EcoPro and EcoPro Compact faucet water filters by TAPP water with 5-stage filtering have been designed to filter 100+ substances found in tap water. In this article we will specify all of them including the source of the claims. The list has been divided in 2 categories.
- TAPP Water Specific testing – Covers all substances that TAPP Water has confirmed that EcoPro and EcoPro Compact filters through our own independent lab testing
- Activated Carbon / Carbon Block general testing – Covers all substances filtered / adsorbed by activated carbon according to research by EPA, CDC and other publicly available research on.
The reason that we have not tested all substances ourselves is that most of them are not easily found and therefore expensive to test for. Thankfully others have already done the work for us.
TAPP Water Specific Testing
These are substances that we have specifically tested and confirmed that EcoPro and EcoPro Compact water filters remove/filter and to what extent.
Substance | Description of what is being filtered | Reduction |
---|---|---|
Organoleptics parameters (taste, colour and odor) | The unpleasant taste or smell of water is generally caused by Chlorine, its by-products and organic contaminants. | 95% or more |
Chlorine and Chloramine | Chlorine is added to disinfect tap water from harmful viruses and bacteria. Measured in free chlorine after filtering. | 95% or more |
Chlorine by-products | Testing includes Total Trihalomethanes and Total Trichloroethylene. Clorine by-products include over 100 substances incl 32 known chlorine by-products (VOCs) such as THMs identified as potentially cancerous. | 95% or more |
Microplastics | Testing is based on the 1-2 micron rating of the carbon block creating a physical barrier for all known microplastics. | 95% or more* |
Heavy metals | Occur naturally in traces amounts in water and caused by pipelines corrosion. Testing includeslead, zinc, manganese, barium and other heavy metals. | 90% or more |
Pesticides | Testing based on total pesticides. See 14 listed pesticides including Chlordane, Heptachlor, and Lindane below. | 95% or more |
Herbicides | Testing based on total herbicides. See 12 listed herbicides including 2,4-D and Atrazine below. | 95% or more |
Nitrate & Nitrites | Testing based on nitrate and nitrate. | 70% or more |
Limescale | Reducing limescale from forming in kettles, coffee makers, sinks and glasses after filtration | 80% or more |
Turbidity | Turbidity is a measure of the degree to which the water loses its transparency due to the presence of suspended particulates. | 90% or more |
Bacteria | Testing is based on the 1-2 micron rating of the carbon block creating a physical barrier for all bacteria larger than this size including Entamoeba, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Salmonella and Legionella . | 99% or more* |
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) | Testing of dry-weight of suspended particles, that are not dissolved after filtration. | 99% or more. |
* Testing based on particle size and not necessarily the specific particle type / substance.
Read more details about the substances removed and independent testing.
Read about how EcoPro compares to other water filters.
Activated Carbon / Carbon Blocks
These are substances removed / filtered by activated carbon / carbon blocks according to peer reviewed research including government institutions such as EPA, CDC, WHO and others. Many of the substances are repeated from above.
Physical Contaminants
This list is based on carbon blocks with a micron rating of 1-2.
Contaminant | Approximate size | Reduced/Removed |
Bacteria: Legionella | 2 to 20 μm | Removed |
Bacteria: Escherichia coli (E. coli) | 2 microns long and about 0.5 microns in diameter | Highly reduced/Removed |
Bacteria: Shigella | 0.4 to 0.6 micrometre Diameter and 1 to 3 micrometres long | Highly reduced/Removed |
Bacteria: Vibrio | 0.5 μm diameter and 1.5 to 3.0 μm long | Highly reduced/Removed |
Bacteria: Salmonella | 2–5 microns long by 0.5–1.5 microns wide | Removed |
Protozoans: Entamoeba | 15-16 um | Removed |
Protozoans: Giardia | 8 to 14 um | Removed |
Protozoans: Cryptosporidium | 4–6 μm | Removed |
Microplastics | 1-5000um | Removed |
Suspended Solids | ≥ 2 um | Removed |
Pharmaceuticals: Includes e.g. Atenolol, Carbamazepina, Estrone, Meprobamat and Trimethoprim | < 1 μm | Removed |
Viruses | 0.02-0.4um | NOT REMOVED |
Chemical Contaminants
This list is based on high quality activated carbon from coconut shell in carbon block form.
