Charcoal/Bio-sand Water Filter made from Garbage Cans? Part 1

[eizrah]

in your finds; how often do you need to feed your bed to maintain its last (or possibly continued improvement) of ripening? also, what is the procedure for the first 2-3 weeks?

[lad18913290]

@eizrah lol, no worries - questions are good, especially when it comes to safe drinking water. the biological layer is a completely natural occurrence. the colony will develop within the first few weeks on it's own based the bacteria already present in the water - providing the water isn't perfectly clean, which would defeat the purpose of course. to keep the colony fed well with parasites AND oxygen (a must), then there needs to be an almost constant flow of water into the filter...(cont...)

[lad18913290]

@eizrah ...(cont...) which can be achieved with a float installed in the filter to activate a pump that would pump water when the level drops to a specific level in the top of the filter; as well an overflow drain would be a wise precaution to prevent an undesired mess. you can tell a bio layer is forming when you can see a brownish colored slim developing on the surface and within the top few centimeters of the sand media. if the colony doesn't get the required 'nutrients'...(cont...)

[lad18913290]

@eizrah ...(cont...) and or oxygen, then the bacteria will start to die within as little as a few hours. if, after construction, a bad odor develops in the filter - similar to rotten eggs - then the good bacteria have died and bad coliform bacteria have taken over and compromised the filter, which is why I stress to have the water tested before you drink it, and only after the filter has been in operation and ample time is allowed for a colony of good bacteria to form naturally.

[eizrah]

so assuming you are filtering well water, what is the cleaning/replacing of material protocall? time till needed and method? ive seen some with a backwash nozzle on the gravity poor, granted it kills the bacteria but how often would you want to flush it.

[eizrah]

@eizrah i was also wondering if the water is safe(ish) to drink prior to good bacteria? safer than not filtering anyhow.

[lad18913290]

@eizrah you can clean a slow sand bio-filter by means of a method called 'wet harrowing', which is gently pouring a bucket of clean water into the top of the filter and gently stirring with your hands to loosen up unwanted sediment deposits and the like while taking care not to disturb the colony. the only other way is to remove the bio-layer altogether with the top few centimeters of sand. 'back washing' is more suitable for rapid flow filters vs slow sand bio-filters...(cont...)

[lad18913290]

@eizrah ...(cont...) because some slow sand filters, like this one, are made with multiple layers of varied materials, and back washing often times causes these materials to mix and disturbs the operating parameters of the system; also, if back washing is done with the bio-layer established, then it tends to get buried under the sand that gets stirred up from below and this can cause serious blockage with time. as far as how often to clean, I personally would wet harrow at least...(cont...)

[lad18913290]

@eizrah ...(cont...) once a month to keep the flow rate high. I would replace or clean the entire contents of the filter at least once a year. remember, it's the colony that does most of the work - they will destroy up to %99 of all bad bacteria that comes in it's path. the remaining layers of charcoal and rock that i put at the bottom of this particular filter are just added precaution and help to keep the sand from entering and plugging up the plumbing...(cont...)

[lad18913290]

@eizrah ...(cont...) but unless the water is contaminated with a chemical, petro or some other toxic inorganic substance that the colony can't feed on and the sand/charcoal won't trap, then the water that comes out is perfectly fine to drink. BUT, it's always best to have a sample of it tested before you drink it, and you should wait until the colony is well established and the filter has been working for a couple of weeks before you have the water tested to ensure the most accurate results

[bctruck]

Very interesting! I think I'll try a bio sand filter when I get home and off the road for a couple weeks. I'm curious how much more bacteria and pathogens the charcoal removes over the standard sand and gravel type filters? It may have said that in the vid but I'm watching on my iPhone and the writing us a little small for my aging eyes. Thanks for the vid.

[lad18913290]

@bctruck That's great! Be sure to use food grade materials too. Charcoal itself is good for removing things like chlorine, sediment, and VOC's...flow rate is a big determining factor as to how much is trapped in the filter media - which for 1lb of charcoal/carbon equals to about 100 acres of surface area - not too bad. As far as bacteria, charcoal/carbon filters will NOT remove it, or minerals/salts or dissolved inorganic compounds. This is where the slow sand bio filter comes into play :)

[lad18913290]

@bctruck ...and thx for watching! I hope the vid was useful

[Bravery62]

Loved the video!! The only recommendation I would make is to add some screening to keep the bugs out. Maybe some nylon panty hose over the PVC to keep the rocks out of the holes, too.

[lad18913290]

@Bravery62 thx! good advice!

[comandocohino]

hey i got a question for an expert........i build a sand filter with dr manz prints, its been running for about 4 weeks with well water ,ph going inn is 7.4, ppm 1300,,,coming out of the filter ph is 7.2 and ppm still 1300 . is it possible to lower ppm as much as possible to 0 with this filter ????

[lad18913290]

@dave4854 no special reason - i guess i was thinking that since softwood is less dense, the resulting charcoal would be more porous and would absorb more impurities - but hardwood produces less ash - i guess it's a toss up (?)

[dave4854]

Is there any special reason that you used softwood for charcoal?, I make it all the timebut use hardwood.

[dave4854]

My question is, Are all the plastic and garbage cans being used Food grade,.. I know that in a survival situation,water is water, but if it's being drank out of plastic that was once an old battery, it may not be so safe. about being to fast, the video can always be stopped to read everything... where did you get the charcoal??

[lad18913290]

@dave4854 "Are all the plastic and garbage cans being used Food grade,.. I know that in a survival situation,water is water, but if it's being drank out of plastic that was once an old battery, it may not be so safe."

yes...everything BUT the garbage cans (which were bought new and never used btw) is 'food grade' - it's all common residential plumbing material - no brainer - i'm sure i mentioned that in the vid - i used the garbage cans to entice creative thinking - hence the '?' in the title

[porkypine745]

Great video man.

[lad18913290]

@porkypine745 thank you, ...hope it's useful :)

[lad18913290]

@wower8901

yeah, I thought about that, but i decided the video was lengthy enough. sorry, i'm not an expert film maker, just trying to share info...the pause button is a great tool ;)

thx for checkin' it out!