Homemade water filter ala Pict (Long)

L

lumpymike1

Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
476
Hi all,
A while back Pict was kind enough to send me directions on how to make a water filter similar to the one that he uses to prefilter his water while out and about. I had filed away the information to save for a later day since I had recently gotten a MSR Sweetwater that met my needs. Flash forward to this week, I'm getting ready for a trip out to the Verde River this weekend. My wife has moved the filter (which we kept with the emergency house gear) and we can't find it. Well a quick trip to the pet store and scrounging up some PVC and I have a new filter.
Pict has given me permission to let you know how I made it but he (and I) wanted all to know that: THIS IN NO WAY CHEMICALLY FILTERS WATER! This is at best a good pre-filter that will take out a lot of scum and crud. It should ALWAYS be used with another method of purification be it boiling, chemical drops or UV purification.

Materials used:
Activated Carbon $12
Fish filter fluff $13
Spice shaker cap:free
PVC pipe and attachment: Free from sprinkler project

I had to trim the shaker a bit to fit in the attachment, but it gave a good snug fit on the base of the pipe.

I cut a portion of the filter fluff into 1-2 inch squares so that it would pack easier, and added two over the base to keep the (now) strainer attachment from clogging. I then added several tablespoon fulls of activated carbon (until it was halfway full) and then 4-5 more squares of fluff, packed tight.

this leaves about 2 inches between the top of the pipe and the top layer of fluff for ease of filling.

I ran a few cups of tap water through to get all of the dust off the carbon, and after about 2 cups of water it was running clean.

Tonight I will mix up a nice cup of dirt water and try filtering that to see how much it clears out.

All in all, I think it was pretty good for a 1st try. It will dispense well into a nalgene bottle where I will treat it again with drops or possibly a steripen. I want to play with the design more in the future to reduce size and weight, but this should work fine for the weekend.

Again, if you use this, please add a second purifying step.

Thanks to Pict for the idea and permission to post it. I had a lot of fun making it.



Mike
 
Sort of on the same vein. Has anybody ever considered a gravity filter made from an unglazed ceramic like terra cotta? Any idea what the pore size would be in microns? It wouldn't be great for lugging around in the woods but if it works, it might be good around the homestead in an emergency.

Sorry, not trying to hijack. Just wanted to put this out there and see if anybody else had already toyed with the idea.

Cool idea, Mike, and thanks for the pics.
 
2dogs said:
How well does this filter out crud compared to a coffee filter?
Click to expand...

I don't have a direct answer for the question, but the activated charcoal/carbon will take alot of the funky smell out, that a coffee filter won't. As to filtering debris, I think it would grab a bit more just based on the layers, but it certainly is bigger & heavier than even 100 coffee filters.
 
At this point I wouldn't be able to answer the coffie filter question, however if givin the chance I will try to compare this weekend. This does have a good 3-4 inches of fiber to filter out vs the coffee fitlers. With especialy dirty water I would probably filter through this unit and then also a bandana or filter prior to purification, just to get out as much junk as possible. I do keep a coffee filter in the PSK, just for kicks.
 
lumpymike1 said:
With especialy dirty water I would probably filter through this unit and then also a bandana or filter prior to purification, just to get out as much junk as possible.
Click to expand...
You might consider reversing that process. The bandanna (old shirt etc.) would be easier to rinse out for reuse.

Your setup should stop the larger bacteria. No cholera!!! :)
 
Thomas Linton said:
You might consider reversing that process. The bandanna (old shirt etc.) would be easier to rinse out for reuse.

Your setup should stop the larger bacteria. No cholera!!! :)
Click to expand...

Good idea Thomas, thanks!

Once I get some smaller pipe, I will refine the filter to make it smaller and lighter. This will pretty much stay at basecamp for refilling before and after the day hikes.

Mike
 
There was a thread here a while back about a "base camp" fliter. I thought I saved the link but I can't find it. Essentially, you poured water in the top and it gravity-fed into a "clean" container below. IIRC, it was way to big to pack around. Anybody remember this one?

-- FLIX
 
FLIX said:
There was a thread here a while back about a "base camp" fliter. I thought I saved the link but I can't find it. Essentially, you poured water in the top and it gravity-fed into a "clean" container below. IIRC, it was way to big to pack around. Anybody remember this one?

-- FLIX
Click to expand...

I was taught to do something like that with a lister bag and multiple levels of filter material
 
Here's one application:

http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc130.html

Here's another:

The LifeStraw - The Invention of The Century?

gizmag
More than one billion people - one sixth of the world's population - are without access to safe water supply. At any given moment, about half of the world's poor are suffering from waterborne diseases, of which over 6,000 - mainly children - die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water. The world's most prolific killer though is diarrhoeal disease from bacteria like typhoid, cholera, e. coli, salmonella and many others. Safe water interventions have vast potential to transform the lives of millions.
The aptly-named LifeStraw is an invention that could become one of the greatest life-savers in history. It is a 25 cm long, 29 mm diameter, plastic pipe filter and costs just a few dollars (the manufacturers originally informed us the price was around US$2.00 but the price is now under review and we'll be posting a new price shortly. The most prolific killer of human beings in developed countries is the automobile, followed by a host of diseases resulting mainly from an indulgent lifestyle.
Millions of people perish every year because they simply don’t have clean water to drink. Until now, there was not much we could do about this because systems to clean water were costly and required electricity and spare parts and and and … but the LifeStraw now offers a viable means of saving tens of millions of lives every year.
LifeStraw is a personal, low-cost water purification tool with a life time of 700 litres – approximately one year of water consumption for one person. Positive test results have been achieved on tap, turbid and saline water against common waterborne bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, Enterococcus and Staphylococcu.
This LifeStraw was designed with special emphasize on avoiding any moving parts, as a sealed unit with no replaceable spare parts, and avoiding the use of electricity, which does not exist in many areas in the 3rd world. But as force (power) is required to implement the filtering, Vestergaard Frandsen chose to use the natural source of sucking, that even babies are able to perform. A brief technical rundown is available at MedGadget, the internet journal of emerging medical technologies.
Click to expand...
 
Water purification prefilter for filthy water and chunky stuff: Pantyhose material.

Then run the water through the bandana, tee-shirt, or other cloth filter, after which you use the coffee filter, the charcoal filter, and subsequent sterilization methods. But the fine-woven mesh of the pantyhose gets out the bigger stuff first, which keeps it from clogging up the filters that follow.
 
I had to design a filter for a civil engineering class and the water was potable however the filter was the size of a garbage can and I dont remember the exact layers of filters we put in
 
This filter works like a filter from a fish tank, it is made form the same stuff. The fiber wad strains out the floaties, bugs, little swimmers, and green strings of algae. The charcoal below strains out alot (not all) of the stuff you can't see, suspended particles, foul taste, etc. The water that dribbles out the other side is better quality, ready for treating with whatever chemical method you choose.

Of course if you pack the top with mud don't expect Evian to flow from the far end. It pays to use the best water you can find.

I use a 20mm PVC filter normally. When I have more people in camp I use a larger model. Mac
 
Once you have the gadget, how about charcoal from your fire and clean sand to keep it going if the "store-bought" components run out?
 
Thanks for that lumpymike1.

I'm going to give this a try tomorrow as the kids have karate right next door to a pet store that is sure to have the supplies on hand.

B
 
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