Does making your own water filter sound like a huge task to you? Well, if your answer is yes, our answer is no. Puzzled!! You would be surprised to know that building water filter is one of the easiest processes and does not require much effort. It also gives you an opportunity to know how dirt can be extracted, to attain clean and clear water. Whether you want to make a water filter just for fun or are in dire of one (in cases of camping, when there is nothing, but muddy water available all around), this article would be of immense help. In the following lines, we have mentioned two ways on how to make a water filter.
Making Your Own Water Filters
Type - I
Materials Required
- Water Container
- Activated Charcoal
- Coarse Sand & Fine Sand (separately)
- Coarse Gravel & Fine Gravel (separately)
- Cotton or Pebbles
- Knife/Scissors
Method
- The first step would be to put the water container upside down. Cut the bottom (now top) of thebottle. This is where water would pour in, once the water filter is done.
- Now, block the mouth (now base) of the container with cotton. Cotton would prevent filtering materials from entering the bottle. In case you do not have cotton, use a couple of inches of pebbles for this purpose.
- Put an inch of fine sand over the layer of cotton. Now, place a layer of activated charcoal on the top of the sand.
- Once this is done, fill inlayers of coarse sand, fine gravel and coarse gravel, in the said order, from bottom to top
- Now, pour water into thetop end of the filter and collect the filtered water at the bottom, into another container.
- Filtered water is ready to be used!!
Type - II
Material Required
- Plastic Bottle
- 1/2 cup Dirt
- 2 cups Sand
- 2 cups Gravel
- Glass of Water
- Knife/Scissors
Method
- The first step would be to cut the base of the bottle using a sharp knife or a pair of scissors.
- Place the bottle in an inverted position, so that the cut base is on the top and the mouth lies below.
- Pour gravel in the container, so as to stuff the base. Make sure you put larger gravel in first, because it will plug up the hole easily.
- Now, pour the sand over the gravel. This would help seal the base, as it would occupy space in between the gravel.
- Though this might be very yucky, you need to mix dirt with water. Now, pour the dirty water on top of the sand in the bottle.
- Carefully remove the cap from the bottle and place the bottle into a tall glass or some container that holds your filter upright.
- As dirty water seep through the layers, you would be amazed to find that the water which comes after crossing the layers of sand and gravel would be fresh, clean and clear, devoid of any dirt particles.