Can activated carbon filter bacteria or viruses?

Activated carbon filtration of bacteria is a bit like fishing rice grains with a colander - large pore size coconut shell carbon such as activated carbon, can stop the diameter of 0.5 - 5 microns of large bacteria, but the bacteria are different shapes and sizes, the water flow is easy to run away, so the number of stopping is not fixed. Some bacteria are negatively charged, and activated carbon can absorb some of them by electrostatic force, but there is no way to catch all of them. So home water purifier will be activated carbon and ultrafiltration membrane with the use of ultrafiltration membrane is like a finer filter, pore size of only 0.01 - 0.1 micron, can be leaked bacteria filter again.

 

In the face of viruses, activated carbon is basically 'powerless'. To make an analogy, the pores of activated carbon is like a fishing net, but the virus is too small than the mesh of the fishing net - most of the viruses in the diameter of 0.02 - 0.3 microns, casually from the pores of activated carbon to slip through. Moreover, the surface of the virus is 'naked', neither the shape that can be caught by the activated carbon, nor the charge that can be adsorbed, so the activated carbon can't catch them at all. Want to really get rid of the virus, you have to use more professional means: ultraviolet light is like a 'disinfection beam', shine a light can directly destroy the structure of the virus; reverse osmosis membrane is like a 'nano-sized filter', the pore size of only 0.0001 microns, and even the virus such a small head don't think! There are also hypochlorite disinfectants, which can completely eliminate viruses with a single spray.

 

Therefore, even the best activated carbon water filter, granulated activated carbon, activated carbon filter for water treatment, etc. must be added with other means to filter bacteria and viruses.