Bill McFadden is Aquasana’s Vice President of Sales.  He led Aquasana’s partnership with QVC from the beginning. His favorite part was the lead-up to being a TSV. “I loved being a part of the set and production planning, and working with the on-air talent, but in the end the product has to sell itself,” said McFadden.  He elaborated, “We launched on a kitchen show for a water filtration system to an audience of consumers who were used to seeing cooking and baking appliances. We crafted a great story about the many everyday uses for the product and how it should be on every counter in every kitchen next to the coffee maker and blender”. McFadden says today’s consumers are buying products that represent a lifestyle. Aquasana’s Powered Water Filtration System delivers superior water quality for personal hydration, but McFadden hopes buyers will remember clean water makes everything in the kitchen taste better.

The experience leading up to the day of the TSV once the “table was set” (meaning the inventory has shipped and the air times are all booked and planned with different hosts) creates a lot of anxiety because in the end the customer has to vote with their wallets. McFadden describes the day of the TSV as a roller coaster ride as with 10 big loops. Hitting the sales forecasted for each of the 10 scheduled airings is stressful.  Add to that everybody at the home office who wants to hear the real-time “how’s it going” updates.

“We sat in a green room where you have access to computer terminals where you monitor your sales by the minute so at times it can be a big adrenaline rush,” said McFadden. “For us we did really well at kick off (midnight) and then treaded water throughout the day until we hit the prime time spot at night with our host David who was exceptional at telling our story, ultimately making for a very successful TSV.

McFadden says more goes into being a TSV than anyone can imagine- starting with the factory workers all the way to the production set organizers who are never part of the on-air story, but all play critical parts.  McFadden is quick to point out without all of the intense planning and prep, you would have nothing. “I can’t express enough appreciation to the entire team at Aquasana and QVC, for making it happen. This was a huge a day for the Aquasana brand and as a result we welcomed a lot more friends to the Aquasana family.”

The Aquasana Filter Bottle pairs smart design with high performance filtration never before available in a bottle. The Aquasana Filter Bottle outperforms the competition delivering professional grade water filtration right at your fingertips.  It reduces lead and chlorine, plus over 99% of bacteria, virus, and cysts from drinking water.  That means you can drink from a public water fountain with peace of mind.  You will never have to buy a bottle of water again!

Designed to be the longest lasting on the market, the filter inside the bottle will last for 80 gallons. It’s also eco-friendly: just one Aquasana filter bottle will keep 640 disposable plastic bottles out of our landfills.  The Aquasana Filter Bottle is designed to fit comfortably in your hand, and is available in shatter-resistant borosilicate glass or BPA-Free Tritan™ plastic.  It also comes with a premium silicone sleeve to provide protection against breakage and a nonslip grip.

The Kickstarter launches today, May 1, 2015, and our fundraising goal is $25,000.  But this has been a long time coming. We started this process almost a year ago, working to get the design just right.  We’ve learned so much along the way about target audiences and Kickstarter as a platform.  We’ve also learned we can fill a need with a product that will truly improve lives.  We hope you will love this as much as we do and buy a bottle!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aquasana/aquasana-filter-bottle-you-deserve-better-water

Funds raised will contribute to the development, production and marketing of the Aquasana Filter Bottle. The product is scheduled to be shipped in August 2015.

Danielle Hightower is a high performance athlete. She is in the top 15% of Cross Fit athletes in the world. When she’s not working as a school aide in the Physical Education department, of course, she’s at the gym. She puts in three hours most days and when she can, she spends four or five hours pushing her body to its limits. She exercises six days a week, resting only on Sunday.

She can squat 305 pounds, clean 215 pounds and deadlift 300 pounds. She can also do 100 double-unders in 30 seconds. To fuel her through her grueling workouts, she replenishes with water just as high-powered as she is-Aquasana.

Q: Why does the water you drink matter to you?

