The present invention concerns an adsorbent composition comprising bleaching earth and a filter aid and its use in removing impurities from hard-to-treat feedstocks to improve filtration behavior while at the same time maintaining high contaminant removal, as well as a related method for purifying the feedstock.

A granulate comprising a binder and at least one of expanded milled perlite particles, diatomaceous earth particles, and sepiolite particles; wherein the particles are bound together by the binder forming pores between the particles; and the granulate has a Dro from about 150 to about 2000 microns.

Described herein relates to an optimum, low maintenance and low-cost filtration media which may be implemented near a source water location as a pretreatment to remove tannic acid and/or humic acid (color) from dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) (i.e., tannic acid, humic acid) to impede the prompt production of disinfection by-products collectively termed trihalomethanes in drinking water treatment processes. In an embodiment, the filtration media may comprise a composition having a ratio of at least 83% sand, at most 5% clay, at most 6% ZVI and at most 6% perlite by percent volume.