catalytic carbon is a specially treated form of activated carbon—not an entirely different material.
Activated Catalytic
| Works mainly by adsorption: contaminants attach to its enormous internal surface | Combines adsorption with increased catalytic activity, helping certain chemical reactions occur |
|---|---|
| Usually effective for free chlorine, tastes, odours and many organic chemicals | Generally performs better with chloramine, hydrogen sulphide and some difficult oxidants |
| Performance depends heavily on pore structure, source material and contact time | Performance depends on those same factors plus how its surface has been modified |
| Usually less expensive | Usually more expensive |
Why catalytic carbon is better for chloramines
Ordinary activated carbon can reduce free chlorine quite readily. Chloramine is more persistent and reacts much more slowly.
Catalytic carbon has a modified surface that accelerates the breakdown of chloramine. In simplified terms, it helps separate the chlorine component from the ammonia component and then reduces the chlorine.
But there is an important qualification: reducing chloramine does not necessarily remove all the resulting ammonia. A complete system may require additional media or biological treatment if ammonia removal is also necessary.
We chose catalytic because we know many Australian water supplies contain chloramines.
How catalytic carbon is produced
Manufacturers generally alter activated carbon through carefully controlled thermal or chemical treatment. This creates more catalytically active surface sites while preserving its porous adsorptive structure.
What catalytic carbon doesn’t automatically mean!
Catalytic carbon is not automatically superior for every contaminant. It does not, merely by being catalytic, prove better removal of:
- PFAS;
- fluoride;
- nitrate;
- dissolved minerals;
- heavy metals;
- microorganisms; or
- microplastics.
Those depend on the carbon’s particular structure, other filtration media, physical pore size and finished-product testing.
The simplest explanation
Activated carbon is principally an adsorbent. Catalytic carbon is activated carbon whose surface has been enhanced to adsorb contaminants and accelerate particular reactions—most importantly chloramine reduction.
So: why did we choose to use it? Because every filtration component layer is predicated on one idea. Give the customer the best in the world.