Refilling Jabsco AquaFilta with activated carbon granules?

[AntarcticPilot]

Does the 'silver impregnated' as specified by Jabsco make any difference? Can you get silver impregnated activated charcoal?

The answer is, "Yes". Carbon on it's own isn't disinfectant; it removes impurities, bugs etc. by adsorbing them on the surface of the microscopic pores. The result is that once the capacity of the carbon pores has been exceeded, a pure carbon filter can actually make things worse by acting as a reservoir of bugs. Silver is added as a disinfectant agent; the bugs etc. are adsorbed onto the surface of the carbon, wher the silver kills them.

 

[doug748]

It's brilliant ideas in threads like this that make this forum so useful.

Yes, well done northcave, brilliant. I always hated throwing those things away.

Here is another possible use for a bag of charcoal:

Shreddies

:- )


.

 

[MikeBz]

Ebay has it Silver Infused Active Coconut Carbon Loose Water Filter | eBay

Hmm, according to the listing:

Applications:

• Alcohol bleaching
• Alcohol purification
• Odor removal
• Eliminating micro-contaminants
• Absorption of of phenols, fats and proteins

And then a bit further down:

• One package is sufficient to filter 50-60 litres of distillate. Thus it can be used repeatedly until the maximum amount of distillate ... has been filtered.

So one 2 litre packet is good for filtering just 60 litres of moonshine?

 

[Neeves]

As far as I remember activated carbons are made very different specifications designed to remove different items, purifying water being different to odour control.

Activated carbon is also based on different raw materials, coal being one, coconut shell another.

As the Pilot says they are simply a filter, they don't magically remove the impurity - but simply store it (until they are filled - then read the Pilots post again).

As its carbon - you can recycle the clogged filter material on your charcoal BBQ

Jonathan

 

[thinwater]

FYI, carbon removes chlorine by a different mechanism than organic contaminants. The carbon is sacrificially oxidized and the chlorine becomes chloride. In fact, the behavior of carbon filters being fed chlorinated water is quite complex for this reason.

Another important factor is residence time; it takes time for contaminants to difuse into the pores. Rated removal efficiencies are always tied to flow rate, and the test rate is often slower than the tap.

 

[Tim Good]

Just bringing this one back up. I am changing my filter again and looking at my old Jabsco filter. Last time I dropped it on the floor and the sealed top came away. That how I discovered you could refill it.

Today I’m faced with getting the sealed top off intentionally rather than accidently.

I tried dropping it on the floor a few times, but that didn’t work. But it did work however he’s turning it upside down and banging it in a pan obviously there is a bit of water in an old filter so you don’t want the water and all the wet charcoal pouring out onto your nice clean worktop but banging it a few times in a pan seems to break the plastic lugs and it comes off fairly cleanly