DIY $50 EMERGENCY WATER FILTER

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[@tedtupitza4643]

I think you have it backwards. In my opinion the charcoal should be on the bottom, with the fine sand on top of that and the gravel on the very top. That way when you pour water in, you filter out the big stuff and the sand layer cleans it more, then, the charcoal takes out the very fine particulate.

[@daftnord4957]

True, like increasing sandpaper grit

[@christiancruz8254]

You are absolutely correct. You are supposed to filter course material first then fine materials. Otherwise you run the risk of “clogging” up the finer filter media by asking it to filter out large debris

[@rzznakhvonvoraath4566]

True, but this will also work as the sand and gravel will actually add back in the salts and minerals leeched out by the charcoal!! To perfect it use the coarse media with charcoal in the middle with coarse media below the middle charcoal layer.

[@northjerseykevin409]

I’m not educated in this but I thought the same thing also. Interesting you did also. I haven’t read any other comments yet. Interesting to see what others say. Thanks for the comment

[@rwstubbz]

If the charcoal is on the bottom, you'll loose it all sooner or later with your water.

[@ljl6174]

I love these types of videos. We need a No Grid series! About to buy the book

[@matthewellisor5835]

Gravel, sand and then charcoal.

[@WhySoManyPasswords]

You win… you beat me to the punch. But I did look it up first to make sure I was right before I posted… so that’s my excuse. 😬

[@hiredgoon13]

that was my thoughts as well.

[@rld1278]

He just needs to switch the buckets around...

[@justmeandlawson]

Exactly!!

[@harduckn]

Generating comments is an art

[@GothPanda]

A couple of things that might be good to know: Reversing the order of the filtering buckets would extend the life of the charcoal, at least slightly. It'd make sure that the larger particles are removed before the water hits the charcoal, and allows the charcoal to keep more ability to remove finer particles and contaminants. Charcoal gets its filtering ability from its surface area. The finer you can get that powder, the more surface area, and the better a job of filtering it'll be able to do. You can put an additional layer of clean sand at the bottom of the charcoal, and that'll keep the charcoal from getting into the water, and will make the final result a bit cleaner. This will only really work for particulate contamination. If there's a concern about chemical contamination, either to the filter media, or the water itself, this wouldn't be advisable. One of those things where you'd need to tailor the solution to the situation at hand.

[@deirdremorris9234]

How can one filter out chemicals?

[@GothPanda]

@@deirdremorris9234charcoal can remove some, but not everything. The only way to be certain about removing chemicals is to know what chemicals are present, and how best to remove those specific chemicals from solution. Some can be bound to other chemicals, and made too dense to stay in the water. Others can neutralize the chemicals you'd want to remove, and other times, you can use distillation if the chemicals boil at different enough temperatures. Generally, without knowing what is present, the advice is do not drink any water you suspect of being contaminated with chemicals.

[@danielleterry2331]

Thank you

[@jokeal3613]

So glad you are doing videos like this instead of snippets from live streams.

[@samrackham4774]

About 2 years ago I would of said but why would I need this but fast forward to now, I’m saying I need to make one. Cody is really teaching us valuable knowledge we all need to take on board

[@PhotogPhotog-sk4ip]

Question. Shouldn’t the charcoal be the last stage of filtration, not the first?

[@danryan4272]

Yeah, or charcoal, and then another layer of sand after the charcoal, to filter out the charcoal.

[@Mr19853]

I was hoping you going to test it!

[@littlejoey22]

Nice video. With the chaos in the world currently, I’ve been trying to prepare a little more and I’m gonna add this to my home kit. I like that all the materials are easy to source even if the world is shutdown. Also, thanks for all your videos, been watching for years now.

[@northjerseykevin409]

100%. Scary stuff

[@christiancruz8254]

I would change the order of the filter media. The water to be filtered should make contact with the coarse filter media first and then the media should get progressively finer as it passes through the filter chamber. Other wise you clog up the finer material by asking it to remove large debris (which it will). With the charcoal as the first stage of filtration you will need to replace it more often.

[@BethGrantDeRoos]

I getFREE food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids from local grocery store bakery departments.

[@FederalPacificEh]

I have to pay $1 per bucket but sometimes they just hand me a stack and say they’re free.

[@michaela723]

Yes me too.... I use them for my honey and to store flour and sugar... and rice...

[@charlesdeering9359]

Damn, thanks bro!!!

[@SuperOmegaBerserker]

Also if you're in a rural area adding moss above the charcoal layer removed of its mud is another great neutralizer and filter for just outside or river waters.

[@pattiannepascual]

what kind of moss?

