Why are you interested in creating a homemade water filter? The answer to this question is likely to effect the method you use and what you spend. The project may be intended to result in a filter that is durable and able to produce substantial amounts of clean water at as reduced a price as you can achieve. Or it may be a hobby, school or scouts project where the objective is to stay away from any fabricated materials as much as possible. This second scenario is likely to result in a simpler and more labor-intensive end result, than if you are willing and/or able to use some store-bought components in the manufacture of your homemade water filter. To be specific, we will first address what could be called a hybrid system, where you assemble the filter yourself using some homemade materials. However certain parts of the system, notably the filter cartridges and spigot, are purchased from supply houses. To explain a hybrid water filter system, consider first the Berkey water filter. This device can be purchased online for around $300, with some models more and some less than that amount. The Berkey system works a bit like a drip coffeemaker, with an upper container, or reservoir, and a lower reservoir. The dirty water passes through two filters as it moves into the lower container and ends up exceedingly clean after such a simple procedure. The fact is you could buy two plastic buckets suitable for food use, and purchase just the two filters, along with a simple spigot that can be bought at supply houses online or in stores. Drill holes in the bottom of one bucket and bolt in the cartridges. Drill a hole on the outside of the second (lower) bucket the correct size for the spigot. Place the upper bucket with the cartridges on top of the lower one and you have a homemade water filter that is almost as good as a Berkey filter. The filters run around $100, although they make ceramic filters for less, with a reduced life (the black filters will treat a total of around 6,000 gallons). Thus, your cost for a homemade hybrid filter might be around $120 but this baby will really do the job and will be easy to work with, at a savings of nearly $200. So if you’re really about saving money and need a homemade water filter that will really perform, this might be the best compromise. If, on the other hand, you don’t want to use â€professional†filters and really want to make it homemade, you’ll need a container such as a 2-liter plastic soft drink bottle, some charcoal (aquarium/fish stores will have this), some sand and gravel of differing sizes, a coffee filter or cheesecloth and some cotton. There are variations of this design that you can easily find online. Cut off the bottom inch or so of the plastic bottle and throw it away. Punch two small holes near the cut end so you can thread string or wire to hang the filter. Turn it upside down so the cap end is down. Shove cotton or other sterile material in at the cap end (this was the top but is not what we call the bottom); this keeps out sand and charcoal particles from passing out of the filter. On top of that goes a couple inches of the charcoal and above that is a layer of fine sand. Then add some coarse sand, perhaps an inch or two of each. Then you add alternating layers of small and medium gravel until you get near the open top; cap it off with a coffee filter, maybe held in place with a few pebbles. String it up and hang from a tree branch or whatever you’ve got handy. Let some water run through it with the plastic cap removed. After a bit of rinsing, the water should be pretty good. However, we recommend having the water professionally tested to ensure the water is safe to drink; we take no responsibility for the quality of any water produced by a homemade water filter.
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