SURVIVAL: How to create a homemade water filter

It is a device used to acquire clean water from natural channels or reuse contaminated water. It is used to sanitize contaminated or dirty water for human consumption.

Water purifiers are essential and necessary in many places on the planet, where there is currently no access to a public drinking water network; for example in rural, isolated areas or localities with limited resources.

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The ingenuity and human observation to obtain and purify water it is essential to guarantee life, without jeopardizing health.

Therefore, we decided to investigate and share with you this valuable knowledge of how you can, with very few resources make a homemade water filter of good characteristics that cleans and purifies the water, even at the bacteriological level.

It is worth mentioning that sand and gravel filters, like the one we are going to show you next, have been used for centuries to avoid and prevent diseases such as angerwhich has devastated tropical areas and had a large presence in Chile in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

This filter replicates what happens organically in naturewhere the water is filtered naturally as it descends and passes through this type of material, coming out clean from the springs as it passes through multiple and different layers that clean it of sediments.

The operation of the filter occurs thanks to the mechanical action of the passage of water through the sand and gravel to remove the elements that cloud it and in combination with activated carbon and benign bacteria, the bacteriological load of pathogens that could make us sick is reduced.

The process to assemble it is very simple. You just have to arrange the materials in layers, which must be homogeneous to avoid mixing.

The elements to use and the layers in which you are going to distribute them (suggested order):

  • medium stones
  • Small rocks
  • Gravel
  • Coal
  • Gravel
  • fine sand
  • Gravel
  • Small rocks
  • Coffee or cotton filter

Note: the activated carbon is essential for optimal filtering, since it is the agent in charge of eliminating microorganisms. Ideally, it should be «activated» since it is more porous and increases the physical-chemical absorption process.

The larger the container where you will make your filter, the better the result will be since the water will have a larger surface to decant and be cleaned.

Diagram of the assembly of the homemade water filter/Archive/Green Ecology

Preparation of materials to build the water purifier

You will need a transparent plastic or glass container. They can be non-recyclable bottles, drums, etc.

The stones, the gravel and the sand must be prepared before to build the filter.

First, you must wash the container with plenty of clean water and detergent (antibacterial whenever possible) and then rinse well.. You must do the same with the stones and the sand, which have to be completely clean with water and shaken with a strainer to remove any impurities.

The The water container should have a lid that can be easily opened so that it can be cleaned from time to time.

The most skillful can install a stopcock for the entry of the water to be treated at the top and another in the lower part to extract the already treated water, although it is not essential. You can put a container below that receives the clean water and that’s it.

Home filter receiving container/archive/The Bioguide

*Important: The intention of is to offer information on environmental protection, sustainability, nature, sustainable economy, renewable energies, etc. in general to help in the search for personal growth and development. All types of consumption that you decide to carry out with information from this site, must be consulted with a doctor or a specialist and we are not responsible for such acts or for the conditions in which you perform them.