[@dirtisbetterthandiamonds]

Better wash and let bleach in the sun. Moss, in Florida at least, can be full of chiggers yikes!

[@XRayStarGaming]

I expected the charcoal to be after the larger mediums.

[@code_-kl5fu]

I wish you could do these more.... But I understand the lack of views. I really miss these though.

[@wranglerstar]

Purchase No Grid Survival Projects book here: amzn.to/3x048Go (amazon associate link)

[@jakecook8328]

Might wanna pin this so it's at the top

[@idonotconsent]

If you don't mind me asking , What happened to the God is building a new perfect earth & the person or people that was used for that goal. You talked about it in another video Once or twice and we never heard about it since. Iv never known anything about the topic so I hoped you could help

[@TylerFernandes94]

This is great. Would love to see the one about generating electricity with a bicycle.

[@asymmattrical]

@Wranglestar Very nice, quick little video!! As with others who have already commented, I have only ever seen this concept executed with the charcoal being the final medium. I’ve also seen a top fibrous layer as well as or instead of rocks. This has prompted me to experiment and make my own. Thank you!!

[@WhySoManyPasswords]

Shouldn’t the layers be rock/sand/charcoal/filter media (cheese cloth or cotton fiber)?

[@seanflorian4653]

I agree

[@ChrisSzulwach]

Is day rock and sand first because they filter the larger debris first

[@vaughan7835]

Jon Jandai has many videos & most of them larger scale. Highly recommend watching those & many more of his videos! Brilliant...

[@dirtisbetterthandiamonds]

I just watched his (4) 55 gallon drum video and its amazing!

[@therusticman]

Great video, hope to see more long-form videos. I think the viewership went down when there were fewer videos being posted, so people just weren't checking the channel as much because they got used to fewer videos. Thank you again for ALL of your content, long-form and otherwise!

[@selder03]

Great video. Simple, to the point and 100% needed. Thanks again

[@lawsonium]

I always thought the charcoal was the last stage, not the first.

[@TheIlook1]

Yes it is! If the charcoal is first it will quickly get plugged up and be much less effective.

[@lawsonium]

@@TheIlook1 I know the answer, I was just being polite ;-)

[@Boe81]

Thank you for a full length video

[@railmastercnr]

Cody my favorite videos have always been your instructional ones. Looking forward to more!

[@PimSchouten]

I agree completely. This man is so incredibly helpful in my development as a better human. I have learned and am still learning so much from him. It’s insane.

[@jerradgindle]

I remember a video you did a while back where you talked about why you didn't use Milwaukee Tools. It's really cool to see that you're using them now :-) you and your channel are such a blessing to me! I want you to know that. I don't know if you'll read this comment but I certainly hope you do. You said something in a video a few months ago, I don't remember which one it was I wish I could find it and clip that comment... You should make a short out of it.. You were getting out of your skid steer after something wasn't working right and you said, "There are no problems, only solutions." I want you to know that that comment probably saved my life. I think about that comment all the time and try to think of it whenever I do have "problems". Anyway, Yah bless you fellow Sabbath keeper!

[@andrewklope]

You should check out the Platypus gravity bag filters, they are high volume and work great. Hang a 4L bag of dirty water, and it filters through basically a high flow lifestraw into separate 4L clean bag.

[@machinist7230]

2 food grade buckets +3-4 ceramic candle type water filters (these are the major expense, they run 20-50 buck each = big Berkey clone that will do thousands of gallons, and will filter something like 30-40 gallons of water a day. Total cost : somewhere between 80-150 bucks, depending on how many and how high a grade of candle filters - 3 noname white ceramic filters are going to be much cheaper than 4 Doulton 7" Supersteryl replacemet Berkey filters at 60 bucks a pair, let alone Berkey bb9-2 black filters, at $175/pair.

[@charleswise5570]

Cody, I like this type of video, and I like that you're doing them! My question, and I'm not 100 % sure or unsure, so please bare with me. I would think the gravel, then sand, then charcoal would, or should be the order in this filter. Definitely necessary, especially with what has happened in this region of the country. I'm sure you read, or heard about a very dangerous train derailment right on the Ohio, and Pennsylvania border. Roughly 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Burning Vinyl Chloride, which can be a very serious health problem, and even deadly. I've also got to get a copy of that book! Again, please keep sharing these videos! Thank you in advance!

[@northjerseykevin409]

What was the train hauling?

[@charleswise5570]

@@northjerseykevin409 Vinyl Chloride, and other very dangerous chemicals.

[@northjerseykevin409]

@@charleswise5570 - yikes. That’s unfortunate. I wasn’t aware of that.

