Replacing filter medium on countertop water distiller

[danielj]

Hi everyone,

Quick question -- I have a countertop distiller that has a carbon VOC filter on the drip. The company recommends I replace the filter every 3 months, aka you buy new ones from them because they are specific. Photo of filters attached. It's about $50 for a year supply.

I'm wondering if I can just replace the carbon filter medium manually. There is a cap at the top that comes off, and it seems like it is just screen > filter media > screen.

If so, does anyone have a recommendation for a medium I can replace it with? I'm not sure if grit size is standardized, or if there are any other specifics that are important here.

Thanks!

 

[bernardsmith]

Definitely don't pretend to even play an expert on this forum but I have a question and that is why do you need a filter? If you are using a tabletop still, that sounds like a version of a pot still, and so if your washes are well made as drinkable wines, and you are not using "turbo" yeasts and fermenting at temperatures and conditions that make the yeast pips squeak and produce all kinds of terrible off flavors, then applying a filter will strip quality flavors from your run. In short, if you know how to make beer and you know how to make wine, then aren't these filters spoiling your distillates? Of course, if you demand that the fermentation be finished inside a week and you have no care whether you stress the yeast or how awful the wash might be, then OK you might benefit by using a filter. And that said, if you can fill these filters by hand, your local pet store is likely to sell carbon to be used as filters for aquariums. Not certain if these are all food grade... but the pet store might know.