Hutch
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Hi,
Yes, its carbon that does the taste and odour removal if that's what you are after (including chlorine), and, as Ross says, go for solid activated carbon rather than granulated, etc.
The issue with the pore size on the filters is more about microbes, which get 'strained' out by the carbon or other medium designed for the things that are suspended in the water as oppossed to the things that are actually in solution.
The carbon works by "adsorption". This is a bit different from absorbtion, but basically that taste and odour stuff is attracted to the carbon and clings to it, being left behind.
By contrast, the microbes get strained out. Common microbial concerns on the drinking water end are Crypto (Cryptosporidium parvum) and Giardia (Giardia lamblia). Crypto is what was thought to be in the water with the Sydney scare and has been associated with several really nasty urban water supply outbreaks, which included fatalaties. Giardia is a common thing for backpackers to get and can be a pretty nasty long-term gut problem for the infected.
Both of these protozoans appear in water as cysts that are larger than 1 micron, but the Crypto cyst is flexible and can 'fold' to about 1 micron. For this reason, you'll get recommendations to get a sub-micron filter. The trick there is to make sure that the pore size rating is absolute. This means that there are not any pores larger than that and that nothing bigger than a micron should be able to get through.
With a municipal water supply like Brisbane's, the risk of microbial contamination is pretty low. As you are brewing with it anyhow (boiling), really not a big issue. Shouldn't have any problems with 0.5 micron clogging off a municipal supply. If you do, it is most likely crap coming from your pipes (as opposed to the water supplies).
I did a bit of shopping a while back for some ceramic carbon candle filters for our urn and came across PSI Filters. Prices were best around and I was very happy with the service. (not afiliated, etc.)
Cheers, Brian
Thanks for the link Brian :icon_cheers:
I think the CPC-10 looks the business out of that lot. 75,000Ltrs chlorine treatment, 0.5um Nominal filtration, and pretty high flow rate is a great combination, at $40 each!
One thing you'd need to check is whether your water is treated with "Chloramine" or "Chlorine", and then chose the appropriate filter to suit your supply, otherwise you may not get the best result from your filter.
Hutch.