This put my brain into shock. Okay so not shock, more like, "I've never even considered if I could before." Several days past, and the thought of "how" kept circling my brain. First step.... look at what other people have done? No. What can I come up with? I have a rudimentary idea of how a filter works after years of keeping fish tanks. Most fish tank filters come with charcoal and cotton, or batting that assists in the filtering to clean the water for the fish.
With that in mind, can I put together what I would need?
Our pool filter uses silicate to clean the water, with out anything else. What if I put a combination of sand gravel and charcoal together? I have seen ideas out there like digging a hole next to a stream or even lake to use the natural ground as a type of filter. This allows the water to siphon through the sand into the newly created hole. This not only gets rid of large debris, but is supposed to eliminate things like giardia too.
Now in between figuring out what I wanted to try, and actually putting anything together, I received a link for a do it yourself Berkey water filter. This looks like a great idea! One problem, the expense. So back to the original question... What could I put together right now?
This is what we, (a family affair), finally decided to do.
First filter:
Two buckets, with lids, one a 4 gallon and the second a 5 gallon. It's what we had on hand.
A 2 ft length of funny pipe. (funny pipe, is the black flexible pipe that is used for sprinkler systems.)for our purposes, and the size of our bucket we cut the pipe to about 17inches.
A drill and bit set
Cotton balls
Zip ties
Activated charcoal (found at any local pet store)
Pea gravel
Fine sand
Sand that is some where in between pea gravel and fine sand, sort of a medium grain.
Silicone, (clear kitchen and bath silicone)
oxygen hose
and stockings known as trouser socks, knee highs. (They are thicker than regular nylon stockings, but still mostly nylon) In our experiment we used a combination of both regular nylon and trouser socks. The nylon has to much stretch for my tastes.
Now for the work. First we needed to drill a hole in the bottom of the top bucket. It needs to be the same size as the funny pipe. The best hole is going to be a tight fit for the funny pipe. We also drilled the same size hole in both lids for the buckets. One lid will give support to the top of the funny pipe once everything is completed. The second lid will need the funny pipe to pass through it to allow the water to collect in the bottom bucket.
It is a little difficult to see in the picture, but the far left is a picture of the center of the funny pipe. The "cross" that makes the center holds the cotton balls from going beyond that point, and gives a back stop to really pack the cotton balls into the center of the funny pipe. The tighter the cotton balls are packed, the better filtering they will do.
This is what the funny pipe looks like after taking the time to drill hundreds of holes. You can see all of the little shavings in the bottom of the bucket. We decided to use a smaller drill bit with many holes, rather than a larger bit with a few holes. The logic behind this, flawed or not, is that the smaller holes will help to hold back any larger debris, especially debris we may not be able to see.
If you look in the center of the pipe you can see the cotton balls jammed inside. Because of the length of the pipe we used a chop stick to push the cotton balls down as far as they would go. The cotton at this level of the filter keeps the dust from the charcoal and sand from re-infecting the water we have worked to filter.
The one on the top is the trouser sock. We can usually find these at our local dollar store. Last time we bought them they were 1 pair for a dollar. The two brown socks on the bottom are the nylon stockings. We usually can find these at the local dollar store as well. Sometimes they come 2 pair for a buck sometimes 3 pair for a buck. They work, but have a lot of stretch or "give" to them. They will be more effort if you use them, but they do work.
This is what the different layers of sock look like before they are filled. The first stocking or sock is right against the funny pipe. Followed by the next filled with charcoal and then sand and so on.
Here's where we placed the charcoal. This was an expense. Our plan B was to use fire place ash and charcoal chunks. But for the purposes of this experiment we wanted to be sure to use a product that is designed specifically for filtering. (Don't use white ash. White ash is what's used when creating lye. Use the dark charcoal. Grind it up to make smaller particles. It's a lot easier to effectively filter water with smaller chunks or particles.)
We purchased a 57oz container of activated fish tank carbon and ammonia remover,(Carbo-Z). After taxes the bottle came to $22.15. That divided by 57oz comes to be approximately $.38 cents per ounce. According to the instructions your suppose to use 2 tablespoons for every 5 gallons of water.
