West Virginia Chemical Spill and RO Filtration? Just curious....

[ericatdallas]

4-methylcyclohexane methanol is the chemical...

anyone know if an RO or RO/DI system is sufficient for this?

I don't live in W. Virginia, but I figured it would be a good thing to know if I ever have something similar happen in my area. That way, I don't have to make a mad rush to the grocery store for water.

[ericatdallas]

<Sigh> Well, maybe someone has other inputs, but I managed to find something....

low molecular weight, water soluble, non-polar compounds are poorly filtered (i.e. ethanol, methanol).

[myofibroblast]

How terrible. I haven't heard about this on the news, but I hope FEMA sets up clean water distribution centers for the residents!

I didn't realize there is a large coal-mining/processing industry in Florida that you would have to prepare for this.

RE: RO. I don't use RO but if I remember correctly, RO is not effective in filtering hydrocarbons. Why not just contact the membrane manufacturer and find out?

RE: DI. Deionization does not affect hydrocarbons.

If the city is warning its citizens that the contamination may cause irritation (eyes, gi tract, skin, etc.) then I would be hesitant to use it on pets, fish or not fish, especially when the home filtration methods are dubious at best. Pretend you're on vacation, no water changes.

[SMB2]

What about activated carbon?

[yogi]

I don't know if carbon or r/o will help. But this link says that 100's are already sick from the spill.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/10/22258897-hundreds-report-symptoms-after-west-virginia-chemical-spill?lite

[dirtyplants]

I would think that these chemicals are much too small for carbon.

[ericatdallas]

I did a quick search and it says carbon will absorb methanol (not sure if variant matters). I'm also not sure if it works well enough that I would be comfortable giving this to my kids.

[rbarn]

GAC carbon will strip just about any chemical out of water given proper dwell time. This is the expensive carbon found in Chloramine filters.