A: Where I live in Texas, the water tastes terrible. I drink a LOT of water-it has to taste good! The Aquasana system is fast-it filters in the time it takes me to (pick a cross fit activity that you can do in 30 seconds). Plus, it saves me money since I don’t have to buy bottled water.

Q: Do Cross Fit athletes need more water than other athletes?

A: I’ve played competitive soccer and always been active. Any athlete drinks a lot of water. Cross Fit is the most physically taxing of anything I’ve ever done. I use every muscle in my body. I am working out long after I leave the gym so I make an extra effort to stay hydrated and replenished.

Q: What are your plans for this year in terms of Cross Fit?

A: My plans in Cross Fit this year is to place higher in the Open, one of the biggest competitions in Cross Fit. If I do well in the Open, I may earn a spot at the Cross Fit Games which is a goal and a dream for me. Cross Fit competition season is beginning and I am competitive. I want to win!

We know this: wherever Hightower goes, and no matter how much she dead lifts, she is fueled by the best water possible.

At Aquasana, we spend a lot of time thinking about water. But we spend a lot more time thinking about food. And I mean a LOT. We think about food when we eat breakfast. We think about what we will eat for lunch as we place our breakfast utensils in the dishwasher, and we think about food when we are punching in numbers on a data sheet or sending out emails. We think about it constantly, okay? Food is good. Especially if you live in Austin. There’s so much to choose from, and 9 times out of 1o, it’s pretty healthy.

One of my favorite foods no matter where I go and what other options I have, is pizza. Now imagine eating pizza every day for lunch or dinner. It’ll not only get boring quick, but it’s also extremely unhealthy. So for me, pizza has turned into a once-in-a-while treat.

But then – something amazing happened. I came across a recipe on Pinterest. It was labeled, “Healthy Pizza Recipe.” My first thought was, “yeah, right”. I decided to click on it anyway to satisfy my curiosity and what do you know – one of the main ingredients was listed as ZUCCHINI! Zucchini on pizza? Is this blogger insane? As I continued to creep through the rest of the page, I realized that the zucchini is actually used for the crust of the pizza. I’m sure it can be used as a topping, but using it to make the crust is a lot more comforting than thinking about mushy zucchini on top of my pepperoni and cheese.

I had never thunk to substitute the dough in pizza – mostly because I didn’t even know it was possible. So I decided to turn to my good friend Google, to see if anyone else had any input on this zucchini pizza situation. My findings were interesting:

About three decades ago, zucchini was not at all popular in the United States (big surprise). Known to the world as Green Italian Squash, the nutritious fruit became popular when people began using it in bread and dessert recipes (okay, desserts too? I’ll have to look into that later). Prior to that, it was used for hundreds of years in Europe and South America (no one specified for what but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they used it for something crazy like ice cream).

Apparently, zucchini has a variety of health benefits. It’s mostly known best for its magical ability to aid in weight management. Oh, and lowering cholesterol, improving cardiovascular health, and preventing cancer. I guess those are important too. Consuming zucchini also increases your daily intake of dietary fiber as well as helps support your muscle function. Hmmm….

Now, as the new year has rolled around – I’ve been trying mighty hard to lose some weight, eat healthy, and work out. My only problem is that I can’t eat whatever I want! But this zucchini recipe has got me thinking. This could work.

When you crave pizza, zucchini is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the best pizza recipe (at least not for me – I’m sure there IS some crazy person out there who would though). Anyway, I decided I’d give it a try.

I started with:

1 large zucchini

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Pizza sauce

Cheese

Pepperoni (or additional veggies or meats based on your preference)

1. Slice up the zucchini into small slices.

2. Toss the slices with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

3. Lay them out on a baking sheet and broil at 350 degrees for 3 minutes, making sure you flip the slices in between broil time (They don’t smell too good at this point).

