What is Anthracite?

 

 

Anthracite is known as The King of Coal. It is an extremely dense and carbon rich form of coal, with an extremely slow burn time and is recognized as the cleanest burning fuel available. It burns with hardly any smoke and is relatively inexpensive.

 

But anthracite has another very interesting use after it has been washed:

 

What is Washed Anthracite?

 

Washed Anthracite is, as it’s name suggests, is anthracite which has been cleaned of any dust and residue, leaving a shiny and clean piece of coal behind.

 

 

What is Washed Anthracite used for?

 

 

Washed Anthracite is primarily used in the filtration and purification of water. It is often used in conjunction with filter sand to remove any impurities from the water which flows through them. This is called a dual media filtration process.

 

 

How does Washed Anthracite purify water?

 

Anthracite is a very porous, carbon rich form of coal. The carbon traps a wide range of undesirable elements in the water. It can trap bacteria and other waterborne parasites as well as draw out any metallic elements, such as iron, from the water. When certain elements come into contact with the pure carbon molecules of the anthracite, they are absorbed into the coal through a chemical reaction.

 

 

Can I use just Washed Anthracite to purify drinking water?

 

No. Anthracite is the first phase through which the water is filtered and is too large to perfectly purify water. It is placed above a much finer medium, usually filter / silica sand as a primary filtration point.

 

 

Do you get different types of washed anthracite?

 

 

Yes. The two main differences being size and quality.

 

1. Washed anthracite is available in grains less than a millimeter wide all the way up to chunks as big as your hand.. The larger pieces being used for industrial scale filtration and the smallest in the production of specialized drinking water.
2. Anthracite quality varies greatly, and a poor quality anthracite will not deliver good results. Good quality anthracite is very dense and heavy and you can test the quality using a copper or brass coin. If a sharp edge of an anthracite nugget can scratch the face of the coin without any crumbling, you have a good quality anthracite.

 

 

Can I burn washed anthracite in my heater?

 

Yes you can. Although, for obvious reasons, washed anthracite is slightly more expensive than in it’s regular unwashed state, the benefits of using washed anthracite in your heater include a cleaner, healthier chimney and a lot less mess and dirt.

 

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