Inline Granular Activated Coconut Shell Carbon (GAC) Filter Cartridge

Ice that tastes like the pool. Water from the refrigerator door with a chemical edge. A faint plastic or solvent note you cannot quite name. Those tastes and smells usually come from chlorine and dissolved organic chemicals, and activated carbon is the stage built to pull them out.

This inline GAC filter cartridge is packed with granular activated coconut shell carbon and plumbed directly into the water line. It reduces volatile organic compounds (VOCs), insecticides, pesticides and industrial solvents, along with chlorine taste and odor, at a service flow of 0.5 GPM. Choose the JACO or Quick Connect fitting to match your current cartridge, and use it on refrigerator and ice maker lines, inline filter setups, water coolers and point-of-use reverse osmosis systems.

At a glance

• Cleaner-tasting water and ice: reduces chlorine taste and odor and the organic chemicals behind off flavors
• Targets organic chemicals: VOCs, insecticides, pesticides and industrial solvents
• Coconut shell carbon: a hard, dense carbon with a fine pore structure suited to small organic molecules
• Two connection styles: JACO or Quick Connect, the same inline carbon cartridge with a 0.5 GPM service flow
• Long service life: typically 12 to 24 months, about 18 months for most homes

What you are looking at

The cartridge is a sealed inline filter. Loose granules of coconut shell activated carbon fill the body, held inside polyolefin inner and outer wraps and closed with polypropylene end caps and Buna-N gaskets. Connections at each end tie it into the water line. There is no housing to open: when the carbon is spent, the whole cartridge is replaced.

How an inline GAC filter works

Adsorption on a huge internal surface

Activated carbon is carbon processed at very high temperature until it is riddled with microscopic pores. Those pores give each granule an enormous internal surface. As water flows through the bed, chlorine and many dissolved organic chemicals are attracted to that surface and held there. This is adsorption, and it is how carbon removes tastes and odors without adding anything to the water.

Chlorine is handled a different way

Carbon does more than hold chlorine. Its surface reacts with free chlorine and converts it to chloride, which has no taste or smell at drinking water levels. That is why even a compact carbon stage makes such a noticeable difference on chlorinated city water.

Why coconut shell

Crystal Quest specifies coconut shell carbon for this cartridge. Coconut shell activates into a hard, durable granule with a large share of very fine pores, which matches the size of the small organic molecules found in drinking water, such as VOCs and solvents. It is also a renewable source.

Why granular, and why flow matters

Loose granules let water move through the whole bed with low resistance, so a granular carbon cartridge keeps flow strong on a low-pressure appliance line. The longer water stays in contact with the carbon, the more the carbon can adsorb. That is why this cartridge is rated at a steady 0.5 GPM service flow, a pace suited to a refrigerator, ice maker, cooler or drinking water tap.

What it reduces

Primary targets:

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Insecticides and pesticides
• Industrial solvents
• Chlorine taste and odor

Chloramine: activated carbon reduces chloramine more slowly than chlorine. If your city disinfects with chloramine, the SMART Inline Filter Cartridge is the stronger inline choice.

Not designed to treat: total dissolved solids, hardness minerals, fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, lead and other dissolved metals, or bacteria and viruses. It is not a sediment stage either; on water with sand, silt or rust, put an Inline Sediment Filter Cartridge in front of it so particles do not coat the carbon. For dissolved solids and metals, choose reverse osmosis.

Why Crystal Quest

• The carbon stage our own systems use. Part CQE-RC-04038 is the inline carbon cartridge Crystal Quest specifies in its floor-model water coolers, its countertop reverse osmosis system and the Thunder C under-sink RO models, so you get the stage our engineers designed around.
• Coconut shell, by specification. We choose coconut shell carbon for its fine pore structure and hard, durable granules.
• Two fittings, one cartridge. JACO or Quick Connect, so you match your line instead of adding adapters and extra joints.
• Over 1,000,000 people served since 1994. Crystal Quest builds under ISO 9001 quality management and has made water filtration in the USA for over 30 years.
• Lifetime support. Call, email or chat with our water filtration team whenever you have a question.

Where it fits

• Refrigerator and ice maker lines: on the cold water supply ahead of the appliance, after an inline sediment cartridge when the water carries particles
• Inline filter setups: the carbon stage after sediment and before any specialty cartridge
• Point-of-use reverse osmosis: before the membrane to protect it from chlorine, or after the storage tank as a final polish before the faucet, in the position your system specifies
• Water coolers and drinking fountains: as the carbon stage on the supply line

Replacing the carbon stage in a Crystal Quest water cooler or Thunder under-sink RO system? The GAC Inline Filter RO Cartridge listing covers those systems and their service steps.

Common questions