Jogging Water

[hierony]

During the non-freezing months, my yurt was connected to directly to an outside water faucet/hydrant for water. It was a pain to wash dishes once things froze, though (2 gal bucket of water next to the sink with a ladle for rinsing things).

However, I finally got my gravity water system setup:


I pump water from a bucket up into the glass carboy (6.5 gal) through a check valve, then when I open the faucet it siphons back down into the sink, draining into the 5 gal bucket below. Haven't measured the gpm (likely 0.3-0.7 gpm). I can do a day's load of dishes with about 2-3 gallons.

Next I need to put a filter between the pump & carboy to make the water potable. I need to do some research though. Any suggestions?

[Jafo]

I have one of these at camp and it works well, albeit slow:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FM9OBQS...rldwidecreatio

[hierony]

Those are some micro filtration setups! There's the Lifestraw Family you mentioned and also the LifeSaver Jerrry Can. I like their filtration capacity (~5000 gal), which would last me 3-4 years. Gravity-fed water filtration is slow like you say though--you're using <5 psi to push water through membranes so you only get 3-4 gal/hr...

I measured the full-open faucet flow rate this morning--I'm getting ~1 gpm (15-25 inches head and 1/2" nominal tubing/pipes except for the 3/8" nom outlet). That flow is good for filling pots/drinking glass reasonably quickly. I haven't measured the pumping rate, but I'd guess 2-3 gpm. I've a 12V 3.0 gpm Shurflo RV water pump that can do up to 60 psi, or 2 gpm@15 psi.

Ideally I'd filter the water on it's way from the buckets to the carboy, making the pump do the work quickly. What I'd be worried about with those membrane filters is how much pressure they can take--I'll have to email them to find out. The lifestraw has no pressure listed; the Jerrycan does ~1 gpm@10psi.

There's also the Katadyn Combi--it's even designed to be hooked up to a pressurized home water system (up to ~45 psi?). It doesn't filter quite as well, but may be better for the pressurized half of my system.

[Jafo]

The membrane filters cannot take any additional pressure as far as I know. They are just gravity fed and you put he outgoing potable water in another container. I have one of those pumps and have hooked it to a 400 gallon water tote. First I connected it through the top, and then on the spigot on the bottom with all 400 pounds of water creating force. It didn't change the pressure at all coming from the pump.

[hierony]

There may have been a small difference in pressure on your 275/330 gallon tote (if it's a typical IBC one) experiment, but it wouldn't be noticable: it takes ~2 1/4 feet of elevation difference (top of water to outlet) to get just 1 psi--significant in ultra-low pressure systems, insignificant for standard plumbing.

The LifeSaver Jerrycan people got back to me already--they use a hand-pumped system, so slight pressure. Goes up to max 1.2 bar (~18 psi). It would be usable with a pressure regulating valve & safety release, but of course warranty would be void.

[hierony]

Originally Posted by hierony

Those are some micro filtration setups!

Err, should be a "nice" in there...

[Jafo]

Did you see this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017BYFZFM...rldwidecreatio

[hierony]

Hmm, they make some intriguing water filters.

So Sawyer (maker of water filters, insect repellants, sunscreen, and more) also makes the micro/hollow fiber water filters. Except they're actually rated for pressure (if you dig through their documents)--the fibers can take 60 psi, the casing takes 40 psi, and their gravity-fed pressure charts top out at 20 psi. Plus they recommend backwashing the filter to unplug the fiber pores, allowing for a ridiculously long filter lifetime. And you can get just the filter for $30-40 (product sp129).

So that takes care of the most the biological concerns (bacteria, protozoa/cysts), but there's also viruses & some chemicals to worry about, plus sediment. I might get a UV light to kill viruses ($50-200) to put after the sawyer filter. There's a strainer (300 micron/50 mesh) before the pump, but getting something more like 5-50 micron would be closer to standard practice.

So one can purchase empty inline filter cartridges, plus filter media (granular activated carbon/GAC, KDF 55 or 85), even wine filters from 0.2 micron up to 6 micron or such. I think it would be fun to make my own water filter, though it wouldn't technically be rated. Or I could just purchase an inline filter ($20?) for chlorine/lead/heavy metal removal rated for 5 or 20 micron, 1500+ gal and call it good for a few years (~6 gal used every two or so days).

[hierony]

I should mention the Sawyer filter comes in two variants, a 0.1 micron & a 0.02 micron absolute pore size. The 0.1 micron pore size filters out bacteria & protozoa/cysts, while the 0.02 micron also gets viruses too (but I'm not sure _all_ virus). The 0.02 micron filter has a bit lower flow rate though, so that's why I went with the 0.1 micron.

[Daniel Pittman]

I have the Sawyer 0.02 micron filter. I use it in gravity mode with a 5 gallon bucket about six feet above the filter. It's slow, but it works. I've never hooked it up to a pump, but I had it on a kitchen faucet once and it handled less than normal water pressure just fine.

As for quality, I can't recommend Sawyer products enough.