By “medical grade” carbon, New Water Innovations is acknowledging there are different grades of carbon used in filtration. Typical whole house systems use an 8-30 mesh activated carbon. Carbon that is used in “dialysis” uses 20-40 mesh, which is more expensive and effective. NWI uses the 20-40 mesh carbon used in dialysis (i.e. medical grade).
20 to 40 mesh carbon has a larger surface area for an equal amount of carbon. In addition, the NWI filter uses a 13 x 54 inch tank (14.3 cubic feet capacity). NWI uses 2.5 cubic feet of carbon suitable for filtering 3,750,000 gallons of water. In order to get the maximum life from the carbon, it should be back-flushed periodically. This is to re-bed the carbon and avoid water channeling. This accounts for a 10 – 15 year life. The back-flush cycle on the NWI is set for our water starved climate to use only 88 gals every 10 days. Audrey says, “The back-flush water is perfectly good…I discharge my NWI unit to my tomato garden.”
When buying filtration it is important to look at the cost of ownership.
Not all carbon is created equal
