Shower filters reduce skin irritants like chlorine and chloramines from your shower water by passing them through filtration media like KDF. When chlorine content is eliminated, the water is much gentler on your hair and skin and does no longer bears a harsh chemical smell. KDF is a granular zinc alloy that exchanges electrons with waterborne contaminants, chemically converting chlorine and heavy metals into benign materials that will not aggravate your skin. KDF (an acronym for “kinetic degradation fluxion”) is also popularly used to improve the taste of water as well. Everpure, a brand renowned for its restaurant-quality water filtration products, uses KDF media extensively in their filter cartridges.
KDF eliminates the dissolved chlorine from water by converting the chlorine disinfectants into a water-soluble, environmentally-safe chloride ion. As the chlorinated water passes through the KDF filament, the two dissimilar metals in KDF (copper and zinc) create a galvanic or electrolytic reaction that turns chlorine into chloride. Chloride will not antagonize any skin conditions, negatively affect your hair, and doesn’t bear any undesirable taste. KDF is also adept at eliminating heavy metals like iron, lead, and copper from water supplies. Furthermore, KDF media is bacteriostatic and inhibits internal bacterial growth. The media prevents any algae build-up within the shower filter and is increasingly used as a replacement for bacteriostatic silver within carbon filters.
Carbon filters are heralded for their ability to remove chlorine from water. However, the efficacy of carbon’s chlorine reduction decreases as the temperature of the water increases. This makes them ideal for drinking water applications, as most people are filling their glasses with cold water. But, since most people are taking hot showers, activated carbon media is a poor choice for a shower filter. Running hot water through activated carbon blocks will actually release contaminants trapped within the carbon media back into the water. Unlike most filter media, KDF’s performance is unaffected by the temperature of the water.
