Water Filter Project

[Mortblanc]

I don't know if I mentioned it on the forum but I had a bout of kidney stones a month back and had to have some treatment, which included having the stones blasted sonically and removed.

Don't ask, you don't want to know!

It is just part of life and there is nothing you can do to prevent them if you are prone to them. I know every faith healer and herbalist has a sure fire cure for kidney stones but history, experience and medical research say differently. Everything you eat or drink can cause them to some degree and you can have them even if you have lived 20 years on a diet of lettuce and water. Yes even the water will get you!

Speaking of which, I give the water in my region a big raised eyebrow blame for my ailment. The water coming out of my pipes leaves a crust that must be chiseled from the fixtures. And overnight drip to prevent freezing can create a stalagmite in the sink before morning.

I just spent the morning making a water filter.

No, not an old tee shirt, sand and gravel in a 2 liter plastic bottle, a real filter.

I bought a Berky replacement cartridge, and two 20L plastic food grade buckets with lids. The whole thing set me back $50 US which would be about 35# your pound money.

The single Berky filter is good for 3000 gallons at 99.9999% purity when using African pond water. It will probably do more filtering my utility treated water, unless the scale builds up. The instructions said I could actually crack the scale off the outside of the filter and continue using it with no ill effect!

Using this at the rate I consume water for drinking and cooking I think I have about 5-8 years expected life of the cartridge.

I drilled a hole in the bottom of one bucket and installed the filter cartridge. That is my top bucket.

I drilled a slightly larger hole in the lid of the bottom bucket so the spout of the filter cartridge fits through. I also went fancy and installed a spout like you would use on a coffee urn on the bottom bucket.

This was a twenty minute job using just a drill, an 18mm and a 10mm drill bits.

As I type, the first batch of water is running through the new system. That run will be discarded due to charcoal dust washing through the filter on its first use. That and I washed the buckets out with detergent and they needed more rinsing than my flush out gave.

Now having two 20L plastic buckets on the counter might not appeal to some, I am a single man and don't give a crap! If there was a "significant other" to complain about the decorative appearance of my handy work it would work just as well if living in a garage or utility room beside the deep freezer. You could fill your fridge container once daily and forget it was outside.

Or!! it might be a good project for that complainer to take a ceramics course and make a decorative set of glazed pottery jugs to meet the need more attractively.

I have been wanting to do this for a while, and now it is done. I am ready for TEOTW and fixed to drink from the rainwater butts, runoff from a tarp caught in the wheelie bin, puddles, or the lake down the road.

[MaryN]

Good for you, MB. We have had a Berkfield filter for years. The water here is very hard and soots kettles up in a matter of weeks. The filter has made a world of difference. Hope it helps with your health problems.

[Straight Shooter]

Like Mary we have a Berkfield filter ( standing by ) the way you describe your setup MB ...sounds like a Ytube video I looked at some time back! .....it’s a good addition for anyone to have ....if fact a must have ! ....plus the satisfaction of making it yourself ....and for a very low cost , a fraction of the cost of a Berkfield ....well done pal ! .

[bigpaul]

got plenty of small water filters but a Berkley is out of my budget.
water here is soft, it can even be used in car batteries, so no treatment needed.

[LAC]

MB, I have a similar but smaller (about 5 litres) makeshift water filter setup using one black berkey filter, mothballed and ready to set up if needed. My main filter is the big berkey.

What sort of buckets did you use to make yours, any pics or links. I'm assuming you've done your homework so these must be very strong buckets as 20 litres is a fair weight to sit on top of another bucket.

[Mortblanc]

These are regular plastic buckets w/lids as you would buy from a box store. I made sure I was getting food grade buckets and they were labeled as such.

I did a simple, neat job of it. The cartridge put through one bucket bottom, into the bottom bucket lid. A spout on the bottom bucket to access the contents. I am sure there are thousands of videos on the internet showing the same but I did not even look it up.

As for the strength of the buckets, well stop at the building supply store and get a look at how tall they stack those buckets of dry wall mud, roofing compounds and paints!! They don't worry much about the bottom of those five high stacks. I can not lift a bucket of dry wall mud on my own any more (probably 50k), and it is the same type bucket.

Besides, 20L=40kilo that goes into the top bucket. It only stays in the top bucket for the time it takes to filter and drain into the bottom bucket, which then only has the empty top bucket on board. All of the water lives in the bottom bucket. I am also not filling the unit completely up, only half full, just to not stress the build.

That way I can fill my empty water jug from the tap and pour it in, then draw off the container full from the filtered bit while what I just added is running through. I would suspect that the bucket never has more then 5-10L in it at any time.

I was surprised that it takes almost an hour for the water to flush through the cartridge. It does not run through, it drips through.

I just finished building a sturdy stand for the unit to sit on and I did make that massive! Well braced 2x4 probably stronger then the floor it is sitting on.

[LAC]

Thanks for that. Yes now I know the type of buckets you mean, at first I was thinking of standard buckets people use to wash their car. Yes it drips through but with a brand new filter it's more of a very slow but constant stream. I think what you've constructed is the best and cheapest method of water filter. If money is an issue, one might be able to afford to buy two of the black berkey filters separately and construct their own housing using the method you've outlined.

[harryhotspur]

(27 November 2021, 21:11)Mortblanc Wrote: Besides, 20L=40kilo

20ltr =20 kilo or 22lb

[harryhotspur]

(27 November 2021, 21:11)Mortblanc Wrote: Besides, 20L=40kilo

20ltr =20 kilo or 44lb

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks for clearing that up Harry ! I suspect MB will be absolutely beside himself ......gutted even .