This section helps you quickly work out whether a biochar filter is the right choice for your land or water management challenge — and if so, how to design and reuse it safely.
What Is a Biochar Filter?
A biochar filter is a water filtration system that uses biochar — a porous, carbon-rich sorbent — to remove nutrients from flowing water.
Is a Biochar Filter System Right For Your Water?
Before choosing any system, first check whether biochar biofiltration is appropriate.
Use our decision tree to identify your water type — agricultural, SuDS/surface water, highway runoff, industrial runoff, or CSO — and quickly confirm whether biochar is the correct technology.
Part 1: Water quality and regulations
Understand sediment, phosphorus, organic loading and EA risk levels so you can act early, before compliance issues escalate.
This section explains why filtration matters, the typical regulatory triggers, and how biochar supports more consistent outcomes in agricultural and surface-water settings.
Part 2: Filtration systems and design
Biochar works best in simple filter beds designed to operate under stable, low-stress conditions, supported by gentle pre-treatment.
This section covers system layouts, flow paths, particle-size logic, biofilm behaviour, maintenance expectations, and why our designs prioritise soil-safe operation over metals-polishing performance.
Part 3: Soil reuse and carbon compliance
By design, our filters generate a material suitable for soil reuse, with the potential to contribute to structure, water retention, and long-term carbon stability when managed appropriately. This section explains PTE limits, mass-balance checks, soil-reuse frameworks, and the circular benefits of sending spent media back to land.