Patent ID: 7614508

Claim:
A filter for providing potable water, comprising: (a) a housing having an inlet and an outlet; and (b) a filter material disposed within said housing formed at least in part from a plurality of filter particles consisting of mesoporous activated carbon, wherein at least a portion of said plurality of filter particles is at least partially coated with silver or a silver-containing material, and wherein: (i) the sum of the mesopore and macropore volumes of said filter particles is between about 0.2 mL/g and about 2 mL/g; wherein mesopore means an intra-particle pore having a diameter between 2 nm and 50 nm and macropore means an intra-particle pore having a diameter greater than 50 nm; (ii) the total pore volume of said filter particles is greater than about 0.4 mL/g and less than about 3 mL/g; and (iii) the ratio of the sum of the mesopore and macropore volumes to the total pore volume of said filter particles is greater than about 0.3; wherein said filter is operable to remove microorganisms from water flowing into said inlet and out of said outlet; and wherein said filter has a Filter Bacteria Log Removal of greater than about 2 logs and a Filter Viruses Log Removal of greater than about 1 log.