4. Top with pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

5. Broil again until the cheese has melted (wait a minute…)

6. IT WORKED! You are ready to satisfy your pizza craving!

For healthy eaters, zucchini acts as the perfect pizza base compared to the carb-filled dough crusts. The mini pizzas are a great snack for those trying to manage their weight and still eat well. Seriously, it improves cardiovascular health and supports muscle function – so pizza for dinner (every single day) may not seem like a bad idea (after a work out) after all!  So the next time you have a pizza craving, ditch the old school dough and try the zucchini base instead. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.

As we embarked upon our pregnancy efforts, we held close to a few core tenets to ensure a healthy pregnancy and ultimately a healthy baby girl:

1. We wanted to minimize all possible medical interventions in the process.  This means we wanted to minimize the amount of pharmaceuticals and procedures required to result in a pregnancy.  Given our age, however, I have to say we mostly failed in this effort.  For that reason the rest of our tenets became so much more important to us.
2. We want to avoid exposure to chemicals and contaminants in our environment.  Being in the water filtration business, I know how easy it is to be unknowingly exposed to contaminants in your environment – whether they be chlorine, lead, fluoride or pharmaceuticals in your water, detergents in your clothes, VOCs in your carpet or paint, particles in your air, pesticides on your lawn, or processed substances and chemicals in your food – we live in a world of chemical proliferation.  It seems like we always hear about chemical spills or contamination in the news.  I often think about the ones we have not heard about yet and the impact they may be having on us.
3. We pay attention to our food and water sourcing.  We try to buy locally grown food, and whenever possible we buy the organic option.  We avoid processed foods. We read our water reports, and we filter all of our water.  We even got our water tested, and yes, there were potential carcinogens in it.
4. We cook and store everything in natural materials – glass bottles and containers, cast iron cookware.  No plastics, no chemically modified surfaces.
5. We avoid anything synthetic.  All of our un-born baby’s goods are cotton.  Organic cotton- unbleached organic cotton where we can.  We avoid sources of elevated radiation – especially for her mom.  That includes the ever-so-fun personal pat downs while travelling through airports, and no x-rays at the dentist or doctor.

We’ve done all this because we believe that the chemical exposure we have in our lives is largely avoidable. We also believe it is a major contributor to the burgeoning rates of auto-immune health maladies like increases in autism, allergies, Alzheimer’s (and those are just the A’s).  While the empirical evidence is spotty for many of these connections, I believe over time it will become increasingly difficult to argue that our chemical proliferation is not causing an increase in overall health issues.  We believe it is better safe than sorry.

I walk this walk at home and at work.  You could say I drink the filtered water on healthy living. One aspect of my job as the Vice President for Marketing at Aquasana that I love, is knowing that when we are successful as a company, we are helping to detox the lives of others.  Chemical-free living is an important part of my life and an important part of how I have started to raise my baby.  We just launched a new product at Aquasana – the OptimH2O under counter water filter. This has been my “work baby”.  It is Aquasana’s first product that uses reverse osmosis as well as our Claryum® technology. The reason I mention this product is that for a long time I have been searching for a product that is certified to remove organic chemicals like our Claryum® filters, but also removes arsenic and fluoride.  I won’t say that the genesis of this product was the conception of my child, but it certainly helped speed things along to bring this product to market so we could start using it.  Fluoride has been linked to potential developmental issues in children, and while I am all for strong teeth, I’d rather teach my daughter to brush and floss daily than have her ingest added chemicals.

There are likely many things that we have missed, and will miss, as first time parents.  But generally, we feel like it’s our job to protect our little seed from undue exposure to chemicals that may alter her and her future forever, and we are doing the best job we can.  We want nothing but the best for her and want her to have every possible advantage to succeed in a world full of potentially dangerous toxins. Once she is born, we will have the worries that come with raising children.  Until then, we will control what we can control.