[@edywijayarulim1339]

Hey Cody, i missed this kind of videos from you,you used to make lots of video like this back in the old time,DIY,Comparison of stuffs.Where did it go now?

[@efxnoise]

I knew you'd do an outstanding job demonstrating this method. I've been experimenting with gray water filters using 2.5 buckets with layers of materials. I made them small for portability. Thanks again WS for doing this

[@bl4643]

Apparently tractor supply buckets are food grade. That’s why I buy them

[@teebob21]

Any HDPE plastic is food grade.

[@benjamint_0]

best way to learn folks, is to teach. i wonder just how valuable this elementary lesson is to anyone but him🤔

[@invisibilianone6288]

And now you know why some are no longer employed at the water treatment facility⚡😜

[@shawnshadle8656]

Awesome video nice to see how to actually make one of these filters without just diagrams and pictures

[@normanmccollum6082]

I've also seen online how to make a VERY small version of this, but with a simple water bottle, like a 500ml one or I suppose a 2L would work even better. Obviously can't churn out filtered water like THIS bad boy, but seems like a handy little alternative for one person.

[@goodrobotdesign]

This is the things kids should teach, one class of survival skills a week, pretty neat.

[@ShadowMind312]

Thank you for showing us how to take our livelihood back!!

[@matthewstanko2478]

This is great, I hope we can see more useful videos coming soon.

[@garageman_]

Cool video! Id love to see a video on restoring vintage coleman lanterns :)

[@BRrdeckard]

I agree. Getting parts will be the hard part though. Have you seen the price of Coleman Fuel (White Gas) lately? $14+/gal. Crazy.

[@garageman_]

​@@BRrdeckard I bought some recently and it cost me over 30 Canadian pesos, my jaw hit the floor lol

[@Jdubbsotheradventure]

The company I work for we pull water out of the river and run it through 12 filters that use the same media

[@leveraction3]

yeah it's a good book I use a rain text system that's illustrated right there on the front, that's what I water my garden with

[@PBVader]

French drain style. Buckets are ABS. There is a specific ABS to PVC glue that works ok.

[@gove4103]

Thank you for the great info! Logically though, wouldn't it make more sense to have the water pass through the sand/gravel first in order to get any sediment/algae/other biomass out of the water before it goes through t he charcoal filter?

[@dalethomas8015]

Screen, charcoal, gravel then sand on top. Any large particles can be picked out or sifted from the top layer of sand. Doing mission work in the Philippines we use bio-sand filters to clean the water. Making the dirtiest of water safe to drink.

[@Misterkill800]

Thanks for the info. I will add this book to my small collection.

[@ttrestle]

Buying this book. I’ll let you know what I think and which projects I do.

[@LoneWolf-13]

Love these kind of videos!

[@artyomg7515]

If I remember correctly, you can soak the charcoal in a concentrated acid like hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. You can buy hydrochloric acid at a pool supply store or you can get sulfuric acid at some hardware or plumbing stores as it's used as a strong drain cleaner. Doing so activates the charcoal, which just means that you add little holes in the charcoal to make it more effective at filtering.

[@AHagridLookalike]

I read before that lemon juice can be used to activate the charcoal as well.

[@bl4643]

Good convo guys, thanks for the tips 👍

[@billbarrett582]

You can't buy anything at a hardware store, let alone a pool supply store when the grid goes down.

[@pattiannepascual]

is that safe to be drinking?

[@EyesOnIlia]

This is freaking awesome! I wish I had a dad like you teaching me cool stuff like this! BTW... you have a cat living in the room....

[@Bluedragon7777]

The video I watched was four months old yesterday and it painted a very bleak future and he said in it Texas is reaching out to the surrounding cities to use them for satellites and we are about forty years ahead of everyone else as far as becoming totally 100% Green and self sufficient and he stated the reasons as we can do math and we like free! Ha ha ha 🙂😎 thanks for the tip!

[@honoriswithin]

Literally just ordered that book

[@forceghostburtreynolds7597]

My Grandfather owned a True Value hardware store!

[@bearboyjd5394]

shouldn't you have the charcoal on bottom? rocks/sand filter out the big stuff charcoal filters the small stuff. This is information that I'm remembering from a long time ago so I am probably wrong.

[@Minnesotastar]

Adding comment to express appreciation and show that long(er) form is still loved!

[@MH-py1ou]

I've missed these types of videos

[@stephenrobb8759]

Regular inspection of the clean water reservoir is important . I personally know of a situation where black mold / mildew and slime layer was growing inside the clean water side of a filter. People got sick. Inspect and clean. Stay healthy.

