Water-washed activated carbon refers to the removal of soluble impurities, ash and a small amount of trace elements in the activated carbon through a water washing process during the manufacturing process. Water-washed activated carbon is suitable for applications that have certain requirements for purity but are not demanding, such as general water treatment and air purification.

Acid-washed activated carbon is a method of treating activated carbon with an acid solution (such as hydrochloric acid and nitric acid) to remove inorganic impurities (such as metal ions), alkaline substances and other insoluble impurities in the carbon. After acid washing, the activated carbon has higher purity and adsorption performance, and is suitable for application scenarios with stricter requirements on impurity content, such as pharmaceuticals, laboratories, etc.