AQUALEN – an original material developed in-house and patented by AQUAPHOR. The advantages of using this material for household water purification are so great that it is used in practically all of AQUAPHOR'S filters.

AQUALENS provides:

  • high speed removal of impurities
  • effective removal of heavy metals from water of any hardness
  • improved anti-bacterial qualities (due to activated silver)
  • no "channeling" effect, so no water bypasses the filter (100% filtration)

The Details

Household water purification differs from industrial applications in that harmful impurities need to be removed very quickly through a small-volume cartridge. Traditional water filters use activated carbon as the the main active component. Water passing through the filter comes in contact with carbon granules, leaving behind a portion of the harmful impurities. Some impurities are mechanically filtered out (the surface of the carbon granules can be thought of as textured or porous), others bind through chemical reactions. AQUAPHOR filters are no exception - we use high quality activated carbon, produced out of coconut husks.

Besides carbon, filters use an ion-exchange resin - a substance that can bind to heavy metal ions by exchanging for sodium or oxygen ions. The resin usually comes in the form of round polymer granules. This is the role played by AQUALEN in our filters. Unlike conventional purification resins, AQUALEN is a fiber. This property makes for significantly improved purification performance.

  1. Filters made with AQUALEN absorb impurities much more quickly due to their increased surface area.
  2. AQUALEN is more effective at capturing heavy metals. Heavy metals have an 800-fold greater affinity with the ion-exchange complexes in AQUALEN than calcium and magnesium (which cause hard water). This means that AQUALEN recognizes and absorbs heavy metals at any level of water hardness, something conventional filters can't do. The amount of active ion-exchanging compounds in AQUALEN is tens of times greater than that present in the same amount of conventional ion-exchange resin.
  3. Filters with AQUALEN are better at fighting bacteria. Thanks to the metal ion-capturing qualities described above, it is possible to weave in silver in its more active ionic form.
  4. Using AQUALEN with granulated absorbents such as carbon creates a powerful synergistic effect. The resulting filter has qualities not possessed by its constituent materials.
AQUALEN.
Conventional ion exchange resins:
carboxylic resin, sulfokationit.
 

More about Synergy

Coal with different dispersion.

Small stationary filters have two main problems: inability to use smaller-size granules and the "channeling" effect.

Smaller-size granules provide a larger area of contact with water within the same filter volume, allowing more effective water purification. Unfortunately, water simply won't flow through a dense layer of tiny granules. The AQUALEN fibers in AQUAPHOR filters expand in water and break up the layers of granules, enabling water to flow through. In practice this leads to AQUAPHOR filters using granules two times smaller than those in a regular filter, with contaminants being captured four times faster.

The "channeling" effect refers to the movement of loose granules under flowing water. As it passes through the filter, water "parts" the granules, creating channels through which it can flow without making contact with purifying surfaces. AQUALEN fibers are interwoven with the layers of granules to keep them in place. Much like a plant's roots allow it to hold on to soil and prevent erosion, AQUALEN fibers prevent channeling, allowing complete filtration of all water passing through the filter.

Channel effect in the conventional filter (left) and its absence in the Aquaphor filters (right).

An added property of AQUALEN fibers is that they distribute the flow of water evenly through the filter cartridge. The amount of surface area coming into contact with water is thus increased. Thanks to an optimal method of mixing AQUALEN with other filtering media, AQUAPHOR cartridges have no dead zones that don't participate in the filtration process.

Sorption usual mixture of carbon filter (left) and Aquaphor filter (right).

The last (though not least) advantage of filters made with AQUALEN is their ability to remove even the smallest particles of colloidal iron to a degree that exceeds drinking water standards four times over. The space between granules is densely packed with AQUALEN fibers 3-5 times smaller in diameter than a human hair.