The next part of the process is going to take a little bit of time. We used about 1/4 of the total tub of charcoal, approximately 14 and a half ounces of the charcoal to fill the space in between sock numbers one and two. By standing the funny pipe in an up right direction, we could use a canning funnel to fill the stocking around the funny pipe. We then pulled this stocking up and over the top of the funny pipe and tied it off with a single knot. The charcoal remained relatively loose. We worked to equally distribute the charcoal as evenly as possible around the pipe. Then we pulled up the next sock in line.
IF you look at this second layer of stocking, you can see the bits of charcoal that make up this layer. Charcoal, by nature, is dusty and can be rinsed before filling the stocking. We did not rinse the charcoal first. We felt that the cotton balls and the stockings would help hold that dust back out of the water.
Again using the funnel, rinsed out of course, we filled this next layer with the fine sand. We tried to keep the sand approximately 1 inch thick evenly around the charcoal and pipe. This became difficult with the weight of the sand and the more mobile charcoal. Once we felt that we had a good pack of fine sand, we stretched and tied off that stocking and then lifted the next sock in line. (One thing we tried was to gently roll the pipe with the two filled socks like a rolling pin. This helped to more evenly distribute the sand and the charcoal around the funny pipe.)
One way to move the sand and gravel around inside the stockings, we found worked, was to pinch a bit of the stocking and pull it away from the main body of the filter. This allowed the sand, and gravel to move, via gravity, down toward the bottom of the stockings. As the new layers were added the need to "pinch" the stockings increased, because we were beginning to limit our available space based on combined amount.
This next sock holds the medium grain sand. Repeating the filling and the equalizing of the sand we were now up to three layers. After every layer, we worked again to try and equalize, as much as possible, the different layers. We want to avoid any air pockets that would allow the water, we intend to filter, to pass through with out being cleaned.
Finally, pulling up and then filling the last stocking with the pea gravel, we are close to having a working filter. We have all of the stockings filled and tied off. (One last roll, and we had a fairly uniform packing.)
Starting from the left to the right, we have the mid grade sand, followed by the fine sand and then the gravel. We live in an ancient lake bed. If you know where to look, you can find most all the ingredients you need to make a filter. If you are lucky, you'll have these ingredients at your home for various reasons. We were able to find all of these three grades at a local trail.
This is the final filter component after the stockings have been filled and tied off over the funny pipe. You can see that this is quite bulky compared to what you can see with the Berky filter. Because of the size we, at this time, will only be able to do one filter in the center of the bucket. ( we already have plans in the works for improvements to this filter style )
We need to drill one final hole. We add one small hole, about an inch from the bottom of the bottom bucket that we can use to drain out the cleaned water. We add the oxygen tube, about a foot and a half of tubing, and silicone it in place. (Make sure to read the instructions for the silicone. You'll need to know how long the silicone needs to set before you add water.) We are using a small locking clamp to pinch of the tubing. This prevents leaking when we're not draining the filtered water into containers.
These locking clamps come in various sizes and various "jaws". They make locking down on something that may need a quick release, simple.
Now we need to put the funny pipe through the bottom of the top bucket. By holding the new "filter" up just a bit we can place a bead of silicone around the bottom of the pipe with out getting any on the end of the pipe. Then once an ample amount has been added to the pipe underneath the filter allow the pipe to sink into position through the hole. Most silicone's say to allow at least 12 hours before running water through, or onto, what ever has been siliconed.
This is a downward angle of the interior bucket and filter. The bottom of the filter component is protruding into and through the lid of the bottom bucket. Once the lid for the top bucket is on, this component will have more support to stand up straight.
We allowed for the 12 hours for the silicone to set, and then added another bead between the bottom of the top bucket and the lid of the bottom bucket. Another 12 hour wait. Now we have a seal that prevents any water from leaking out of the buckets or pipe, creating a mess. (Which we had to fix after finding the first bead of silicone was not sufficient enough.)
