Q.  What makes eSpring unique?
A. Activated pressed carbon.

Q. What is activated pressed carbon?
A. Activated means the carbon has been processed to create pores within the carbon itself. This increases the carbon's surface area. Pressed means the carbon has been compacted into a porous block, using special patented technology. When water comes in contact with the activated carbon, chemicals and particulates are trapped in the pores. The walls of these porous channels will also adsorb (see glossary) various organic contaminants. As porosity and surface area increase, so does the activated carbon's ability to filter contaminants.

Q. Will the carbon filter remove all contaminants?
A. Activated carbon readily bonds to and adsorbs many organic carbon-based compounds such as pesticides and herbicides. It does not have an equivalent removal capacity for inorganic compounds such as iron, lime, nitrates, salt or soluble heavy metals like chromium or cadmium. The carbon used in the eSpring filter has a special distribution of three pore types: Macropores are large pores that remove larger compounds (atomic mass more than 10 000 units). Transition pores remove medium-sized compounds with atomic mass around 500 units, such as pesticides. Micropores remove small compounds with atomic mass less than 100 units, like THMs

Q. Why does the filter allow minerals to pass through?
A. The carbon in the filter bonds with organic, carbon-based compounds. Minerals and other inorganic compounds do not have a carbon base, therefore a bond usually will not form with the carbon and the minerals will remain in the water and pass through the filter.

Q. Which inorganic compounds will the eSpring Water Treatment System remove?
A. It is possible for a well-designed carbon filter to remove certain inorganic contaminants. Our company has documented that its carbon filter can effectively remove lead, mercury and radon. There are complicated reasons why the eSpring cartridge is effective at removing lead and other select inorganic compounds. But in simplest terms, removal results from the limited attraction these materials have to carbon combined with other water chemistry.

Our company has evaluated the eSpring Water Treatment System for the removal of other inorganic materials, but to date, only a few inorganic materials have been certified to meet the str ict guidelines that have been established. We will not claim removal of any material unless we are certain of its removal capacity at the end of filter life.

In general, any broad claims a carbon filter marketer makes about inorganic compound removal should be questioned. We do not know of any carbon system that is capable of removing a wide range of inorganic materials throughout the life of the filter.