In the distant past I remember getting an email or two from readers who asked me about the safety of coconut carbon filters. I always replied with a big, honest "Sorry, I have NO IDEA what you are talking about." Logically, a water filter is supposed to filter, not add stuff to the water, right?
Then I had an experience of my own.
After a few months it subsided on its own and I didn't figure out the cause. . . until I realized. . .
Several months ago, we had a water leak in our kitchen. We had to unhook all our relatively new marvelous reverse osmosis water system and start drinking regular tapwater for a few months until we reconstructed our damaged walls and cabinets, etc. During that time I had no allergic problems at all. The lump in my throat went away. When our reverse osmosis was freshly installed again along with all its brand new filters I took a long drink from a tall glass of water. I hadn't eaten anything for a long time before or after. There it was, my throat was itching.
My husband contacted the manufacturer of the water filters because he has actually worked on water purification systems for a few of his projects as an engineer. He knew that the best filters in the business, used to purify water for medical-grade soaps and liquid medications, were all coconut based. But I didn't think that our home would have such a filter. It turned out that it did. Not only that, but the filter company is used to responding to questions about coconut allergies! Our upgrade to an excellent reverse osmosis system included an upgrade to serious coconut fibers.
As it turns out, the company does have a fix. Unfortunately, you have to bypass the final filter that adjusts the actual taste of the water to avoid the one that has coconut. But, the manufacturer was awesome and sent us the little T-shaped part for free.
I am very allergic to coconut, but I never thought I was sensitive enough to react to the minute particles that might find their way into water from a coconut carbon filter!