How to make a water filter with your own hands: making a house

Recently, the problem of clean water has been very interested in the population of the entire planet. Demand for treatment facilities is growing every year. And the most popular tool is a regular household filter. If earlier only residents of cities needed it, now residents of villages and towns are actively using it. Not everyone can afford to regularly purchase new filters (which are expensive), so the question of how to make water filters with your own hands is extremely relevant.

Features of homemade filters

At first glance, the tap water seems clean. In fact, it contains many dissolved compounds. The water filter is designed to "retain" in itself these substances: compounds of chlorine, iron, etc. Their excess can lead to the development of various diseases, as well as affect the general condition of the body.

What about well water? Many believe that it does not require cleaning, and will be wrong. It may contain nitrates, a large number of bacteria, pesticides (seep through the treated soil). Also, the design of the well may corrode. All this affects the taste and beneficial qualities of water.

It’s not necessary to buy expensive in-store devices - a home-made water filter is capable of good cleaning.

Of course, if you want to get crystal clear water, it is better to purchase a modern system after some time. This is due not so much to the wear of parts, but to a lower absorbing and cleaning ability with respect to bacteria.

In home-made designs, there is no function of selecting the appropriate mineral composition for the equipment. And this must be taken into account to ensure sterility of the water. For this reason, the filtrate should be boiled after each filtration process.

Also plays a huge role in the pressure of water during cleaning. Unsuitable head pressure with respect to the filter system reduces performance.

It is not recommended to make a do-it-yourself filter for flowing water with your own hands, since it is unprofitable - a ready-made stationary system is more profitable.

How to choose a container and filler for a filter

When choosing a container for the filter, you need to consider that it will have several layers of filler. The material of the tank must be resistant to external aggressive influences. If you need a homemade household filter for drinking water, then you need to choose high-quality polymer materials suitable for storing food for a long time.

Combinations of some of the following excipients are used to create a filter mixture:

• cotton wool;
• coal (activated, wood);
• sand (river, quartz);
• cellulose napkins;
• fabric made from natural material;
• lutrasil, spanbond;
• gravel, zeolite.

All of the above fillers have slightly different properties, so the filter is located at different levels when combined. However, you can select and use only one of them. Next, we analyze the properties of the most suitable materials.

River or quartz sand

Let's see how quartz sand differs from river sand:

1. Quartz has a more uniform composition.
2. He is able to retain more particles due to optimal porosity in the space between the "grains".

Nevertheless, river sand has a significant advantage as a filtering filler - the high strength of sand grains. That is, it is more durable.

Sand is used at the stage of filtering heavy metals and medium particles. Most often, the choice in the direction of quartz is made when constructing a filter for the pool, because quartz sand can filter a sufficiently large water reservoir.

To build such an aggregate is not difficult, because it has a simple device. Savings compared to industrial filters are approximately 50%.

The quartz sand fraction should be in the range of about 0.4 to 0.8 mm. You can make a multilayer version, where the layers are located according to the size of the fraction - from larger to smaller, or where each layer is any other filler. It is important to find a middle ground here. A too small sand fraction will clog the grid, and the system will stop working, and a too large fraction will adversely affect the quality of cleaning.

Charcoal or Coconut Shell

Coconut shell coal (activated) is obtained as a result of thermal and chemical treatment of the feedstock. Sold in 3 types: pressed, granular and granular. For the water treatment system, it is the latter that is acquired. Pressed and bulk types of activated carbon are not suitable as adsorbent. Particles of the first are too large, so they do not provide optimal cleaning, and particles of the second will fall into the water.

Based on activated carbon, most industrial filters are manufactured. In order not to overpay, you can make a carbon water filter with your own hands. Of the costs, only periodic purchase of fresh coal will remain. Because of the water passing through the filler (coal) many times, it changes the consistency and is more like black thick mucus. This substance is a favorable environment for the reproduction of bacteria.

If we talk about industrial products, then silver ions, known for their antibacterial properties, are usually added to it, which helps extend the life of the carbon filter. It is clear that when assembling a makeshift filter, no one will deal with silver ionization. You need to remember this and change the filter with a sufficient frequency - as soon as it becomes noticeable that the water is filtered more slowly.

In the manufacture of charcoal yourself, you need to carefully calculate the degree of "roasting." If this degree is strong, then coal will quickly lose its ability. Deciduous trees, especially birch, are most suitable. Conifers are not the best option, as the resin can give the water an appropriate aroma.

Charcoal production is extremely simple. All that needs to be done is to place the tree in a metal container and heat it over an open fire or in an oven red-hot. After this, the material is removed and cooled in air.

Lutrasil and Spunbond

These synthetic materials are composed of polypropylene fibers. In fact, it is agrofibre. It is often used in crop production to shelter the soil in the fight against weeds, due to its ability to pass water and air through itself well. Lutrasil and spanbond differ in color and density. Lutrasil is slightly thinner than a spunbond, has a white color, and spanbond, on the contrary, is a black and denser fabric.

To create filters, lutrasil is often chosen, since it is easier to determine the degree of filter contamination by it, and it also passes water through it faster due to its lower density, which is especially important if there is more than one filter layer.

Making a carbon filter for water do-it-yourself

We remind you that this is more of a “camping option” and is not quite suitable for daily use, as it requires frequent replacement. Nevertheless, who do not have the opportunity to regularly buy a cartridge, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the method of manufacturing a home-made device. It can be used in the country, since water supply is not required (filtration as in a jug mechanism).

1. We select a plastic tank as a container for finished water. If the system is planned to be used in the long term, then the plastic must be of high quality to avoid the entry of harmful substances into the water (common PET will not work).
2. A container that acts as a cartridge (a tank with raw water) can be made from any plastic bottle. The bottom is cut off.
3. To connect the 2 containers, in the lid of the bucket we make a hole equal to the diameter of the neck of the bottle. If the neck does not enter the hole, the diameter of the cut must be increased. If, on the contrary, you went too far with the cut out diameter, you need to wrap the neck with something that does not allow moisture to pass through. It can be rubber, or some kind of dense synthetic fabric.
4. As a basis, gauze is usually put in several layers. Next, activated granular carbon is poured. Coal layers can be diluted, for example, with washed river sand, quartz.

A do-it-yourself water filter doesn’t have to be small. At home, it is quite possible to make a system of relatively large volume. For example, take a 10 liter plastic barrel as the loading capacity. She has a wide neck, so the filler will easily wake up. In this case, the cartridge is done differently.

1. From one end of a plastic pipe with a diameter of 4 cm we make a tight blockage of gauze.
2. On the other side of the pipe we lay activated carbon and in the same way we make stuffing from gauze.

It remains to insert the filter cartridge into the neck of the upper container (into which we pour raw water). We chose a pipe of 4 cm, because it is this diameter that is ideally suited to a standard barrel of 10 l, an additional seal is not necessary.

The service life and operation features of a homemade carbon filter

The more dissolved substances in water, the less the device will last (this applies to both home-made and purchased filters). As already mentioned, soaked coal is a breeding ground for bacteria. Thus, the service life of this material is not long in any case. On average, you need to fill up a new portion every 3 days. But this is only if the water quality has not deteriorated.

An important point: when using charcoal, water after the first filtration must be drained. If coal from coconut shell is taken as a filler, this is not necessary - it is completely safe.

Conclusion

There is nothing special in purchased water purification devices - you can get the same, or even better result, using improvised tools. The question is different - will it be convenient to change the filler every 3-4 days? If yes, then you can safely use a homemade filter, if not, then the industrial product is the best choice.