Six types of point-of-use (POU) carbon filters were evaluated in a laboratory study. The
results indicated that all six POU carbon filters resulted in a 41 to 98% reduction in
trihalomethanes (THMs) and a 41% to 89% reduction in haloacetic acids (HAAs). Four
filters (Brita, Culligan, eSpring, and PUR) had removal efficiencies over 90% for THMs.
Three filters (Brita, eSpring, and PUR) had removal efficiencies at 80% or higher for
HAAs.
For all POU carbon filters, removal efficiencies for THMs were higher than those for
HAAs and removal efficiencies for trichloroacetic acid were higher than those for
dichloroacetic acid. This trend is parallel to the isotherm adsorption data for THMs and
HAAs. This indicates that physical adsorption is the main mechanism for disinfection
byproduct (DBP) removal using these POU carbon filters. Includes 2 references, tables, figure.