Let’s talk about the stuff you can’t see or smell. Charcoal is great at grabbing pesticides and herbicides that might have hitched a ride from farmland runoff into your local water supply. It’s not going to erase every chemical, but it takes a big bite out of the common ones.
It also polishes away things like benzene (yes, the stuff in gasoline) and some industrial solvents. We’re talking about trace amounts, but why would you want to sip even a little bit of that? Charcoal gives you a nice, warm "no thank you" to those invisible hitchhikers.
What Does Charcoal Filter Remove From Water at Angel Fleming blog
The "Mud Pie" Test (For Ghosts & Dogs)
Imagine you dropped a sugar cube into a mud puddle. The sugar would just dissolve and spread the dirt around. Now imagine that sugar cube is charcoal. It does the opposite—it pulls the dirt and smell onto its surface and holds it there.
This is why charcoal is also fantastic at removing bad tastes from organic matter. If your water tastes a little like dirt or rotten eggs (that’s usually sulfur), charcoal is your best friend. It’s like a little vacuum cleaner for nasty flavors.