[@teebob21]

A teaspoon of household bleach in your 5 gallon water reservoir will keep any biofilm from developing.

[@TheFiremanJoe]

Thanx for the full length video!

[@RandomParrot881]

Great Video, glad to see you coming back to the older types of videos ! Only one question- what you need gravel for?

[@heathmcintire1882]

I believe it would act as a pre-filter.

[@rld1278]

For the largest particles in the water, largest to smallest.

[@MrArthand]

If you drill the holes following the simple golden ratio spiral the water will benefit . 🌪

[@tadghb]

Now show us how it actually worked. Then lets test the water.. See how well it did. It would be a great follow up video. You could get some simple test equipment online very inexpensive.

[@MasterK9Trainer]

I have that book and it is amazing. "52 Prepper Project" By Nash is similar. I suggest people buy both books and you'll be well set to become totally prepared as these books teach how to make everything you'll want and they also teach how to execute various processes such as food preservation.

[@davidkostreva1179]

MIddle bucket should be charcoal (bottom) then sand then charcoal, then sand. Top bucket should be sand then fine gravel on top. You will replace the top bucket alot, depending on your source water.

[@SwtIslandGurl808]

Great video! NOTE: Do Not Use store bought Charcoal because it has lighter fluid in it

[@JonathanCrossland]

We have very different ideas for what constitutes an emergency.

[@seancoyle6463]

Thank you!

[@andrewcampbell7011]

No notification. No alert. Only found this because you mentioned it on the live stream

[@WagonBurner1868]

keep doing these vids. Trad.Con. and your hot shot/engine days are the best as i can relate to the firefighting climate

[@jum93]

This should be teach in our schools instead of the non sense material taught nowadays

[@GreymsView-ix8yi]

A great video my friend I make my own filters for my stock pond and Garden ponds.

[@ronniehdable]

Thank you!

[@tomray4139]

I built a similar system using smaller 1-1/4 gallon pails and aquarium materials.

[@kingmasterlord]

I like this for roof water for the garden

[@herrhansmeier34]

Die Kohle muss nach unten. Zwischen die Schichten Filtervlies legen. Unten noch einen zusätzlichen Eimer mit Zapfhahn als Wasserspeicher platzieren.😜

[@buckaroobonzai2909]

I thought charcoal was finer and went on the bottom. Am I wrong? I was told by a one of those permaculture types, Geoff LAwton, I think, that Charcoal is like a megacity for microbiology because it stores and will always store pockets of oxygen and water and nooks and crannies within nooks and crannies that are impossible to undo even with a blender, so there is always more room for more micro life than average dirt to survive and thrive... which is why it is good in gardens also.

[@Waldgxnger]

Thanks for all these videos, love from germany

[@tylerbuhite5432]

I love arts and crafts.

[@cherylkitchen]

Love this. Thanks

[@ericwolbert3256]

Thanks so much! I need all the help I can get!!

[@tmabre3]

I like it! Sorry I didn’t watch it sooner! Also idk if this is silly, but I noticed what looked like a vertical dark line on your left thumbnail. Maybe it’s a bruise or ridge but could be a sign of melanoma called melanonchia. Just want you to be 👍🏻👍🏻

[@whynotdean8966]

You mentioned that the water would need to be boiled, which is totally true. I'd just say that if you're going to boil it anyway, building a distillation setup is also an option. As someone who lives near the ocean I can make as much water as I wan't, as long as I have fuel for a fire.

[@machinist7230]

Honestly, for this level of effort, youre better off building a big Berkey clone using two *FOOD GRADE* buckets, and 3-4 candle type ceramic water filters. Then you dont need to boil or prefilter (i will say that prefilering will extend the life of the ceramic filters, which run 20-50 dollars EACH). Regular buckets are a bad idea, as they may contain toxic chemicals in either/both the plastic and the mold release agent used.

[@308sniper3]

@@machinist7230 I built a Berkey clone using stainless steel pots with lids off of amazon. Cost about $150 with valves and 2 filters. Duda energy on Amazon also sells 1micron filter media 36”x72” for about $30. I think this would make an excellent pre filter to greatly extend ceramic filter life. Finally, Berkey is under a class action lawsuit for greatly exaggerating effectiveness and life of filters I believe. Might want to research that.

[@joeritter8331]

@@machinist7230 I've yet to see a bucket that wasn't food grade HDPE. That said I won't be using one that held petrochemicals for food or water. Just new buckets, or old pickle buckets.

[@DoubleBob]

Distilling takes 10 times the energy of boiling.

