In response to all of the accidents and incidents involving oil spills many people have started asking about ways to filter oil and other hydrocarbons out of their drinking water supply.

Does anyone make a big blue oil filter?

As a matter of fact, a company by the name of Pentek manufactures a product called the Pentek OAC-20BB Oil Absorbing Filter which fits conveniently in a standard 20 inch Big Blue housing.

The Pentek OAC-20BB Oil Absorbing Filter uses a modified cellulose-based filter that attracts and chemically bonds with specific hydrocarbons and pollutants such as dissolved oils in water. This filter cartridge also has the part number 155596-03 associated with it.

This product provides instant absorption of up to 90% of total hydrocarbons in a single pass, can operate at high flow rates, result in low pressure drop, and can hold 250% to 300% of its own weight in hydrocarbons.

Where might the Pentek OAC-20BB Oil Absorbing Filter come in handy?

This filter would benefit anyone wishing to remove oils and hydrocarbons from water. Examples of locations where one might expect to find hydrocarbons in water include:

• Around gas and oil facilities
• Bilge water entering/exiting ships
• Surface/Rain water runoff from truck stops, airports, parking lots, major roadways, etc.
• Near automobile/truck service & repair shops
• In areas near machine shops
• Regions surrounding facilities housing industrial processes
• Runoff from car and truck wash bays

Specifications of the Pentek OAC-20BB Filter

• Overall Dimensions of 20″ x 4.5″
• Inner Core Diameter of 1.110″
• Rated for a Max Temp of 125 F
• Rated for a Flow Rate of 5 to 10 GPM
• Pressure Drop Range of 0.2 to 1.0 psi

Occasionally we will receive an inquiry from someone looking to remove specific contaminants from their drinking water. ‘Debi’ sent an email asking:

Looking to purchase a countertop water filter. Are you able to recommend a countertop water filter that removes VOCs, Alachlor and benzene?

As a matter of fact, Debi, we DO know of a countertop water filter capable of removing alachlor and benzene. It does a whole lot more, too!

Certified to NSF/ANSI 42 (aesthetic) and NSF/ANSI 53 (health-related), the Aquasana Countertop AQ-4000 Dual Filter Water Filter also possesses a California Department of Health Certificate (#06-1792).

What does all of that mean to the average person? Simply put, it means the Aquasana AG-4000 Countertop Water Filter removes and/or reduces contaminants responsible for ruining water’s aesthetic properties (i.e. taste, odor, etc.) AND contaminants that can adversely affect a person’s health (i.e. alachlor, benzene, THM’s, cryptosporidium, VOC’s, etc.)

As a direct result of this unit’s excellent performance, Consumers Digest Magazine labeled it a “Best Buy” in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. (source)

Making use of an innovative and exclusive dual filter design comprised of carbon filtration, sub-micron filtration and ion exchange media, the Aquasana AQ-4000 does an exceptional job of removing chlorine‚ lead‚ synthetic chemicals‚ VOCs, THMs‚ MTBE, Turbidity, and Cysts (chlorine resistant parasites) and other unwanted drinking water contaminants.

While reverse osmosis units have a tendency to remove trace minerals required by the human body for optimal health and leaves water tasting ‘flat’, the Aquasana AQ-4000′s selective filtration process allows them to pass through resulting in healthier, better tasting drinking water.

Included with the unit you will receive the necessary filter cartridges, a chrome faucet diverter and easy-to-read installation instructions.

With regard to installation, the Aquasana AQ-4000 installs in just a few minutes and will allow you to easily switch from filtered to unfiltered with the touch of a button.

• Provides high quality, purified water at a rate of up to 30 gallons per hour.

• Housing manufactured using BPA-free ABS plastic.

• Filters last for between 500 and 1,000 gallons depending upon condition of source water, or approximately 6 months.

• Low replacement filter costs… approximately $48 for a complete set of filters.

• Removes 99% of chlorine, 99% VOCs, 99% lead, 99% THMs, 99.99% Cysts, 99% Lindane, 99% Atrazine, 99% Alachlor, 99% Benzene, 93% MTBE… and many more contaminants (see full list)

For those of you who don’t want to clutter your counter space with a water filter, you can also get the Aquasana AQ-4000 as an undercounter model which comes complete w/ an attractive, lead-free faucet and all the required accessories (fittings, tubing, brackets, etc.) to install the system. See below.

Certified to NSF/ANSI 61 standard, this water softener resin media works for both residential and commercial applications.

How Does the Softener Media Work?

This particular Water Softener Media operates using a widely used cation exchange mechanism like many other resins on the market.

Advantage of This Softener Media?

As a convenience, water softener owners may regenerate this media with either potassium chloride or sodium chloride salt, though use of potassium chloride for the task drastically reduces the amount of sodium content discharged in the softeners’ backwash streams. This matters a lot in states like California which have tried to outlaw water softeners because of their sodium discharges into the environment.

If using sodium chloride to perform media regeneration, backwash must get discharged into a sewer system.

