question though. He asked what the numbers would be. That depends on what the ability is of the activated carbon in the carbon filter. Its easy to work out what will be filtered, but its much harder to quantify the filtering.


----------



## verysupple (28/4/14)

If by "the numbers" he means mineral concentrations (Na, Mg, Ca, SO4, Cl2 etc, which is what brewers look at), then they will be unchanged. So he just needs to get hold of the water report for his area. If he means how much chlorine will be left in it then that obviously depends on how much the filter has been used etc. because it will become less effective near the end of it's usable life. But the fact that he mentions the colour of the beer he wants to make leads me to think he meant mineral content.


----------



## O-beer-wan-kenobi (28/4/14)

verysupple said:


> If by "the numbers" he means mineral concentrations (Na, Mg, Ca, SO4, Cl2 etc, which is what brewers look at), then they will be unchanged. So he just needs to get hold of the water report for his area. If he means how much chlorine will be left in it then that obviously depends on how much the filter has been used etc. because it will become less effective near the end of it's usable life. But the fact that he mentions the colour of the beer he wants to make leads me to think he meant mineral content.


I have been looking for the answer to this question for a while.

I use a 2 stage carbon filter for drinking and my brewing water because of the strong chlorine smell and taste, and wondered if this strips out any other minerals in my water.
So If I go by my water report, assuming it is correct, there should be no change when using a carbon filter?


----------



## verysupple (28/4/14)

Well, it might filter out a small amount of the minerals, but the seasonal variation of the water supply etc probably has a larger effect. For our purposes where a few ppm here or there doesn't really matter we can just assume carbon filters don't remove minerals.


----------



## Jkpentreath (5/5/14)

Thanks for that. Was hoping for a adelade brewer to pipe up, got the low calcium soft water , sits around 8 ph.


----------