[@whynotdean8966]

@@DoubleBob Sure, but thats irrelevant if you're using the energy to heat your house anyway. Or if you have firewood to spare. Or if you have an electric stove and renewable energy. Plus I'd rather drink distilled water than boiled mud water.

[@ZoomedOut2020]

Reverse the order plus add a piece of landscape fabric secured with a bungee cord at the top for an initial and replaceable strainer medium… Thanks.

[@B44SB66]

You could add a ceramic filter bucket at the very bottom to remove all of the final contaminants and possibly make the water drinkable without boiling

[@christopherrabaldo3377]

Don't need primer under 3" pipe. Get Christy's Red Hot PVC Glue, all you need for small pipe. Also should be CPVC pipe, PVC is not for drinking water, CPVC is.

[@BlitzAdventures67]

Can you do a video of showing you filtering on some nasty water. Thank you for the videos

[@dimmacommunication]

Isn't the gravel the first filter ? like to separate from heavy stuff

[@pbmachines972]

Very useful👍🏻we know what’s coming

[@loganc4233]

Thanks!

[@cuchulain1647]

Thank you

[@reginaldscot165]

For $50 I can buy a 3 stage gravity filter from the water filter shop that works very well.

[@TheEvanRoach]

Hey Cody, great video. I’ve seen many home made filters in the past all along these lines and the way you put it together was extremely simple and easy to follow. Thanks!! Is there a particular reason why you had the charcoal on top vs the sand and gravel? Typically I’ve seen the charcoal was last so I was just curious.

[@RippingJack76]

If you put the charcoal at the bottom you will have little black flakes of charcoal in your water in perpetuity. Not a bad thing but kind of unsightly

[@JTNZ333]

That's what I thought also. You would want the gravel to remove the crud first then have the cleansed water run through the charcoal. @RippingJack76 The flushing should take care of this should it not?

[@stevealford230]

@@RippingJack76 The charcoal is the finest mesh of all filter media in the system, so it's ridiculous and wasteful to have it be the first media to contact the water when it's at its most contaminated... and the issue of charcoal dust in the finished product is easily solved by rinsing the charcoal after activation (and after purifying it periodically after it has filtered a few hundred gallons).

[@TheEvanRoach]

@@stevealford230 I just came back to say the same! Thanks.

[@steamer2k319]

Big rocks filter out big chunks. Smaller sand filters out smaller chunks. Microscopic pores in (ideally activated) charcoal filter out microscopic pathogens, etc. You definitely want to progress from the coarse media to the fine media.

[@jakeshowcaze1014]

What’s the purpose, or gain from cruising around with no shoes?

[@hollykij2063]

I've been wondering that myself

[@DeuryMota]

Yes got it thank you

[@simontemplar8719]

Use food grade containers if you can. Plastics are in all your food already.

[@toddnotobartolo5728]

Love these videos. Please do more!!!!

[@OvertonWindex]

Look at the views, man. I think It's just not possible.

[@toddnotobartolo5728]

@@OvertonWindex as a long time fan of the channel since 2012 and a you tuber myself I do go on social blade and look at the views. Not a perfect judge of data but close. Its possible to do more videos like the ones that kept us fans staying with him. If its just gonna be 2 hour live streams and someone cutting up his live stream i will be leaving unfortunately and im sure more will follow. It comes down to whether he wants to do it. Since the channel isn’t all about the money what does it matter?

[@toddnotobartolo5728]

15k in a few hours sure makes sense and looks possible to me compared to less than that for live streams after days. Hmmmm

[@ashleymarie7452]

(1) That wasn't sand you used. It was dirt. Big difference. (2) Rocks should be pea sized. (3) Charcoal needs to be pulverized using a mortar and pestle. This increases the surface to volume ratio. (4) For better results, activate the charcoal. The carbonized material is then "activated" by exposing it to an oxidizing gas, such as steam or air, at high temperatures. This activation process creates a network of pores and increases the surface area of the charcoal. The activation step is crucial for enhancing the adsorption properties of the charcoal. (5) The charcoal goes on the BOTTOM. Rocks on top. Sand in the middle.

[@Michaelajacksonfilms]

Thank you

[@gregchambers6100]

Yep. That'll do it. Nice job.

[@dhawthorne1634]

You can buy a manual RO unit for about the same price and you won't have to boil the water.

[@sixfourlonley]

I just got the notification for this video! KZbin is 6 days late....

[@wesman7837]

Won't the charcoal just float when you pour the water into the top bucket?

[@davidjosephjohn8599]

I'm sure the pvc glue is food grade...