Is the type of charcoal that is used in water filters the same as the charcoal that is used in grills?

Question

I'm designing a filter type thing for our pond and we have a whole bunch of charcoal bricketts in our garage that we don't use. would I be able to smash/grind the bricketts and put them in a 'container' that could be used to filter water? (not drinking water, pond water)

addition: we do have fish and water lilies in our pond also, plz tell me if that is not a good idea, with the charcoal.

hope this helps.

Answer 1

Briquettes are mostly made from Bituminous coal in the USA now...I would not even want to eat food cooked over them. Hardwood charcoal is usually called 'Lump Charcoal'..good to cook on but not what you want. Filtering charcoal is called 'activated charcoal"

Answer 2

Charcoal briquettes for barbecue are made of charcoal dust and are held together with fillers and glue. They would not work as a filter for a pond. They are far denser than filter charcoal which is pure wood charcoal. You would probably poison your water and kill the fish in the pond.

if you have fish and water lilies you really don't need charcoal filtration for your pond water. That is overkill for an outdoor pond. Sponge filtration or biofiltration or a settling tank. is just fine.