Questions about the new CLM filter for the Pi-Mag water bottle

The NEW CLM filter (Charged Layer Membrane) of PiMag® Water Bottle

What is new about the filter of the PiMag® water bottle?
It’s no longer just a great water filter. Instead, the new filter with nanotechnology is state-of-the-art. And the capacity of the filter to remove potential contaminants, including pathogens (bacteria, protozoa and viruses) from drinking water, is now significantly increased.

How does the filter remove pathogens?
The filter has a Charged Layer Membrane (CLM) filter medium. This filter medium is made of nonwoven substrate impregnated with nano-aluminium particles. These particles generate an electrokinetic field or a “charge field” around the fibers. Water passing through the filter is exposed to this charge field. The charge attracts and binds negatively charged ions, similar to a magnet that attracts iron shavings. Pathogens have a negative charge, which is why the CLM medium “pulls” them out of the water stream that passes through the filter.

Are pathogens in drinking water?
Under normal circumstances, municipal drinking water is disinfected before and during distribution. However, after natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, the infrastructure of the water supply may be affected. Exposure to bacteria such as E. coli makes water unsuitable as drinking water. Protozoencysts such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium can be resistant to chlorine used for disinfection, and may be present in the water even when the municipal water supply is intact. The new PiMag® CLM filter can remove pathogens that may be present in drinking water.

Do the PiMag® water bottle and the filter offer additional filtration services?
yes. In addition to the electrokinetic effect described above, the filter medium is also characterized by extraordinarily fine activated carbon particles. In contrast to other filters, the activated carbon is detected without the use of a binder in the filter medium. Thus, the entire surface of the activated carbon particles is available to absorb organic impurities. This design maximizes the efficiency of the activated carbon.

What is the new impurities, the so-called “Emerging Contaminants”?
This is a new class of drinking water contaminants that are currently being investigated. Municipal drinking water is not currently being studied and is not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Which substances belong to the “Emerging Contaminants”?
Emerging contaminates generally include industrial and pharmaceutical compounds, personal care products and endocrine disruptors.

Are Emerging Contaminants Harmful?
Emerging Contaminats are currently being researched. However, there is already evidence that long-term consumption could have an impact on public health.

How can we protect ourselves from these emerging contaminants?
CLM filtering technology is proving to be a promising technology to remove emerging contaminates that could be in our drinking water supply.

Does the PiMag ® filter remove microplastic particles that could be in drinking water?
yes. Plastics can be found in water in two forms. The most common form is plastic particles, the so-called microplastics. These are tiny, water-insoluble plastic particles. They range from 2 to 100 microns in size. As an indication: A human hair has a diameter of about 100 microns. Particles of 50 microns in size are still visible to the human eye. Most of the particles present in the water are in the area that is no longer visible to the human eye.
The CLM medium of the new Nikken filter removes particles from the water of 2 microns or more by mechanically retaining these small plastic particles. These particles are too large to pass through the micropores of the filter medium.
Plastic is still present in another form in water: in a molecular state in the form of ions. Plastics are made of long chain polymers. When plastic components of bottle material have passed into the water, this means that part of one of these long polymer chains has been broken off or severed. The polymer chains that make plastics are carbon chains. Carbon is a negatively charged ion. The electrostatic charge of the CLM medium captures these negatively charged ions.
The new CLM filter from Nikken removes both plastic particles and plastics in molecular form from drinking water.

Is the filter patented?
yes. The CLM filter medium is patented and there is a patent application for the filter design.
The CLM medium was originally developed for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Why is CLM filtering so excellent?
The extremely small nanoparticles within the CLM filter increase the active surface available for capturing impurities present in drinking water exponentially. Filters in which carbon granules are used (such as table water filters) do not offer this advantage.
Did the filter of the PiMag® water bottle, which was available so far, have a CLM filter medium?
no. The previous filter (U.S. Patent No. 8439205) is a carbon-zeolite filter that is widely used in drinking water filtration and meets or exceeds internationally recognized filter standards.

The filter meets all previous ANSI/NSF standards and provides the following additional filter performance:
• Reduction of microbial cysts: exceeds standard (99.9 )
• Reduction of bacteria: exceeds standard (99,9999 )
• Extraordinarily good removal of pathogens
• Wide power range in terms of removal of chemical impurities and
Heavy metals
• High performance in the removal of suspended particles, turbidity and particles
• Improved drinkability thanks to the permeable CLM membrane
• Increase the pH to a value above 8.5
The properties listed above are additional benefits that the new filter offers in addition to the following properties:
Solids: exceeds standard
Reduction of chlorine content: exceeds standard
Improvement of taste and smell: exceeds standard reduction of lead content: exceeds standard
Volatile organic compounds: exceeds standard
MTBE (methyl-tert-butyl ether): exceeds standard

Is the filter the same size as before?
The filter is now smaller, which slightly reduces the weight of the PiMag® water bottle.

Does the new filter make the water alkaline (basic)?
yes. The new filter uses an alkalizing filter medium that increases the pH of the water from 7 to over 8.5 times, which corresponds to an increase in the pH value of 15 to 25 times. The pH number indicates the concentration of hydrogen ion activity as a negative tens logarithm, which is why one step on the scale corresponds to a tenfold concentration of OH ions.

How long does the new filter last?
With the new filter, up to 150 liters of water can be filtered, which corresponds to a use of three months under normal conditions.

Why is the PiMag® water bottle with its filter so unique?
It is the only water bottle with a filter that provides comprehensive filtration performance while producing basic water. It therefore combines three important properties: filtration, alkalinization (through the filter) and declustering (through the magnets in the neck of the bottle).

Can the filter be cleaned?
The filter can be rinsed with water. However, you should not use soap as it could clog the pores of the CLM filter medium.

Here you can buy the new PiMag filter