Clean Water for Pakistan - How the Biosand Filter Works

The folks at 'Clean Water for Pakistan' explain to us how the biosand filter works in Pakistan.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Pakistan
• Clean
• Water
• Biosand
• Filter
• Bio
• Sand
• Bottles
• Plastic
• Layer
• Paani
• How
• To
• 101
• Dirty
• Faisalabad

[mechwarrior83]

What in the effing hell is happening in the background? Serious question.

[ooozmin]

@mechwarrior83 Daily Pakistani life and  @1:33 you hear a beggar at the door, just normal stuff.

[nbeaner]

This filter is great and can make the water clear to drink but it cannot take out microbes. The best thing to do is boil it for 10 minutes after filtering then you have clean water.

[ooozmin]

@nbeaner The filter is called a "bio" sand filter, not a "sand" filter. The reason it has a prefix "bio" is because it takes approximately 3 weeks for a biological layer to establish near the top of the filter. When water is poured into the filter the microbes present in the water are eaten by the microbes in the filter's biological layer. So this minimizes the amount of bacteria in the water. It removes the majority of microbes, however it is not 100% and neither is boiling.

[sheryhydri]

Great to see such simple solutions being implemented and also put up on youtube. It would be helpful to show the kind of gravel and coarse sand being put into the pipe and also a rough idea of what this will cost to the users. Is any NGO distributing these or helping people set them up on a large scale?

[ooozmin]

There are several NGO's that are wokring on these types of projects. In pakistan there are a few also. There is also one that I know of called clean water for Haiti. I am currently working on registering this as an NGO. This type of filter costs about $30 Canadian. It is best for people in smaller villages. There is a bio film established at the top of the filter, and yes it can remove E.coli

[mechwarrior83]

@ooozmin Haha, thanks for answering, I just checked and you can see him approaching the door a few seconds before!

[starshock01]

with all the sunlight and heat during the day, im surprised they dont just distill it

[Cstrife234]

@ooozmin There are a lot of natural anti-microbial agents in the world. Oregano oil and garlic are some of the best...especially when you're cooking. Salt can also be used to kill microbes (though not all). There are natural and drinkable bleach substitutes too. Our bodies create a type of bleach that is released when we have an infection.

[rushin2]

Beautiful concepts... 

[DrIjazKhan]

did u use a big plastic pipe-cum-tank instead of the pipe?