Filter, filter on the wall, whose the fairest of them all?

Last Wednesday Dr. Knappe shared his test data on home filtration methods.  We posted the data from his slides on our website.  Click here to view them.

There is a lot of discussion surrounding which filtration method for home use is best at filtering out the toxins specific to the Cape Fear River.  While we are not advocating any specific filtering method, we know this issue is important to those in the community who are fortunate enough to afford home filtration.  We also feel having access to the most relevant information is important.

That's why we asked Dr. Knappe if bituminous coal-based Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filters (for home use) will remove GenX and C3-ether from finished tap water. Dr. Knappe is one of the leading scientists guiding research on GenX and C3-ether.

C3-ether is the chemical we know even less about and it is showing up at levels 50 - 100 times HIGHER than GenX. There are NO health standards for C3-ether. There are even less analytical standards to test C3-ether--it is just THAT unknown.

What we DO know is Chemours kept discharging C3-ether into our drinking water supply along with GenX.

Here is what Dr. Knappe says about GAC filters for home use:

"I expect a bituminous coal-based GAC would remove GenX for a relatively short time. But it would not work for the C3 ether, which is essentially non-adsorbable. If people want to protect themselves just against GenX, but not against the other fluorochems, then a bituminous coal based GAC with frequent GAC replacement will work.

We have tested a whole house filter that contained GAC and one whole house filter that contained GAC and IX.

The combination of GAC/IX was reasonably effective for GenX and PFMOAA (C3-ether) removal (compare tap to post-GAC/IX) while the GAC system was not. We are returning to resample these systems to learn more about them. For example, we do not know right now whether the GAC or the IX filter was doing the work in the GAC/IX system. For the GAC only system, which was only one day in service, we are wondering whether the GAC was perhaps not yet fully wetted, which may have adversely affected its performance.

Right now, reverse osmosis (RO) is the only proven home filter that can take out GenX AND the C3 ether."

Here are the results for RO filters from Dr. Knappe's tests:

We understand there are concerns related to using RO filters.  Ultimately, we shouldn't have to buy expensive filters for our tap water.  We feel Chemours should #DoTheRightThing and provide ALL impacted communities with clean, safe drinking water.  We also think Chemours should pay to clean up the mess they made.  If you agree, click here to sign our petition to Chemours.