One other perk of this type of media: It also removes up to 4 ppm of iron from the water it treats (if the water contains iron.

Crystal Quest pitcher replacement filter

Manufacturer: Crystal Quest
Model Number: CQE-RC

4 stages of convenient filtration with a 2,000 gallon capacity.

In stages 1 and 2 KDF55 and KDF85 media reduce iron, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, other dissolved metals, and harmful bacteria.

Stage 3 features an ion exchange resin that reduces heavy metals (such as lead, copper, aluminum) and lowers water hardness.

The fourth and final stage, a bed of granulated activated carbon (GAC) reduces chlorine by 99.9%, gets rid of bad tastes and odors, reduces pesticides and chemicals that are linked to cancer risks (i.e. benzene, THM’s, toxaphene).

How do you know if you need a water filter?

The answer, quite simply, involves testing your water. You can either test it yourself using a home water testing kit like the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe… or you can have a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs analyze your water.

In cases where homeowners suspect contamination, we always suggest using a certified water testing lab. Better to play it safe than sorry because… It’s your water, your health… and your LIFE!

Looking for a way to supply your office or home with safe, clean drinking water… but don’t want the hassle of changing bulky, heavy and otherwise cumbersome 5 gallon tanks all the time?

If so, then the Sharp Ultrafiltration Bottleless Water Cooler may solve your dilemma. It contains four replaceable filters that have an average lifespan of approximately 2 years and hooks up directly to the cold water line in your home or office.

Able to provide an office of thirty people with a continuous supply of safe, clean and thoroughly filter hot and cold water, this unit works well, looks good, and will NOT require you to sign any monthly or yearly service contracts with water delivery companies. Also keep in mind that monthly service contracts will run upwards of $50 per month and you will have change the heavy 5 gallon jugs each time one runs dry. Each jug weighs approximately 50 pounds. Not fun!

The Sharp Ultrafiltration Bottleless Water Cooler can provide freshly purified hot water for teas and other warm drinks on command… something many water coolers using bottles simply cannot do!

4 Stages of Water Filtration

In this unit drinking water travels through 4 separate water filters, each designed to remove specific contaminants. This intense amount of filtration produces crystal clear, fresh and tasty water on a continuous basis – with no bottles to buy!

• Stage 1 – A sediment filter which removes 99.99% of microbiological cysts, cryptosporidium, giardia, and ‘particles’ from the water.

• Stage 2 – A granulated activated carbon (GAC) cartridge effectively absorbs a wide variety of organic contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals linked to cancer (such as THMs and benzene), pesticides (like atrazine and simazine), herbicides, PCBs, and chlorine (removes 99.9%).

  The activated carbon cartridge also reduces MTBEs and removes bad taste and odor from drinking water.

• Stage 3 – An UltraFiltration (UF) membrane removes synthetic organic compounds ranging in size from 0.0001 to 0.005 microns in size, bacteria, viruses, colloids, and waterborne parasites. This stage also removes and/or greatly reduces salts and water hardness.

• Stage 4 – A multi-stage filter which removes hundreds of other potentially harmful or aesthetically displeasing contaminants (if present in the water) and puts a final ‘polishing’ on the water.

Additional Details About This Water Cooler

Before shipping to a customer, each unit gets tested for a period of 72 hours, the unit as a whole carries a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty (excluding replaceable filter cartridges), the unit’s compressor carries a 3-year warranty, and the unit comes with a set of filter cartridges.

With regard to replacement costs for the filter cartridges, as of the date we posted this blog entry a full set of replacement cartridges, which ought to last 2 or more years, cost approximately $160 for a complete set of 4.

No matter what water filtration system you have, eventually you will HAVE to replace a filter cartridge or replace the entire filter if you purchased a disposable filter.

For those of you opted for a more long-term drinking water filtration solution such as a Kinetico® Water Filter System, the GE Osmonics® Purtrex PX05 9 7/8″ replacement filter will work just fine. In fact, it may even work better than the filter cartridge that came with your system.

The Purtrex PX05 9 7/8″ filter has lower density at the surface with progressively higher density towards the center which helps it capture particles throughout the entire depth of the filter — as opposed to filters of uniform density which may only collect contaminants on their exteriors.

This replacement filter also meets FDA Title 21 requirements for food and beverage contact and incinerates down to trace ash for easy disposal.

You can also use the Purtrex 5 Micron Sediment Filter in place of the following cartridges:

• American Plumber WP5
• Aqua-Pure AP110
• Aqua-Pure AP010
• Bunn S5-10
• Bunn ED-S-1
• Cornelius COR120
• Cornelius COR105
• Culligan P5
• Cuno CFS110
• Ecolab 9320-1135
• Everpure DEV910908
• Flotec P5 155014-43
• Manitowoc K-00173
• Manitowoc K-00069
• NuCalgon 4712-87
• Pentek P5
• Puremark PFS105
• Selecto 101-230
• Shurflo 15-052-00
• Shurflo SF31-SEDS

A quick look at the arsenic map on Arsenic-Test-Kit.Com will show you that arsenic can appear in groundwater all across the Continental United States and in some areas naturally occurring arsenic levels in ground water greatly exceed the 10 ppb (parts per billion) limit set forth by the USEPA several years ago.

