Activated Carbon Filtration works by attracting and holding certain chemicals as water passes through it. Activated Carbon (AC) is a highly porous material; therefore, it has an extremely high surface area for contaminant adsorption. AC is made of tiny clusters of carbon atoms stacked upon one another. The carbon source is a variety of materials, such as peanut shells or coal. The raw carbon source is slowly heated in the absence of air to produce a high carbon material. The carbon is activated by passing oxidizing gases through the material at extremely high temperatures. The activation process produces the pores that result in such high adsorptive properties.

The adsorption process depends on the following factors:

• Physical properties of the AC, such as pore size distribution and surface area
• The chemical nature of the carbon source, or the amount of oxygen and hydrogen associated with it
• Chemical composition and concentration of the contaminant
• The temperature and pH of the water
• The flow rate or time exposure of water to AC