The left is the lid for the top bucket (top of the filter). The right is the bottom of the lid for the second bucket, (bottom of the filter). You can see the the funny pipe will, when put together, protrude through both lids.
The final step is to add clean, clear water into the top bucket and allow it to begin the process of filtering. With a dry filter, this will take time. The point of the clean water is to clean out any remaining dust or dirt out of the filter. (This also gives you the chance to check for leaks)
And then for the true test. After the water ran clear, we emptied all collected water an began the process of allowing the filter to dry. Next, with some "dirty" water we filled the top bucket again. For the purposes of our test we started with water that had been collecting rain water in an old dirty bucket in our green house. Not only was the water muddy, but due to the heat, green too. One thing I am not sure this filter will handle is contaminants like giardia. Once we have a place that can test the water we filter, we can move forward with better knowledge to how well this filter system works. So for now it is only muddy water that we've tested.
The water on the left is full of particles. It has a green tint. And while you could probably drink it... Doesn't the water on the right look more appealing? The water on the right has just a little bit of a charcoal flare to it. But other wise completely tastes fine. Extra filtering through cotton or cloth, I'm sure would remove any remnants of charcoal taste.
This first filter, took a couple days to put together. Mostly because we were working with silicone. Also, since this was our first filter there was some trial and error. However, even with a few back steps, and reconstructions, we were able to come up with a filter that can clean the water, and make it usable. If we were concerned, we could further clean this water by adding iodine, or bleach.
(For bleach add 1/8th teaspoon of bleach, no dies or perfumes to every gallon of water. How to purify.)
(For Iodine add 5 - 10 drops of iodine tincture per 32 fluid oz of water. How to purify.)
There are also products that you can purchase that will have clear instructions, and labels to assist in cleaning and purifying your water.
Recommendation: Tape the instructions for cleaning water, with several different recipes, on the side of your water storage containers. This will give you several different options in an emergency.
Now if we were to take and buy all of these items to make this filter we would be looking at,
Buckets with lids approx; $10.00
Funny Pipe approx $approx; $20.00 for 50 ft. Equals to about $.40 cent per foot.
Air or oxygen tubing approx; $4.50 per 25 ft. This equals to about $.18 cents per foot
Trouser socks 1 dollar per pair we used 2 and a half pairs
Sand, the best price was approx; $3.50 dollars per 50 pounds. of sand. We used about 1 lb per type. That's about $.07 cents per pound.
Pea gravel is approx; $5.00 per 50lbs. This of course is about $.10 cents per pound.
(Or you could use fish tank gravel, this is approximately $4.00 per 5 lbs.)
Cotton balls approximately $2.00 per bag (80/ bag)
Charcoal 57 oz for $22.15 approx; $.38 cents per oz.
Silicone about $8.00 per tube which equals about $.88 cents per oz.
If we add that up and give a rough estimate we are looking at a total of around, $19.50 for the total project. Give or take between $5 and $10 dollars.
Filter number 2:
For this filter, we didn't worry about items on hand. However, we did work to keep any costs to a minimum.
2 1 gallon buckets, with lids
Cotton balls
Activated charcoal
Fine sand
Medium sand
Pea gravel
Oxygen tubing
Silicone, (clear kitchen and bath silicone)
(This one is smaller, and much simpler to put together.)
You can see that the sides of the buckets are opaque. The top bucket shows off the cotton balls, charcoal, gravel, and two different sands. When it is filled with water to be filtered, you can see that water as well. The tube toward the bottom and front is the tube that will allow us to pull the cleaned water out. Right now, in this picture, the water in the bucket is equal in pressure to the water in the tube, preventing any leaking. However, for standing purposes, we will clamp this tube to prevent the loss of any water. Once the the filter was working properly we decided we would add a third bucket to the top of the filter. This will give us the opportunity to fill a full gallon in stead of drips and drabs. We are also going to add a second layer of cotton above the sand. This will help prevent the disruption of the sand.
