How to Make Your Own Water Filter
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Is your drinking water really safe? Just because it has no odor and tastes fine doesn’t mean it is. Many contaminants are too small to see and have no odor. Of course, you can have your water tested and this is the best option to be sure it is safe. But some people still feel their water isn’t as pure as they would like.
If you have decided you ought to filter your water but are unsure if it will make any difference, why not make your own trial carbon water filter? It isn’t difficult or expensive, and it will give you the option of seeing what carbon can do to improve your water quality.
To begin this project, obtain these items: a twelve inch length of 2 1/2 inch PVC pipe, a 2 1/2 inch cap, a quantity of activated carbon, a piece of vinyl hose, and a paper coffee filter. You will also need a drill and bit the size of the outside diameter of the vinyl hose.
Now you are ready for the construction. First, drill a hole in the cap and insert the piece of vinyl tubing. Seal it as necessary so that water will not leak around it. Then insert the cap onto one end of the PVC pipe and seal this as needed. Finally, fold the paper coffee filter so that it fits into the PVC pipe and push it down so that it covers the hole where the vinyl tubing is inserted.
Add the carbon to the open end of the PVC and pour water over it until it is full. Point the vinyl hose into a container where the filtered water can collect. You may want to discard the first batch of filtered water since it might have washed out contaminants from the project.
Of course, you don’t want to stand there holding this unit every time you want water. A simple stand can be made with two 4 inch squares of 3/4 inch pine, a wood base and an upright piece of wood, taller than the PVC pipe. Drill a hole in the center of each of the 4 inch square pieces large enough for the PVC to go through. Then fasten these pieces to the upright attached to the base and insert your filter. A setscrew may be used to keep the PVC from sliding.
A rule of thumb is this: the more carbon the water passes over before exiting the unit, the more filtering takes place. Thus, the longer the PVC pipe, the better. Don’t forget to replace the carbon from time to time and to clean out the PVC pipe at the same time. How often this is needed depends on how contaminated your water is and how much water you filter.
You may not get a great quantity of water using this inexpensive method, but it will be enough to drink and, if the container is refilled regularly, you can store the purified water for future use.
If this sounds like too much work, consider the Berkey Water Filters line. The Black Berkey purification elements that ship with the Travel Berkey Water Filter are so powerful, they can remove food coloring from water without removing the beneficial minerals your body needs. And since they are gravity fed, no electricity is needed. Virtually no other filtration element can duplicate this performance.
Tags: ceramic gravity water filter, gravity fed water filter, gravity water filter, stainless steel gravity water filter