SHTF Water Filter

[streaker69]

I realize there's quite a few videos about this on the inturwebs already. But I saw a couple of flaws in the way they were made that could hinder it's usage in a real emergency situation. Mainly, once you insert the filter into the bucket, you can no longer set the bucket down without possibly snapping the nipple off the filter.

So I've been thinking about this for a while on a way to design this simple filter using off the shelf parts and easily assembled. I'm using food safe buckets with Gamma seal lids. Black lid for the filter bucket, blue lid for the clean water bucket.



I picked up the these parts from my local big box store:



Cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket:



Perfect fit:




Sanded the top of the cap down smooth so to get a good seal with the O-Ring of the filter:



Sealed the bottom piece in with PVC glue and clear silicon:



Put cap down sealed with PVC glue and clear silicon, used a bottle of water to apply pressure while the glue and silicon cured.



Filter fits in perfectly:



I'm currently timing about 5 gallons of water through the filter. It's slow, but it's working. I figure with the filter raised off the bottom, this also creates a "silt sump", a place for silt to settle on the bottom without it interfering with the filter.

[Ten*K]

So, how does it work? Do you sit on it? How much $?

[Svickstc]

Or just buy a bunch of brita filters/booble filters, etc..

It would be a good idea if you could make the filter, but in the end you still need to purchase a filter

Also what are these carbon filters really filtering out in terms of chemicals etc.

I would imagine the best filtration setup, as my parents have is, reverse osmosis..

[streaker69]

So, how does it work? Do you sit on it? How much $?

Sorry about that:

Gamma Seal Lids:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/CAMP304-1.html
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/CAMP307-1.html

Water Filter:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/CAMP354-1.html

The PVC parts I picked up at Lowes, less than $5.00 for both, don't really recall them. The buckets, I do not remember where I got them, but they were around $5 each as well. Glue and Silicon sealer I had laying around.

[bravo30]

my plan is bleach...charcoal then a good hot fire

[streaker69]

Or just buy a bunch of brita filters/booble filters, etc..

It would be a good idea if you could make the filter, but in the end you still need to purchase a filter

Also what are these carbon filters really filtering out in terms of chemicals etc.

I would imagine the best filtration setup, as my parents have is, reverse osmosis..

I bought a couple of these filters, after all, 2 is 1 and 1 is none, right?

Here's what they filter:

Filters are manufactured to meet:
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 42
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 53
ISO 9002 Quality Standard
USA AEL Laboratories
USA Analytical Food Laboratories
USA Johns Hopkins University Laboratory
Abbot Laboratory South Africa
University of Chihuahua Mexico
British 5750 Quality Standard
England’s Water Research council (WRc) Performance Standards

The filtration efficiency is 0.5 micron
Removal capabilities as follows:
99% Arsenic 5 and 99% Arsenic 3 (special order)
99% Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S special order)
95% Chlorine and Chloramines
99% Taste
99% Odor
98% Aluminum
96% Iron
98% Lead
90% Pesticides
85% Herbicides
85% Insecticides
90% Rodenticides
85% Phenols
85% MTBE
85% Perchlorate
80% Trihalomethanes
95% Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons
99.999% of particles larger than 0.5 micron (Staffordshire University Labs) (includes Anthrax)
99.7% of particles larger than 0.3 micron (Staffordshire University Labs)
98% of particles larger than 0.2 micron (Staffordshire University Labs)
100% Giardia Lamblia
100% Cyclospora
100% removal of live Cryptosporidium (WRc Standard)
100% removal of Cryptosporidium (NSF Standard 53 – A.C. fine dust – 4 log challenge)
100% removal of E. Coli, Vibrio Cholerae (Johns Hopkins University)
99.999% removal of Salmonella Typhil, Shigella Dysenteria, Kiebsiella Terrigena (Hyder Labs)

My plan, if I can find one cheap, is to get a USB microscope, and once it gets warmer go down to the local creek and get some of the slimiest water I can find and filter it. Then see if I can find anything left alive in it with the microscope.

[streaker69]

my plan is bleach...charcoal then a good hot fire

Bleach has a limited shelf life for effectiveness. Charcoal is good, but eventually you'll need more. Fire requires fuel.

[Ten*K]

And lets everyone around you know about it. Like I asked, can you sit on it? As in, will it bear an average adult weight and still function?

[streaker69]

And lets everyone around you know about it. Like I asked, can you sit on it? As in, will it bear an average adult weight and still function?

I wouldn't see why not. Put the lids on them and you could use it as a seat. If you stack the two buckets up, it would be about the height of a barstool though. The buckets themselves are just 5 gallon buckets with gamma seal lids.

The bucket with the filter sits flat on the lip of the bucket, not on the PVC fitting the filter is attached to. The filter sits a couple inches below the bottom of the lid.

[bravo30]

we have 220 gallons in 55g drums on hand an enough supplies to filter river/rain water for a while.........only really prep for a 2 month situation anyway cause i feel if we had to prep for a year or more id rather be dead.........i like your idea the buckets though an plan on lookin into that