Non-Activated Charcoal Effectiveness
Me wearing and eating my homemade non-activated charcoal.

People often assume that activated charcoal is safe to consume whereas non-activated charcoal is not safe. This assumption is false. I have never found a single source that suggests non-activated charcoal is unsafe. According to many sources, the only difference between activated charcoal vs. non-activated charcoal is that activated charcoal is more effective at removing toxins from water, (and your body), because it has been processed in a way that makes each granule have a larger surface area.

I like to question things. Just because something is common knowledge doesn’t always mean it is accurate knowledge! 

In this post, I will show the results from my experiment where I tested activated charcoal vs. non-activated charcoal to see which would remove more chlorine from water.

***Note: “Charcoal” and “Carbon” may be used interchangeably.

Activated Charcoal Vs. Non-Activated Charcoal - An Experiment

Activated Charcoal Source

The activated charcoal that I used for my experiment was sourced from a Brita filter cartridge. In the photo below you can see there are black specks and tan specks inside of the disassembled filter cartridge. The contents consist of “coconut-based activated carbon with ion exchange resin in a BPA-free housing to reduce chlorine taste and odor, zinc, and the health contaminants copper, cadmium, and mercury.” (The black specks are carbon granules and the tan specks are resin granules.)

Activated Charcoal
For my activated charcoal, I used the charcoal from a Brita filter.

Non-Activated Charcoal Source

For the non-activated charcoal source in this experiment, I burned some mesquite wood that I found on my property. Then, I crushed it and sifted it into a fine powder. To learn how I did it, click on this link: How to Make Non-Activated Charcoal Eye Shadow!

Non-Activated Charcoal Eyeshadow
Amanda is wearing my homemade non-activated charcoal eyeshadow. Click the image to learn how to make it!
Non-Activated Charcoal
I make non-activated charcoal from burned wood.

The Experiment

Hypothesis

Will non-activated charcoal remove the same amount of chlorine as activated charcoal in tap water samples?

Process

1.

First, I placed the activated charcoal and non-activated charcoal in two separate metal mesh strainers. The main limitation of this experiment is that I didn’t weigh either of the charcoals as I didn’t have access to scales. Another limitation of the experiment is that the activated charcoal is mixed with resins as I mentioned previously.

Activated Charcoal Vs Non-Activated Charcoal
I placed activated charcoal and non-activated charcoal in mesh strainers.

2.

Then, I dipped the activated charcoal and non-activated charcoal in two separate beakers filled with 200mL of chlorinated municipal water (tap water.) In addition, I set out a sample of the same volume with no charcoal. I did this because chlorine can evaporate from water on it’s own, without the help of a filter.

I let the samples sit for about 4 hours, so the charcoal/carbon could have time to pull chlorine from the water.

Activated Charcoal Vs Non-Activated Charcoal
From left to right: non-activated charcoal water, activated charcoal water, and water with no charcoal.

3.

For the third step, I tested the chlorine levels of the water before I started the 4 hour timer on the above samples. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab a photo of the midnight reading, but it was within range (between 3.7mg/L to 4.0mg/L.) This is the amount of chlorine that many water plants require in tap water when sent out into distribution from the plant.

4.

After the 3 samples sat for 4 hours I tested their chlorine levels. The results were shocking!

Unfiltered Water Vs. Activated Charcoal Water

As I said, my midnight chlorine readings were within range (between 3.75mg/L and 4.0mg/L.) The unfiltered sample reading on the left shows that some of the chlorine evaporated without any charcoal influence within a 4 hour period. The sample on the right shows that a great deal of chlorine was removed from the activated charcoal. However, the free ammonia spiked higher than the healthy drinking range!

Activated Charcoal And Chlorine Removal
The charcoal from the Brita filter cartridge removed a good amount of chlorine, but made the free ammonia spike up from my 12 am readings!

Unfiltered Water Vs. Non-Activated Charcoal Water

This is the moment of truth… The moment that answers the question, “Is non-activated charcoal as effective at removing chlorine as activated charcoal?” According to my experiment – yes! Non-activated charcoal has about the same chlorine removal effectiveness as activated charcoal. This is exciting news!

Unfortunately, the non-activated charcoal also made the free ammonia levels spike too high for safe human consumption.

Interesting…

Non-Activated Charcoal
The non-activated charcoal was just as effective at removing chlorine! Unfortunately, it made the free ammonia spike as well!

Conclusion

It’s exciting to discover that non-activated charcoal is as effective at removing chlorine as activated charcoal. Of course, there were some limitations to this experiment that could have lead to a bit of inaccuracy. More testing with more accurate measurements would be required to make a better conclusion. 

If you’re wondering why the free ammonia spiked in the filtered samples, I have a simple explanation for that. Liquid ammonia sulfate is added to water in some water treatment systems because it combines with chlorine to create monochloramines. Monochloramines are considered a safer form of chlorine for human consumption. In addition, monochloramines have a longer lasting residual, meaning they can disinfect water at farther reaches of the distribution system, like the Crab Shack at the edge of town. 

Thanks for Reading!

To learn more about why chlorine is added to water and how you can filter it out, Click here! 

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