Ceramic Water Filters

Ceramic water filters are the most conventional type of water filters, which are typically used in a household. They are made from clay, water and a combustible material. The water is passed through the pores in ceramic and, gets filtered either slowly or with the pressure of the tap water. Water filtration by ceramic filters is a very famous method of treating contaminated water at the household level. However, they are generally not effective for removing organic contaminants. The flow rate of ceramic water filters are slow.


They come as a cartridge that fits a normal bench top filter. Some of the ceramic filters contain nano-silver infused into a porous ceramic outer shell, which help trap bacteria down to as low as .22 of a micron in particle size. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

A ceramic cartridge captures most particles within .005 of an inch of its surface, so it's easy to brush away clogged pores and expose new ones. Ceramic elements are the longest-lasting mediums and make a good choice for frequent backpacking. Such filters can potentially cause an increase in the levels of bacteria in the water if not changed or cleaned frequently. Clay can also be used, but is more likely to affect the taste of the water.

Types of Ceramic Filters
The ceramic filters are of three types:

• Candle Filters: The candle filters are made of one or more candle-shaped ceramic filters and two chambers. They have a flow rate of 0.3 to 0.8 liters/hour. These filters are generally effective for removing turbidity, iron, coliforms, fecal contaminants, and E. Coli from water. The candle filters with colloidal silver, generally exhibit 100 percent bacterial removal, while those without silver show 85% removal on the average.
  
  
• Disk Filters: Disk filters consist of a removable ceramic filter that is sandwiched between two containers. They typically have a flow rate of 1 to 11 liters per hour. They are very effective in removing iron, fecal contaminants, E. Coli, turbidity, etc from water. Usually the disk filters with colloidal silver have shown a 93% to 100% bacterial removal rate, while those without silver have exhibited 80% removal rate.
  
  
• Pot Filters: These filters are also a type of ceramic filter, however not as popular as other two.

Construction of Ceramic Filters
Ceramic water filters are made of the basic materials, clay, water, and a combustible material, like sawdust or flour, which are available around the world. In addition to clay they can also be made of red terracotta, white kaolin, diatomaceous earth, black clay, etc. They are made by mixing clay with sawdust or flour or any other combustible material. After the construction, the filter is fired and subsequently the combustible material disappears, leaving pores in the clay. The pore sizes vary from 1 to 5 microns throughout the ceramic. These pores allow for the water to move through the filter.

Various types of ceramic filters can be made by adjusting the clay type, combustible material, firing temperature, and filter shape, each possessing unique properties for water purification. Ceramic water filters can be evaluated on the basis of the ability of flow rate, ability to remove microbial contamination, reduce chemical content, reduce turbidity, and improve taste and odor.

Advantages of Ceramic Water Filters
The ceramic water filters have been so successful globally because of numerous advantages over other filter technologies.

• Vastly Effective Barrier: They are highly capable of removing sub-micron particles and pathogenic bacteria from drinking water.
  
  
• Long Life: One of its main advantage is that the ceramic drinking water filters may be cleaned in order to sustain their life. These filters remain effective for a long period of time. Instead of replacing frequently, as demanded in other filters, they can be re-used just by cleaning them.
  
  
• Self Sterilizing: They contain traces of silver, which checks the microbiological growth. It eliminates the need of sterilization, even when they are used over an extended period.
  
  
• No Power Requirement: Perhaps the most advantageous factor of ceramic water filters is that they do not require electricity to function. They are not vulnerable to interruption of power supplies, and are perfect solution for water filtering at those places where there are no power supplies.
  
  
• Natural: They are entirely made from pure and natural elements. While filtering, they do not add anything to the water. Other filter types add traces of chemicals to the water.
  
  
• Combinations with Other Media: Some other filter media can be put inside the ceramic filters to make them even more versatile. For example, an ion exchange resin can be used to remove heavy metals from water or activated carbon can be integrated to remove chlorine.
  
  
• Minerals Maintained: The ceramic water filters do not remove the minerals, which are advantageous to health.