How to Build a Home Water Filter

The water that you drink comes from such natural places as springs, rivers and lakes. Therefore, the water must be filtered well to eradicate the potential risk of contamination. This is normally done in large water treatment plants so that consumers will not have to worry about it. However, water filters can be built at home, and can be quite useful, especially in cases of emergencies when you lack a viable source of clean water.

Things You'll Need

• 3 two-liter bottles
• 1 1/2 cup fine sand
• 1 1/2 cup of large granule sand
• 1 cup of small rocks
• 1 coffee filter

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Instructions

• 1

  Fill a two-liter bottle with the water that needs to be filtered and allow it to aerate for at least a few minutes. Put a cap on the bottle and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Transfer the water from the two-liter bottle into a bottle that has had its top removed. Dispense the water back into the original bottle. Continue this back and forth process approximately 10 times.

• 2

  Add two tablespoons of salt to the water and mix it leisurely for five minutes. Whatever particles are in the water will begin to adhere to each other. The formation of the larger particles will diminish the likelihood of anything slipping through the filter. When enlarged, the particles will settle on the bottom of the bottle. The particles can be removed effortlessly upon the end of the coagulation process. The water should become much clearer and lose its murkiness.

• 3

  Fasten the coffee filter to the bottle at the upper side, making sure it goes over the top of the bottle. Use a rubber band to ensure that the filter will not slip off. Up-end the bottle and position it into a container that can hold at least two-liters of water. Place the small rocks into the bottle first, followed by the sand composed of larger granules, and top it off with the fine sand.

• 4

  Wash the filter with two litres of clean water before using it.

• 5

  Dispense the water slowly from a low height to ensure that the sand is disturbed as little as possible. Once the water filters through into the holding container, pour it out. Then pour the top 3/4 of the unfiltered water from the bottle into the filter.