These photos are of my emergency water filtration system. I have access to several small ponds within yards of my house and that is what I am basing my emergency water supply on. It is in a metro area so there is going to be a number of problems with drinking or using water directly from these ponds without adequate protective measures, primarily filtration.
I chose the Black Berkey Water filtration units. If you go to the web site and look at the specs you will see why. They are not cheap, but appear to be the best you can buy. With Black Berkey filter you can get about 3000 gallons of clean water before you have to service them, if you service/clean them about every 3000 gallons and they will last for a very long time.
http://www.berkeyfilters.com/berkey-water-filters/replacement-filters/black-berkey.html
I decided that a 4.5 inch sewer pipe with a cap on the end and the Berkey filter installed in the end of the cap, would be the easiest solution to a portable water supply, easy to use and is light enough it could be handled by the average person. A 4.5 inch sewer pipe is made out of the same material that a water pipe is made from, but cannot handle the pressure that a water pipe can. This sewer pipe appears to be perfect for my application.
I installed an end fitting on the pipe that will accept a screw style cap and screwed a square nutted end cap into the fitting backwards. Before I installed the screw in end cap, I sanded the end of the square nut to make a smooth surface for the Berkey filter's rubber gasket, then I drilled a hole in the center of the square that would allow the Berkey filter's hollow mounting stud to pass through. The screw in cap cannot be tightened enough to prevent leaks and will have to be glued in permanently.
Before you glue in the end cap, make sure and make yourself a wrench arrangement that will let you turn the end cap and tighten it. I had to use some of the tie downs that you can winch tight and a portable bench to hold the pipe while I tightened the screw in cap. This pipe arrangement is a small pain to make but once made it solves a lot of problems. I drilled two ¼ inch holes in the other end of the pipe to allow a rope or small chain to be used for hanging of the system from a rafter or tree limb.
The 5 ft pipe will hold about 3 gallons of water at a time and will make about 3 gallons of clean water every half hour. The end cap installed backwards protects the hollow outlet mounting stud of the Berkey filter and keeps you from destroying a working filter system by dropping it and breaking the hollow mounting stud. I used the Berkey supplied wing nut to tighten down the filter to the end cap, inside the recessed area of the square nut of the end cap and I was done. This wing nut is factory supplied and not a hardware store item, do not lose it.
I bought a new waste water pump unit from Home Depot ( $25.00 ?) to move water from a bucket/barrel or what ever that is holding the water supply. You pump the pipe full and the container you are using to catch the drinkable water is placed under the hanging pipe filter unit to be filled or you can slip on some small plastic tubing onto the filter mounting stud to move the water to a different location . With the small size of the hollow mounting spout you can easily fill water bottles or smaller jars with this setup. I built two of these pipe units and can make about a gallon of clean water every 5 minutes, up to about 6000 gallons before I have to stop and service/clean the filters.
To remove the filter for cleaning, rinse out the holding chamber, unscrew the filter mounting stud and let the filter slide out of the pipe, do not let the ceramic filter strike a hard surface, it might break into a dozen pieces, clean the filter with a green scratch pad or steel wool, reverse flush and it is ready to use again. To reinstall the filter, make sure the holding chamber has been cleaned, drop a string down the hole of the screw in cap, tape/tie to the filter mounting stud and pull the mounting stud through the hole and tighten down the wing nut. If you hold the pipe at a slight angle it will slide back into the hole fairly easily, then hold the pipe vertical with the cap portion facing down while you tighten the nut and you are done. I have used this method of installation several times in making my first pipe units and it works quite well.
Only 4 photos are allowed per post so I will show the last two on the next post.
I hope this is of value to some of you who have been wondering about a safe water supply.
I chose the Black Berkey Water filtration units. If you go to the web site and look at the specs you will see why. They are not cheap, but appear to be the best you can buy. With Black Berkey filter you can get about 3000 gallons of clean water before you have to service them, if you service/clean them about every 3000 gallons and they will last for a very long time.
http://www.berkeyfilters.com/berkey-water-filters/replacement-filters/black-berkey.html
I decided that a 4.5 inch sewer pipe with a cap on the end and the Berkey filter installed in the end of the cap, would be the easiest solution to a portable water supply, easy to use and is light enough it could be handled by the average person. A 4.5 inch sewer pipe is made out of the same material that a water pipe is made from, but cannot handle the pressure that a water pipe can. This sewer pipe appears to be perfect for my application.
I installed an end fitting on the pipe that will accept a screw style cap and screwed a square nutted end cap into the fitting backwards. Before I installed the screw in end cap, I sanded the end of the square nut to make a smooth surface for the Berkey filter's rubber gasket, then I drilled a hole in the center of the square that would allow the Berkey filter's hollow mounting stud to pass through. The screw in cap cannot be tightened enough to prevent leaks and will have to be glued in permanently.
Before you glue in the end cap, make sure and make yourself a wrench arrangement that will let you turn the end cap and tighten it. I had to use some of the tie downs that you can winch tight and a portable bench to hold the pipe while I tightened the screw in cap. This pipe arrangement is a small pain to make but once made it solves a lot of problems. I drilled two ¼ inch holes in the other end of the pipe to allow a rope or small chain to be used for hanging of the system from a rafter or tree limb.
The 5 ft pipe will hold about 3 gallons of water at a time and will make about 3 gallons of clean water every half hour. The end cap installed backwards protects the hollow outlet mounting stud of the Berkey filter and keeps you from destroying a working filter system by dropping it and breaking the hollow mounting stud. I used the Berkey supplied wing nut to tighten down the filter to the end cap, inside the recessed area of the square nut of the end cap and I was done. This wing nut is factory supplied and not a hardware store item, do not lose it.
I bought a new waste water pump unit from Home Depot ( $25.00 ?) to move water from a bucket/barrel or what ever that is holding the water supply. You pump the pipe full and the container you are using to catch the drinkable water is placed under the hanging pipe filter unit to be filled or you can slip on some small plastic tubing onto the filter mounting stud to move the water to a different location . With the small size of the hollow mounting spout you can easily fill water bottles or smaller jars with this setup. I built two of these pipe units and can make about a gallon of clean water every 5 minutes, up to about 6000 gallons before I have to stop and service/clean the filters.
To remove the filter for cleaning, rinse out the holding chamber, unscrew the filter mounting stud and let the filter slide out of the pipe, do not let the ceramic filter strike a hard surface, it might break into a dozen pieces, clean the filter with a green scratch pad or steel wool, reverse flush and it is ready to use again. To reinstall the filter, make sure the holding chamber has been cleaned, drop a string down the hole of the screw in cap, tape/tie to the filter mounting stud and pull the mounting stud through the hole and tighten down the wing nut. If you hold the pipe at a slight angle it will slide back into the hole fairly easily, then hold the pipe vertical with the cap portion facing down while you tighten the nut and you are done. I have used this method of installation several times in making my first pipe units and it works quite well.
Only 4 photos are allowed per post so I will show the last two on the next post.
I hope this is of value to some of you who have been wondering about a safe water supply.
