Why don't Coldstream FTO+ filters remove mineral salts?

The Coldstream FTO+ gravity filters do not remove mineral salts forseveral important reasons:

  • Filter material selectivity

    The Coldstream FTO+ filter uses a combination of high-quality ceramic and activated carbon. These materials are designed to specifically target contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals, and heavy metals, while at the same time allowing the passage of beneficial minerals such as calcium and magnesium. These minerals are essential for human health and their presence in water is generally desired.

  • Ceramic pore size

    Coldstream FTO+ ceramic filters have pores small enough to block microbiological and chemical contaminants, but large enough to allow dissolved minerals to pass through. Dissolved minerals are much smaller than the organic and inorganic contaminants targeted by the filters.

  • Adsorption method of filtration

    Activated carbon works by adsorption, a method whereby contaminants bind to the surface of activated carbon. However, dissolved mineral salts do not bind in the same way, allowing these minerals to pass through the filter.

  • Purpose of the filtration

    The main purpose of Coldstream filtration is to make water safe by removing harmful contaminants while retaining the beneficial minerals your body requires. Removing the minerals would make the water less palatable and potentially less beneficial to one’s health.

In summary, Coldstream filters are designed to target hazardous contaminants while preserving beneficial mineral salts. This ensures that the water is pure, healthy and pleasant to drink without removing essential minerals.

So Pure Filters gravity filters do not remove limescale?

Exactly, the Coldstream FTO+ filter gravity filters utilised in the Pure Filters do not remove limescale from the water. Here's why:

  • Nature of Dissolved Minerals

    Limescale is mainly composed of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate, which are minerals dissolved in water. These minerals are much smaller than the organic and inorganic contaminants that Coldstream FTO+ filters target.

  • Pore Size

    The pores of Coldstream FTO+ filters are designed to block larger particles, such as bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants. However, dissolved calcium and magnesium ions (which make up limescale) are small enough to pass through these pores.

  • Filtration Objective

    The main purpose of Coldstream FTO+ filters is to remove harmful contaminants while preserving the beneficial minerals your body needs. Calcium and magnesium, although they contribute to water hardness (limescale), are also essential minerals for the human body.

  • Filtration Method

    The activated carbon used in Coldstream FTO+ filters works by adsorption, capturing contaminants on the surface of the carbon. Dissolved minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, do not bind in the same way and therefore pass through the filter.

In summary, while Coldstream FTO+ filters improve water quality by removing hazardous contaminants, they are not designed to remove limescale from water.

To reduce water hardness specific treatment methods such as water softeners are required.

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