How does water get filtered while passing through sand, charcoal, etc.?

Question

How does water get filtered while passing through sand, charcoal, etc.?

In: 3473

Answer 1

Two things. First, is that the stuff you’re filtering out is bigger than the water molecules themselves. Like much bigger. So water can get through where the contaminants can’t.

Second is that the filter media (media is the fancy term for the material the filter is made out of, like sand or charcoal) might be sticky for the contaminants (like bacteria) but not the water itself.