Organic solvent/ Organic contaminant/Alcohol | VOC | Pesticides & Insecticides | Herbicides | Other (Inorganic compounds) |
Chemicals with very high probability of being adsorbed by active carbon (95% or more) | ||||
Di-n-butylphthalate | Bromodichloromethane | Malathion | 2,4-D | Calcium Hypochlorite |
1,2-Dichlorobenzene | Tetrachloroethylene | Aldrin | Deisopropylatrazine | Ozone |
1,3-Dichlorobenzene | Dibromochloromethane | Demeton-O | Linuron | Chlorine |
2-Methyl benzenamine | MCPA | Alachlor | Chlorine dioxide | |
1,4-Dichlorobenzene | Anthracene | Desethylatrazine | PFAS | |
Methyl naphthalene | Azinphos-ethyl | Mecoprop | PFOS | |
Biphenyl | Dieldrin | Atrazine | PFNA | |
p-chlorocresol | Carbofuran | Metazachlor | ||
2-Methylbutane | Parathion | Bentazone | ||
2,2-Bipyridine | Pentachlorophenol | Monuron | ||
2,5-Dichlorophenol | Endosulfan | Bromacil | ||
Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)Phthalate | Endrin | 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy | ||
3,6-Dichlorophenol | Hexachlorobenzene | Diuron | ||
Naphthalene | Hexachlorobutadiene | Propazine | ||
Nitrobenzene | Isodrin | Simazine | ||
m-Nitrophenol | DDT | Terbutryn | ||
p-Bromophenol | Lindane | Triclopyr | ||
Diethyl Phthalate | Cyanazine | |||
o-Nitrophenol | Isoproturon | |||
Butylbenzene | ||||
2,4-Dinitrocresol | ||||
p-Nitrophenol | ||||
2,4-Dinitrotoluene | ||||
2,6-Dinitrotoluene | ||||
Chlorobenzene | ||||
4-Chloro-2-nitrotoluene | ||||
Ethylbenzene | ||||
2-Chlorophenol | ||||
Chlorotoluene | ||||
Chrysene | ||||
Hexane | ||||
1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene | ||||
m-Cresol | ||||
m-Xylene | ||||
Isooctane | ||||
o-Xylene | ||||
Cyclohexane | ||||
p-Xylene | ||||
2,4-Xylenol | ||||
Chemicals with high probability of being adsorbed by active carbon | ||||
Aniline | Bromodichloromethane | Chlorotoluron | ||
Dibromo-3-chloropropane | 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane | |||
1-Pentanol | Bromoform | |||
Benzene | Carbon tetrachloride | |||
Phenol | 1,1,1-Trichloroethane | |||
Benzyl alcohol | Trichloroethylene | |||
1,1-Dichloroethylene | ||||
Phenylalanine | ||||
Benzoic acid | ||||
cis-1,2- Dichloroethylene | ||||
o-Phthalic acid | ||||
Bis(2-chloroethyl) ether | ||||
trans-1,2- Dichloroethylene | ||||
Styrene | ||||
1,2-Dichloropropane | ||||
Ethylene | ||||
Toluene | ||||
Hydroquinone | ||||
1-Chloropropane | ||||
4-Methyl Benzenamine | ||||
Vinyl acetate | ||||
Chemicals with moderate probability of being adsorbed by active carbon | ||||
Acetic acid | Chloroethane | Dimethoate | Glyphosate | |
Methionine | Chloroform | Imazapyr | ||
Acrylamide | 1,1-Dichloroethane | |||
Ethyl acetate | 1,1,2-Trichloroethane | |||
Methyl-tert-butyl ether | 1,2-Dichloroethane | |||
Ethyl ether | Vinyl chloride | |||
Methyl ethyl ketone | ||||
Freon 11 | ||||
Pyridine | ||||
Freon 113 | ||||
Freon 12 | ||||
1,3-Dichloropropene | ||||
Dikegulac | ||||
Chemicals for which adsorption with active carbon is unlikely to be effective. However it may be viable in certain cases such as for low flow or concentrations | ||||
Acetone | Methylene chloride | |||
Acetonitrile | ||||
1-Propanol | ||||
Acrylonitrile | ||||
Propionitrile | ||||
Dimethylformaldehyde | ||||
Propylene | ||||
1,4-Dioxane | ||||
Tetrahydrofuran | ||||
Isopropyl alcohol | ||||
Urea | ||||
Methyl chloride |
Source: https://www.epa.gov/remedytech/citizens-guide-activated-carbon-treatment and https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/reducing-pfas-drinking-water-treatment-technologies
Notes/Warnings
TAPP Water 5-stage activated carbon filters are intended for public potable tap water. We also offer TAPP Water Ultra for non-potable tap water.
The cartridges must be changed every 3 months to ensure that the filter works
Filtration of substances above is based on low concentrations that are no more than 2-3x the MAL (Maximum Allowed Level) by WHO. For high concentrations of e.g. lead, mercury, nitrate or chlorine the filtration efficiency might not be sufficient.
Commercial/common nomenclature of the chemical contaminants previously mentioned
- Acetaldehyde
- Gasoline
- Acetic Acid
- Glycol
- Acetone
- Herbicides
- Activated-sludge effluent
- Hydrogen sulfide
- Air-purification scrubbing solutions
- Hypochlorous acid
- Alcohol
- Insecticides
- Amines
- Iodine
- Ammonia
- Isopropyl acetate and alcohol
- Amyl acetate and alcohol
- Ketones
- Antifreeze
- Lactic acid
- Benzine
- Mercaptans
- Biochemical Agents
- Methyl acetate and alcohol
- Bleach solutions
- Methyl-ethyle-ketone
- Butyl acetate and alcohol
- Naphtha
- Calcium hypochlorite
- Nitrobenzene
- Can and drum washing
- Nitrotoluene
- Chemical tank wash water
- Odors
- Chloral
- Organic compounds
- Chloramine
- Phenol
- Chlorine
- Potassium permanganate
- Chlorobenzene
- Sodium hypochlorite
- Chlorophenol
- Solvents
- Chlorophyll
- Sulfonated oils
- Cresol
- Tastes (organic)
- Dairy process wash water
- Toluene
- Decayed organic matter
- Trichlorethylene
- Defoilants
- Trickling-filter effluent
- Detergents
- Turpentine
- Dissolved oil
- Vinegar
- Dyes
- Well water
- Ethyl acetate and alcohol
- Xylene