What are the benefits of Activated Carbon?

What are the benefits of Activated Carbon? 

Its major use in pre-treatment is to remove free chlorine and chloramines before reverse osmosis to prevent membrane damage due to oxidation. Activated carbon reacts very rapidly with free chlorine in water to produce chlorides; a relatively small volume of carbon can be effective. Over 5 times the volume of carbon is needed to catalyse the removal of chloramines. 

High purity activated carbon is a highly effective adsorber of organic compounds and is used to remove residual organic compounds in purified water. These may come from the feed-water or leached from the system or the ion exchange resins. It is a valuable aid in maintaining low TOC values, complementing UV oxidation. 

The affinity of activated carbon for organics can also be used in vent filters to protect reservoirs of purified water.