GAC Inline Filter RO Cartridge

Reverse osmosis water should taste clean and crisp. If yours has picked up a stale, plastic or chlorine note, or your bottleless cooler's water is not as fresh as it was, the carbon stage is usually spent. This is the cartridge that restores it.

This inline granular activated carbon (GAC) cartridge, part CQE-RC-04038, is the replacement carbon stage for Crystal Quest water coolers and point-of-use reverse osmosis systems. Its published applications cover pre and post point-of-use RO, ice maker and refrigerator lines, and water coolers and fountains. Before an RO membrane it strips chlorine that would damage the membrane; after the storage tank it polishes the taste of every glass.

At a glance

• The carbon stage for Crystal Quest coolers and RO: listed in our water cooler manual and the Thunder under-sink RO replacement list
• Protects the RO membrane: as a pre-filter it reduces chlorine before it reaches the thin-film membrane
• Polishes the finished water: as a post-filter it removes tastes and odors water can pick up in the storage tank
• Coconut shell GAC: reduces chlorine taste and odor, VOCs and pesticides
• Simple to change: connector fittings at each end, no housing to open

What you are looking at

One sealed inline carbon cartridge filled with granular activated carbon, closed with end caps and gaskets, with a connection at each end. In a cooler it sits inside the cartridge compartment with the other numbered cartridges; in an under-sink RO system it mounts in line on the tubing. When the carbon is spent, the whole cartridge is replaced.

How it works in RO systems and coolers

Before the membrane: chlorine protection

Thin-film composite RO membranes do the heavy lifting on dissolved solids, but chlorine attacks the membrane material over time. Activated carbon reacts with free chlorine and converts it to chloride, so a carbon stage ahead of the membrane takes chlorine out before it can shorten the membrane's life. This is the role CQE-RC-04038 plays as cartridge #1 in Crystal Quest floor-model reverse osmosis coolers.

After the tank: the final polish

RO water is stored in a tank until you open the faucet, and water that sits can pick up faint tastes and odors along the way. A carbon post-filter between the tank and the faucet adsorbs them, so the last thing your water touches is fresh carbon. On Thunder under-sink RO systems, the C models use this inline carbon post-filter; the M models use an inline SMART cartridge in that position instead.

In a bottleless water cooler

Crystal Quest floor-model coolers with ultrafiltration use this cartridge as stage #2, right after the sediment cartridge and ahead of the UF membrane and SMART stage. It takes out chlorine taste and odor and organic chemicals before the finer stages.

Coconut shell carbon, in brief

Granular coconut shell carbon is full of microscopic pores that give it a vast internal surface. Chlorine reacts on that surface, and organic chemicals such as VOCs and pesticides are held there by adsorption. Granules keep flow easy on low-pressure lines like an RO faucet or cooler supply.

What it reduces

Primary targets:

• Chlorine, and the taste and odor it causes
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Pesticides
• Tastes and odors picked up in an RO storage tank (post-filter position)

Not designed to treat: total dissolved solids, hardness, fluoride, nitrate, arsenic or dissolved metals. In an RO system those are the membrane's job, and in a cooler they are handled by the RO, UF and SMART stages that the model includes. Carbon also does not disinfect water.

Why Crystal Quest

• Specified by part number. The Crystal Quest water cooler manual lists CQE-RC-04038 as the granulated activated carbon cartridge in its floor-model coolers, and the Thunder under-sink RO manual lists it among its replacement cartridges.
• Matched to the system. The cooler manual directs owners to use Crystal Quest replacement cartridges, because the stages are designed to work together.
• 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 about your cooler or RO system.

Which systems use it

• Floor-model coolers with ultrafiltration: cartridge #2, after sediment, in the TURBO, SHARP and Hybrid Ultrafiltration coolers
• Floor-model reverse osmosis coolers: cartridge #1, ahead of the RO membrane, in the TURBO, SHARP and Hybrid Reverse Osmosis and Ultrafiltration coolers
• Thunder under-sink RO, C models: the inline carbon post-filter, for example on the Thunder 1000C. M models use the SMART Inline Filter Cartridge in that position.
• Crystal Quest countertop reverse osmosis system: its GAC cartridge

Check the part number on your current cartridge or in your order history, and confirm the connections match. Need a choice of JACO or Quick Connect fittings for a refrigerator or ice maker line? See the Inline GAC Filter Cartridge.

Common questions