Rinsing carbon before use

[kevindub]

How long do you rinse activated carbon before using it? Do you rinse with tapwater or RO water? I have rinsed with RO water, but I find it takes a lot of water to rinse it well enough to remove most of the black dust. Am I being too cautious or is this black dust bad for the tank?

 

[Vasces]

I've always rinsed in RO water. I don't have any type of research to back this up, but my thinking has always been that if carbon removes chemical impurities from the water, than I'm sure is grabbing some from the tap water I'm rinsing it with...thus using up some of its effectiveness that could be going toward my tank's water quality.

Again, I have nothing to back this up with, but it just makes weird sense to me.