Reality check – even those of us trying to lead a healthy lifestyle are exposed to toxins, chemicals, and radiation that can make us sick. They’re in the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, and technology we use every day. While there is no escaping toxic pollutants completely, we can take measures to limit our exposure to harmful toxins. Here is a breakdown of how our environment can be toxic to our bodies, and what we can do to fight back:

Water Contamination

Most municipalities add chlorine, chloramines (chlorine + ammonia), and other chemicals into our communal water supply to disinfect it and make it potable. However, many of these chemical additives create harmful by-products that can harm our bodies over time. Private well water that is not disinfected may carry waterborne cysts that can multiply into parasites in the human body. Without a UV light or other form of filtration, these cysts are pretty hard to get rid of and may not show up as symptoms in the human body for years to come.

You know that “plasticy” taste you get when you drink from disposable plastic bottles? It’s because the bottles leach plastic chemicals (namely BPA) into the water inside the bottle.

Survival Tip #1: Filter Your Water & Eliminate Plastic

You never know what lurks in your water supply – whether it is well-water, tap, or bottled. All water is contaminated and the only way to be sure you are getting the cleanest water possible is to invest in a good home water filter. And if you must use plastic, use BPA-free plastic. Remember to never heat up your food or beverages in plastic containers.

Radiation Reverberation

Radiation comes in two forms. Natural, and man-made. From cosmic radiation emitted by the sun to TVs, cell phones, and microwaves, the human body is exposed to both forms of radiation every day.

- Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) is an energy that travels in the form of waves. The intensity of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) determines how strong the signal on your mobile device will be. The lower your signal, the higher the intensity of the EMR emitted by your device will be in order to keep your device working properly.
- Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measures the radiofrequency energy that the human tissue absorbs while using a mobile device. The amount of radiation absorbed by the human body depends on your biological tissue. For example, according to the National Cancer Institute, due to still-developing bodies, children are at higher risk for radiation poisoning than adults as radiation waves to travel farther into a child’s head and body than they would through a full grown adult.

Survival Tip #2: Eliminate Cell Phone Radiation

Pong cell phone cases are truly one-of-a-kind as they are the only technology in existence proven to reduce exposure to radiation without compromising a device’s ability to function properly. The Pong case contains a patented micro-thin, gold antenna that redirects cell phone radiation away from the user. Just snap the case on your phone, and the Pong antenna will pair automatically with the antenna inside your phone.

Poisonous Provisions

The first rule of eating clean and avoiding food contamination and chemicals is if you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it. Many of the foods on your grocery store shelves are mass-produced using chemicals and unnatural ingredients that many of us have never even heard of. To make matters worse, the soil most produce is grown in is chock full of chemicals. Soil and sediment contain herbicides and pesticides, and these pesticides create agricultural runoff. When agricultural runoff comes in contact with the environment, toxins are introduced to our natural food and atmosphere. It’s a long-running and vicious cycle that starts with just one production plant. Take a minute to think about it, corporations inject these chemicals into food to keep natural predators away, yet it is still the same food they sell to consumers for consumption.

Survival Tip #3: Go Organic & Avoid Processed Foods

Support local farmers, or better yet, develop a new hobby and grow your own food using organic soils and mulch, as well as organic or homemade bug spray, plant growth remedies, and natural compost methods. When you go out to eat, ask questions! Ask if beef is grass-fed, or if artificial growth hormones were used in the production of your food. It takes a little bit of research, but it is a big step to a healthier life!

Atmosphere Annihilation

Asbestos is illegal in many different countries, but not in the United States. It is regulated – but any form of exposure to asbestos, especially breathing it in, can hurt your body.

Power plants release tons of toxins daily into the air. The burning and vapors of these toxins can sometimes be more harmful than the toxin itself in its natural form. Sometimes, accidents happen that harm our environment by mass producing toxins and releasing them into the air such as the Geismar explosion and fire incident.

Paint, especially freshly coated, releases VOCs. Highlighters, permanent markers, cleaning detergents, bug sprays, hair sprays, shampoos, body washes and many other everyday items contain toxins that make it into your body through direct skin contact and as vapors through the shower, your in-home air, and your outdoor environment.