Want to know if your drinking or well water contains dissolved arsenic in concentrations greater then recommended by the USEPA? At-home test kits such as the Arsenic Quick Test Kits for Drinking Water work well as a field screening tool, but the final word ought to come from a certified water testing lab such as National Testing Labs… or you can find lists of certified water testing labs in your state here.

As more and more people become aware of the fact that levels of arsenic in well water can fluctuate with the changing of seasons, after periods of heavy rain and in periods of drought, the demand for arsenic removal systems for residential and commercial use continues to rise.

One of the most common methods of arsenic removal requires the use of a specific type of water filter media, an example of which is a nano-particle based selective iron oxide resin media designed to remove arsenic (arsenate and arsenite) from water.

A quality arsenic removal resin of that nature will have passed all testing and quality requirements outlined in the NSF/ANSI 61 standard.

While the debate over public water system fluoridation rages on,

    – Arsenic and Fluoride Still a Problem

    – Fluoride Exposure Linked to Sperm Damage

    – Fluoride in Drinking Water Facts

    – More Information on Fluoride in Drinking Water

… more and more people install filters to remove fluoride in their homes, offices and places of business.

While some fluoride removal systems use replaceable filter cartridges and/or reverse osmosis membranes, larger units and whole house systems use special filtration media that must get replaced every so often.

A good quality fluoride removal water filter media will work using both adsorption and chemical reaction and not rely exclusively on an ion exchange reaction only.

The newest fluoride removal water filter media carried by FilterWater.Com contains a synthetic aluminum oxide adsorbent media, a resin designed specifically to have a high affinity for Fluoride, Lead and Arsenic.

The most common complaint people have about their shower water: “It smells like a swimming pool in my shower stall! Yuck!”

Apparently many people find it difficult to enjoy the subtle scents of flowers, fruits and other pleasant smelling things infused into their shower products with chlorine vapors in their nostrils.

People also complain that chlorinated bath and shower water dries out their skin, irritates their eyes, and makes their hair brittle.

For those reasons alone many people want the chlorine removed from their shower water… but other, more serious reasons may exist for getting chlorine out of the water. Studies have shown that taking frequent, long and hot showers using chlorinated water may pose a health risk over time.

In the enclosed shower stall, chlorine vaporizes where it is inhaled. To a lesser degree, dermal absorption also occurs. As chlorine is added to kill pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, the highly reactive chlorine combines with fatty acids and carbon fragments to form a variety of toxic compounds. Medical studies suggest a link between absorption and inhalation of chlorine in the shower environment, with elevated risks for diseases and serious illnesses. Showering in chlorinated water may also cause pre-existing conditions, such as asthma and eczema, to become exacerbated. ( source )

At one point in time installing a shower filter for chlorine removal meant having to install an unattractive, bulky shower head… but not anymore.

Advances in technology have reduced the size of shower filters and you can even get handheld models that have filters built right into the handles. Below you will see examples of handheld shower heads manufactured by Sprite Industries along with a set of replacement filters.

Sprite Industries uses a combination of two redox filtration media called Chlorgon and KDF-55 in the above filters to effectively reduce or substantially remove chlorine, iron oxides (rust) and dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas.

You can find other Sprite Industries water quality improvement products listed on the IsoPureWater.Com web site.

Many people don’t know this, but cartridge filter systems actually do a pretty good job of removing particles from water — when installed correctly and the actual filter cartridges themselves get cleaned at the right times.

So NATURALLY that makes one wonder, “Hmmm…. When should I clean my cartridge filter?” So glad you asked because we happen to have a pretty good answer to that question!

It is time to clean the filters when you notice a decrease in the pressure from your jets, or when the pressure in your filter tank increases by 8 psi from when the filter was newly installed.

Sounds pretty obvious, right? Yeah… It does. But now HOW should you clean the cartridge filters now that you know WHEN to clean them?

In order to clean the filter, first remove it from its canister and use a garden hose to dislodge any debris between the pleats. Soak the filter in commercially prepared filter cleaner, or spray with the same to remove organic material and oils.

To remove stains soak overnight in a solution of one quart bleach and 5 gallons water. Thoroughly rinse the cartridge with fresh water and reinstall it into the canister. Be sure to follow manufacturer’s directions for installing the filter.

DO NOT use a high-pressure car wash wand, a stiff brush or acid wash to clean the filter cartridges as these methods can damage the filter media.

Yep. Now you know when and how to clean your cartridge filters… but what happens if you accidentally rip the media or the dog gets hold of the thing and uses it as a chew toy?

Sorry to say this, but you need to get a new cartridge filter. Take a look at these replacement cartridge filters and find one to fit your system.