Natural Water Filter

[corecries]

I'd like to make a natural Water Filter but don't quite know how.
I was thinking to make a diagonal of hanging clay baskets with pebbles gravel sand and then charcoal, ..
any ideas anyone?
You need activated charcoal, but what is that?

[tom]

I'd like to make a natural Water Filter but don't quite know how.
I was thinking to make a diagonal of hanging clay baskets with pebbles gravel sand and then charcoal, ..
any ideas anyone?
You need activated charcoal, but what is that?

From wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon ):

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or activated coal, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. [1] The word activated in the name is sometimes substituted by active. Due to its high degree of microporosity, just one gram of activated carbon has a surface area of approximately 500 m² (or about 2 tennis courts), as determined typically by nitrogen gas adsorption. Sufficient activation for useful applications may come solely from the high surface area, though further chemical treatment often enhances the adsorbing properties of the material. Activated carbon is usually derived from charcoal.

This is pretty interesting. I think you want to filter out different sized particles at different levels ... I think what the water processing plants do is to add some chemicals to the water to help small pieces clump together. then scrape them off of the bottom of the tank.
What is the scale of the filter you want to build?

[corecries]

The scale- its for a household of one, so I was thinking to make flat clay pots, with holes on the bottom (size I dont know yet)

And then hang these diagonally so the visual of it is also estethic.
I can also use plants in some of the pots, and the roots help filter and clean the water- but what tropical plants are good for this?

But where to get terracotta which seems to be a fine medium for filtereing made such? Finding info online has proven to be hard.I am in Thailand and finding things like activated coal can be some detective work.
Can I activate it myself- how..?

If you have links I'd love to surf and learn..

[mugaliens]

You may find some interesting information, here.

Here is another "how to" on making charcoal.

The thing you want to keep in mind is that you need four ingredients:

1. A heat source of 600 deg F.

2. A non-toxic hardwood (soft woods like pine don't work well, cedar, with it's organic toxins is definately out!).

3. A container which allows for even heating but which keeps nearly all of the air out.

4. For "activated" charcoal, a source of 400 deg steam, under high pressure.

The first three are pretty easy, with a kiln (wood-fired or electric), oak, ash, or other hardwood, and a large clay pot with a tight-fitting lid to keep the air out (note, it should not be sealed! Just keeping 99% of the air out is good enough.

The last of these, steam, is a bit difficult, without using boiler-rated steel pressure vessels, guages, and a good deal of training so that you don't blow yourself up! I wouldn't try mixing water in with the clay vessel, either, as it'll crack, spilling the hot wood throughout the kiln and creating a potentially explosive situation.

While activated charcoal is best, regular charcoal works well, too. So I'd just skip the steam step and use regular charcoal.

[chronicent]

You may find some interesting information, here.

Here is another "how to" on making charcoal.

The thing you want to keep in mind is that you need four ingredients:

1. A heat source of 600 deg F.

2. A non-toxic hardwood (soft woods like pine don't work well, cedar, with it's organic toxins is definately out!).

3. A container which allows for even heating but which keeps nearly all of the air out.

4. For "activated" charcoal, a source of 400 deg steam, under high pressure.

The first three are pretty easy, with a kiln (wood-fired or electric), oak, ash, or other hardwood, and a large clay pot with a tight-fitting lid to keep the air out (note, it should not be sealed! Just keeping 99% of the air out is good enough.

The last of these, steam, is a bit difficult, without using boiler-rated steel pressure vessels, guages, and a good deal of training so that you don't blow yourself up! I wouldn't try mixing water in with the clay vessel, either, as it'll crack, spilling the hot wood throughout the kiln and creating a potentially explosive situation.

While activated charcoal is best, regular charcoal works well, too. So I'd just skip the steam step and use regular charcoal.

Thank you for the informative post..