Survival Tip #4: Purify Your Air

Invest in an air purifier, grow your own indoor plants to enhance oxygen production, and use organic or homemade cleaners and detergents for your cleaning purposes. Keep your shoes in a storage closet close to the door so those pesky herbicides don’t make it into your home via boot-bottoms. Dry-cleaning should be avoided like the plague. All of your clothes are cleaned with a serious blend of chemicals that you end up wearing and breathing in.

Living healthy is more expensive and more work. Every aspect of your daily routine is impacted by chemicals and toxins. But the alternative is a price that is simply too high pay.

We all want to be healthier.  It’s the number one New Years’ resolution, every year.  From what we put into our bodies, to what we use to clean the house, wash our clothes, to the air we breathe, there is one common denominator: water.  A clean, green home, and a healthy life begins and ends with water.  The picture below shows the top ten ways filtered water improves your home health and your personal health.  Drink it in, but filter it first.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month.  For me, every month is diabetes awareness month.  I have had Type 1 Diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, for 18 years.  In simple terms, it means my pancreas doesn’t produce insulin, and no amount of diet and exercise will fix that. I manage and control my diabetes with an insulin pump, a mechanical pancreas of sorts.  It’s a life-saving, life changing medical device that frees me of carrying vials of insulin and needles with me wherever I go.  Even with a pump, diabetes is a difficult thing to manage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  When you live with a chronic illness, you see a lot of doctors and get a lot of advice.  Sometimes it’s the simple stuff that leaves the biggest impact.

I lived in San Francisco after I was first diagnosed and saw a wonderful doctor who masterfully blended Eastern and Western medicine.  She talked to me a lot about the best ways to stay healthy and offered me a tip that I carry with me everywhere I go, literally.  She said “be the guy who always has a water bottle in your hand, as water will help your control your diabetes”.  That’s it.  No magic pill, nothing special to buy.  Just carry a water bottle everywhere.  Ironically, two decades later, I’m working for Aquasana, a-best-in-class water filtration company, and I have access to all the water bottles I could possible need to carry.  Medically, the reason she told me to drink lots of clean water is that my body is already working hard enough and I don’t want to make my body, or my kidneys specifically, work any harder by having to filter out the harmful chemicals found drinking water.

I have always made a commitment to healthy living, even before I was diagnosed with Type 1, but even more so now that 40 is almost in the rear view mirror.  When I travel for work, I have to plan ahead more than most- think through meals, count carbs, and count the number of glasses of water I drink, all in an effort to map out healthy choices so I can stay ahead of my blood sugar.  I also exercise regularly and everywhere I go, you can find an Aquasana water bottle in my hand.

If like me, you are living with diabetes, I challenge you to join me in carrying a water bottle everywhere you go.  Join me in Bill’s Bottle Challenge, during November, and I will send you a glass, BPA free, water bottle.  Email me at Bill.McFadden@aquasana.com and send me your address.

If you want to encourage others, post a picture of yourself on Aquasana’s Facebook and Twitter pages holding your bottle and use hashtag #BillsBottleChallenge.  Together we can’t cure diabetes, but we can manage it and start a healthy trend.

*Only a limited number of water bottles will be given away, so join Bill’s Bottle Challenge now!

October is national adopt a shelter dog month.  At Aquasana, love all dogs (cats too) but especially shelter dogs.  We have a dog-friendly office.  12 humans office at our Austin, Texas headquarters and sometimes one or more of our 14 “dogployees” drop in to do some work.  Luckily for our neighbors, they don’t all come at once.  The most dogs we have in at once is typically four.  That sounds like a lot for a small office, but these dogs are better behaved than most humans.  The majority came from shelters.  You could say they were rescued, but as a group we hate that term.  We didn’t rescue them, any more than they rescued us.  Shelter dogs come with stories most of us can’t imagine.  Yet they don’t want pity. They are resilient and playful, forgetting the past and looking only towards their next meal.

