Home Made Water Filter

pict

pict

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Jan 7, 2003
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I made up a short video that describes the simple home made water filter I've been using for the past eight years in Brazil with very good results.

The filter costs about $3 to make. It must be used with a chemical method or boiling to make the water safe. This filter will remove a great deal of suspended material, small organisms, and make the water clearer but it DOES NOT IN ITSELF MAKE THE WATER SAFE TO DRINK. It does greatly increase the effectiveness of either iodine or chlorine and it makes water of questionable quality much better tasting.

Home Made Water Filter

img1648et2.jpg

Mac
 
That's a good looking filter, thanks for sharing. Would you indulge a couple of questions?

-How did you make, or where did you get, the little disk to separate the fiber and charcoal?
-Do you fill up the entire lower tube with charcoal, or just partially?
-Re: the 'reducer', would any funnel-shaped piece work for that to direct the water, or is there another function?
-How often do you change out the charcoal and the fiber? Do you wash and reuse the fiber?
 
SpookyPistolero said:
That's a good looking filter, thanks for sharing. Would you indulge a couple of questions?

-How did you make, or where did you get, the little disk to separate the fiber and charcoal?
-Do you fill up the entire lower tube with charcoal, or just partially?
-Re: the 'reducer', would any funnel-shaped piece work for that to direct the water, or is there another function?
-How often do you change out the charcoal and the fiber? Do you wash and reuse the fiber?
Click to expand...

Good questions. I'll take them one at a time.

#1. unfortunately my explanation of the little disks got edited out as I had fumbled over my words. There were made from thin plastic from an ice cream container that I cut to size and them punched holes in with a very small hole punch.

#2. The lower chamber is filled with pellets to max capacity then tapped against the table top to get them to settle, then I add more.

#3. I made the filter from common PVC parts. The funnel shaped reducer works well to both trap the lower screen (holding in the charcoal) and create a nozzle to direct the water. The end of the reducer was a little too wide for my canteen so I added the rubber tube.

#4 How often I change the elements is a matter of how bad the water was that I ran through the filter. The top wad gets very dirty sometimes with algae and leaf particles. I don't normally wash it out because I carry extra wadding. If large stuff gets trapped on top it is a simple matter to remove the plug and rinse it out in a stream. Cotton balls do not work well, they tend to compact into a dense wad.

The charcoal goes a long time. I pretty much change it once or twice a year depending on how much I've been using it. Mac
 
Thanks much for the clarification pict! So on the disks, you'd be able to use any plastic with holes small enough to prevent the charcoal pellets from entering?
 
That's the idea. If they are too small it reduces the water flow. The charcoal pellets I use look like black rabbit chow. I have also packed it with crushed coals from my fire and that works well as a field expedient. Mac
 
Very ingenious idea pict. I'm thinking that a mesh aerator from the kitchen plumbing section could work for the little disk.
 
Marcelo Cantu said:
Very ingenious idea pict. I'm thinking that a mesh aerator from the kitchen plumbing section could work for the little disk.
Click to expand...

That would work if it fit tight. It isn't rocket science. I couldn't find anything made to order so I cut my own. Mac
 
Mac, you are the man. Everytime you post up something, I learn. Thank you my friend.
 
Sorry to wake the dead, but I just got back from a trip to the hardware store to make one of these. Used 3/4" PVC, the only 'tricky' parts was finding a screen. I may resort to using the plastic disks. Right now, I've got some rubber-edged metal aerators, the kind that go in a faucet, shoved between the tubes and at the end (to keep the charcoal in).

Bought the fiber and charcoal at Meijer, less than ten bucks total for both. There's more than enough in the containers of each to last several years. PVC parts cost $8, and I did it the expensive way.

I haven't had a chance to filter anything yet, so I'll try to find some ugly water to filter with.

I like your reduce/nipple a lot better than my setup, and so far I'm not sure how happy I am with my aerators. They just don't fit great.

But good design!
 
Neat idea.
Great pre-filter for water you are going to boil or treat with iodine or chlorine.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Sorry to wake the dead, but I just got back from a trip to the hardware store to make one of these. Used 3/4" PVC, the only 'tricky' parts was finding a screen. I may resort to using the plastic disks. Right now, I've got some rubber-edged metal aerators, the kind that go in a faucet, shoved between the tubes and at the end (to keep the charcoal in).

Bought the fiber and charcoal at Meijer, less than ten bucks total for both. There's more than enough in the containers of each to last several years. PVC parts cost $8, and I did it the expensive way.

I haven't had a chance to filter anything yet, so I'll try to find some ugly water to filter with.

I like your reduce/nipple a lot better than my setup, and so far I'm not sure how happy I am with my aerators. They just don't fit great.

But good design!
Click to expand...

Spooky,

I had just finished building my house when I made mine so I had all sorts of PVC and assorted parts around. A visit to a hardware store gives all sorts of possibilities. I'm still working through my first bag of fluff and carton of carbon pellets. Mac
 
1_BIG_BUNKER said:
That is a good idea Mac.

Do you think one of these tube vaults would work in place of PVC pipe? I am just wondering if they are long enough to hold enough filtering media. I like the screw on cap here to so I wouldn't loose anything.


http://countycomm.com/tubevault.htm
Click to expand...

The design's not mine, but I think you may find that a little small. The two piece design really works well for this.

But mine has a cap, just head to the hardware store and piece what you want together. Easy.
 
Big Bunker,

Those are interesting tubes, and the price is right. The do look a little small and it is an open ended filter, you'd have to cut an end. My 20 mm filter is as small and slow as I want to go. For larger groups I use a larger filter.

One of the advantages to the PVC is that PVC is like Lego's, if you have more than one filter you can stack them all together into one long filter. This will give you a greater column of carbon to filter through. Mac
 
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