In spite of minimum standards for city water, many have opted to filter their drinking water anyway. After all, just because water tastes all right and does not have an odor doesn’t mean it is pure. Of course, the safest way to know if you water is safe is to take a sample to a testing center. But even if it passes this test, you still may want to filter it, just to be sure.
You could spend a lot of money on a large filter system and end up being disappointed. This article contains an idea for making your own carbon water filter with a few dollars worth of supplies. If you are unsure if a carbon filter will make your water sufficiently better, here is a way to find out without large, out of pocket expense.
Step one is to acquire the needed supplies. You will need a piece of vinyl hose and a drill and bit the size of the outside hose diameter. You will also need a length of 2 1/2 inch PVC pipe, a cap and a can of sealant. Finally, you will need a paper coffee filter.
First, drill a hole in the PVC cap and insert the hose into it. Silicone sealant may be used to be sure it doesn’t leak. Insert the cap onto one end of the PVC pipe. Then fold the coffee filter paper and insert it into the bottom of the PVC pipe so that it covers the vinyl tubing hole. This keeps the carbon from clogging the hose.
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.
Here are a few things to consider if you make your own filter. First, the longer the pipe, the more water it will hold and the more charcoal it will pass over before exiting the unit. In other words, the longer the PVC pipe, the better it is. Second, periodically replace the carbon and clean out the PVC pipe while it is empty. How often this needs to be done depends on how much water you filter through it.
This unit has obvious limitations. It is not designed to produce a great quantity of water. But if you keep the PVC full and store the filtered water, it will surely provide sufficient drinking water for several people.
If this sounds like too much work, consider the Berkey Water Filter line. The Black Berkey purification elements that ship with the Travel Berkey 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.