That’s why as a company we are proud to support Austin Pets Alive!, one of the largest “no-kill” animal shelters in the country.  We were recently a “Top Dog” sponsor of APA’s gala fundraising event.   We sponsored APA’s event because we live here and like to give here in our community.  We also did it so we can hold our heads up high in front of the four-legged members of our team who have spent time in shelters.

Meet Chloe.  She is a coon hound, Great Dane Mix, has three legs due to a birth defect, and a big heart.  She is the office favorite.  She is sweet and offers a daily lesson in letting nothing stop you from getting the bone.

This is Chloe’s brother Nacho, a Yorkie mix who landed at the shelter for a stubborn resistance to going outside to “do his business”.  Jason, our web marketing guy, owns both Chloe and Nacho.  Jason finally house trained Nacho and we are all thankful for that!  Well everyone but our carpet cleaner, who appreciates the job security Nacho provided.

Townes and Pepper are both “black dogs”, the last to be adopted at shelters.  No one really know why this is but there is a name for it: black dog syndrome.  Maybe it’s a fear of shedding?  Whatever the reason, we know the truth– black dogs are just as loving as any other color dog.  And dog hair is a mess to clean up no matter the color.

Tucker and Scout are both pit-bull mixes. Tucker is mostly boxer and Scout is mostly Great Dane, but the part of them that’s pit bull makes them harder to adopt.  Pit bulls get a bad rap.  If people knew what we knew, there would be no pit bull mixes left at shelters.  Tucker and Scout are protective, loving and always on the prowl for an ear rub.

Vasco is a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, afraid of water (ironic since we are a water filtration company) and the best behaved of the group.

Not everyone loves our dog-friendly office.  The postal carrier who comes to our office is very fearful of dogs.  Although we wish she could see what we see, we are very respectful of her fears and she now leaves the mail outside the door. We also posted a sign letting people who come to the office know they may be sniffed, licked or barked at.  The barking is usually a greeting.  Some of our furry friends are just loud talkers.

To celebrate those, who like many of us, champion shelter dogs, we gave all of the attendees of the recent Austin Pets Alive! Gala Aquasana water bottles and dog bowls.  We had the bowls made up for the event, so don’t go looking for them on our website.  Even pets needs to be properly hydrated with the best water possible.  Our pets are part of our family and part of our office culture.  Our unofficial slogan is Live Healthy, and with our pets, regardless of where they came from, we live healthier lives.

As with most great chal­lenges, the win­ner is the one most suited for the fight. Both media types are highly effi­cient at remov­ing chlo­rine, but choos­ing which is best for a fil­ter sys­tem gets com­pli­cated. Also, there are dif­fer­ent types of KDF and car­bon fil­ters, which makes it even more chal­leng­ing to choose the cor­rect fil­ter. I will try to shed some light on this some­times con­fus­ing and even heated dis­cus­sion. (Yes, water folks can actu­ally get uptight about this issue so fire away in the com­ments sec­tion.) I will walk through the most com­mon uses of each media type and offer some guid­ance on which wins each challenge.

The Mech­a­nisms

The prin­ci­ple mech­a­nism for car­bon media is adsorp­tion where con­t­a­m­i­nants col­lect on the sur­face of the car­bon. The con­t­a­m­i­nants are removed from the water, but they are not chem­i­cally alter­nated. Once the avail­able sur­face area of the media is cov­ered with con­t­a­m­i­nants, any addi­tional con­t­a­m­i­nants will pass through. Since the con­t­a­m­i­nants are only sit­ting on the sur­face of the media, they can become a breed­ing ground for new bac­te­ria over time if the media is not reg­u­larly replaced. The replace­ment period is typ­i­cally in the range of 6 to 12 months, but it is more depen­dent on the vol­ume of water going through the fil­ter and the level of con­t­a­m­i­nants in the water.