First cut a three inch length of oxygen hose. Now with your drill bit that matches the size of your oxygen hose, drill a hole in the center of the bottom of one bucket, and the center of one of the lids. (If the hole is too large and the hose, to loose, you'll need to silicone the tubing in place in the bottom of the bucket.)
In the side of the second bucket, about an inch from the bottom drill a hole for another length of oxygen tube. Make this length approximately 10 to 12 inches. Because your drilling a hole in a curved side, you may need to silicone this tube as well. (we did). We also use a small locking clamp to close off the open end of this tube. We want to make sure the water stays contained until we use it or move it to another container.
If you look towards the back of the tube, where it connects to the bucket, you can see the silicone. We did the silicone on both sides of the bucket wall.
Now for the fill. Start with the cotton balls. These, your going to layer in the bottom of the top bucket, between 2 and 3 inches thick. (the thicker the better, but leave space for your other components).
Next a layer of charcoal. We used the rest of the charcoal we had left, about 42 oz. This equaled a layer that was about 2 inches thick.
The next layer we decided to do the pea gravel first instead of the sand. This idea was based on some information we found on the web that indicated the sand layer needs to be the first line the water makes contact with. This layer we kept at about 2 inches.
Then The medium grain sand at 2 inches, followed by the fine grain sand at 2 inches.
Finally we drilled several holes in the lid for the top bucket. Once we determine if the filter will work correctly, we can add an empty bucket on top of the filter that will allow us to fill a gallons worth of water, that can slowly drip into the middle filtering section. For now, small amounts of water into the lid of the bucket will work better. We want to disturb the sand as little as possible.
Just like the first filter, we run clear water through it to clean out any remaining dust and dirt. Once the water runs clear, not foggy, we can move on to testing some muddy water.
Now for the big test. With muddy water that we created, we begin slowly pouring into the lid of the filter. The buckets we found for this second filter have opaque sides. This allows us to see the contents of the filter and how much water is being filtered along with how much water has been filtered.
Between the two filters, we ended up with very similar results, based on different make ups, or constructions.
The water to the left is the filtered and cleaned water. The water to the right is the muddy water that we used for the our filter test. It took less than an hour to filter the quart of water we added to the top bucket. If you look at the bottom of the glass on the right you can see some of the junk in the water which by this point had settled to the bottom of the little jar. The clean water with this sample, also had a slight flavor of charcoal, but otherwise tasted just fine.
The first filter required containing the filter components inside of the stockings. The second filter utilized the entire bucket making assembly much easier. The First filter of course can handle more water all at once, and there is less chance of disturbing the sand, which could create a pocket that could reduce the excellent results we had so far achieved.
One difference between our filter and the DIY Berkey water filter as far as the home construction, was the spout for the clean water. We used a simple tube and clamp system. However there are other options. The Berkey filter used a food grade water spicket. I love this idea. But, this will be something we can do on a later date. I feel that we accomplished part of our goal by sticking to what we mostly had on hand. The only items that fell out side of that rule were the charcoal and the two smaller buckets. Total expense out of pocket, for both filters, was only about $30.00 dollars, (based on amounts). The charcoal can be replaced with fire place charcoal. And the buckets can be replaced based on what is "lying around the house". For example, what about laundry buckets, or 2 liter bottles? Both just need a little bit of "thinking outside of the box".
By the time all was said and done, we spent more time than money on this project. We were able to utilize items we found around the house, and have a plan be for most of the items, if we had to reconstruct a filter, and could not buy essential components.
The only added expense beyond what we purchased for the larger of the 2 filters, was about $6.00 dollars for the 2 smaller buckets and their lids.
The most important thing we learned while working on this together as a family was that we COULD do it.
The second most important thing we achieved, was to teach our kids what possibilities they might have and use in the future.
One last note.
To the left you can see a white center, while to the right you can see a grey center.
The grey center was caused when the stocking was tied over the top of the tube. The cotton caught charcoal dust in the top of the tube.
This is what we pulled out of that tube on the right. You can see the line of grey to the right. This is excellent to note because it shows how well the cotton works to capture and trap particles you don't want in your water.
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