The Chlo­rine Challenge

Before get­ting too deep into this issue, a few terms need defin­ing since these are key in deter­min­ing the win­ner. These def­i­n­i­tions are taken from the EPA.

Water util­i­ties will use either chlo­ramine or chlo­rine, but not both, to main­tain a dis­in­fec­tant resid­ual in the potable water. Main­tain­ing this resid­ual is a reg­u­la­tory require­ment meant to make sure the water remains pathogen free after it leaves the treat­ment plant. Typ­i­cally, large util­i­ties will use the chlo­ramine because it does not dis­si­pate as quickly and it will pro­duce fewer dis­in­fec­tion by-products like THMs and chlo­ro­form. Max­i­mum allow­able lev­els of dis­in­fec­tant by-products are tightly con­trolled by the reg­u­la­tory agen­cies. Suf­fice it to say the dis­in­fec­tion by-products issue is highly com­plex and heated. For more infor­ma­tion on this topic, I rec­om­mend you start at EPA’s web­site ded­i­cated to this issue.

Although adding chlo­rine to treated water has saved count­less peo­ple over the years from water-borne dis­eases, it is also one of the rea­sons many peo­ple do not like the taste and odor of tap water. Chlo­rine in the water can also have a dry­ing affect on the skin since it is a strong oxi­dant. It’s impor­tant to keep up the chlo­rine resid­ual in the water sys­tem; how­ever, there are no health ben­e­fits of actu­ally con­sum­ing it. To decide which fil­ter media prod­uct is the most effec­tive at remov­ing the chlo­rine, check the water qual­ity report pro­vided by the water util­ity and find out if the util­ity uses chlo­rine or chloramine.

KDF is highly effi­cient at remov­ing chlo­rine, but it does not per­form as well as carbon/GAC in remov­ing chlo­ramine. Car­bon is also effec­tive at reduc­ing the THMs and other dis­in­fec­tion by-products, where KDF has lit­tle effect on them. There are some advan­tages that KDF has over car­bon. The media works bet­ter at higher tem­per­a­tures than car­bon so it per­forms well on warmer water. KDF is also cheaper to oper­ate per gal­lon of water treated and a lit­tle amount can last for a long period. If pos­si­ble, use of KDF media upstream of a car­bon fil­ter works quite well. The KDF extends the life of the car­bon, and the car­bon works well reduc­ing the chlo­ramine and THM levels.

The Organ­ics Challenge

In this chal­lenge, car­bons wins hands down.  Car­bon effi­ciently reduces organic chem­i­cals like dis­in­fec­tion by-products, phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals, pes­ti­cides and other trace organic com­pounds. KDF has lit­tle effect on many of these com­pounds. Car­bon also reduces the organic com­pounds that cause some of the taste issues that can com­monly occur in sur­face waters. Many of the taste issues are the result of chlo­rine added dur­ing the treat­ment process or from a nat­u­rally occur­ring com­pound called geosmin that is not effi­ciently removed in con­ven­tional water treat­ment processes. Car­bon works well at reduc­ing the con­cen­tra­tions of each of these compounds.

The Met­als and Inor­gan­ics Challenge

KDF is the clear win­ner of this chal­lenge. KDF is a copper-zinc for­mu­la­tions that reacts with chlo­rine to form safer chlo­ride com­pounds. Cop­per, lead, mer­cury and some other met­als react to plate out onto the media’s sur­face, which effec­tively removes them from the water sup­ply.  Both KDF and car­bon reduce H2S con­cen­tra­tions that cause the rot­ten egg smell asso­ci­ated with some groundwaters.

Gen­er­ally, KDF and car­bon make a great team. Rather than hav­ing to choose the best for an appli­ca­tion, use both in the fil­ter sys­tem. Place the KDF before the car­bon fil­ter to extend the life of the car­bon, improve the per­for­mance effi­ciency of the sys­tem, and cut the oper­at­ing cost.

This article is by Michael from ecodynamiclivingsolutions.com.