How to refill a "disposable" Brita brand water pitcher filter with activated carbon.

Step 4 Filling & using the housing.

Before filling the housing, you may want to wash it then soak it in a bleach solution to kill any cooties that may have formed in the housing. Chlorine bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is a VERY potent antimicrobial, which means "a little dab will do ya". 8 drops of bleach per gallon of water is a stronger solution than any public pool or spa that I've ever been in and is the ratio that the World Health Organization recommends for purifying pretty ugly water for drinking. Personally, I think that ratio is overkill, but they probably want to err on the side of safety.

Rinse the housing thoroughly when done soaking... there's no need to dry it. Place the funnel in the hole and fill with activated carbon. You may want to tap the housing on your counter to settle the granules and top it off, allowing room for the plug. Once plugged, you now have a filter that is more than likely more effective at taking out impurities than the original. Why? because you filled it fuller and you used ONLY pure carbon with no fillers. It should filter more water before needing changed than an original filter.

You also may want to poke some holes in the "dome" on the top of the housing to allow water to flow into that area of the housing. A hot pin or needle works well for this. This replaces the holes that we cut out and plugged in step 3.

Treat this filter just as you would a new one... soak it in water for 15 minutes to make sure the carbon is saturated. Expect that there will be some fine charcoal powder that settles out in your first couple of batches or so. This won't hurt you to drink it with your water or let it settle out.. :-) When your filter is not in use, put it in a ziploc plastic bag and store it in the fridge to prevent it from growing funk. I haven't tried storing them in the freezer yet... that would definitely slow any growth down, but I don't know if it would cause the ice to break the carbon into finer particles that could escape the housing. I just haven't tried it yet.

This is my first instructable... questions, comments and critique are welcome and encouraged. Enjoy.

Comments

[SkUG]

I work in a shop that sells brita products, they now have a "bin" where you can recycle your old cartridges, saves on landfill
(still stupidly expensive, as someone says up there, there is silver in them? the price of silver has tripled in the last few years so thats probably why)
I'll shall try this instructable - thank you!

[mprove]

This is a great instructable! I whole-heartedly agree with all the above posters commending you on the thoroughness and high-quality of your guide. My question is: once you empty out the used activated carbon, do you know of any way to reuse/recycle it? A (very brief) Google search brought up mostly industrial options for recycling facilities (i.e. those that cater only to companies producing large amounts of used activated carbon). But I did also glean that it can be recycled to 80% of its original filtration capacity so it seems better to send it somewhere to do that than directly to a landfill after 2-3 months in my water pitcher. Any suggestions would be great.

[singsingsing]

You can put it in your compost, or just dig a hole and bury it. If you don't have access to a garden, try worm composting, activated charcoal or carbon will control the ordour if you are worried about the smell.

[revival423]

From what I've read, it DOES NOT look like it can be recycled to filter water again.  Apparrently it would take an oven that can be heated to 1800 F and a specific pressure.   Here's my source: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/carbon.htm  Granted, this is being applied to fish tanks, but some of the same substances are being filtered.  Plus, for the low cost of carbon, it's not worth the time.  To make it cost and energy efficient, you would want to heat it in large batches, meaning you need a large supply anyways.

I'd look into alternate uses for the spent carbon.

[IAMSatisfied]

Thank you. The spent carbon I recycle via my wood stove. :-) At 50¢ or so a filter load for new carbon, I personally don't care to spend the time and propane to bake the spent carbon in my oven. If you're into potted plants or a garden, the spent carbon makes a good addition to the soil and makes it drain more thoroughly, yet retains moisture in the carbon.

[Demascus]

I have tried to re active carbon to save on my fish filters, but oh the stench of it baking off in the oven. eee gads. So my vote is ah NO.
The actual brita filters what do they say their effect on heavy metals like arsenic? The town I am in now ( just got here last week)  has found one of its supply wells has Arsenic in it which they are working to fix. Besides" it only effects about 200 houses".  Ahh yeah right, ok which two hundred and is my apartment one of them.  So I am buying bottled water now.
May consider buying a large osmotic unit for under the sink, for coffee and cooking.But over all a great article on how to. Thanks

[codwithchips]

hi this is a veryvery good instructable thank you for all the research you done & information you added is very interseting maybe i can reuse my filters now a lot cheaper just hope i can get some of the parts here in ireland, wishing you all a merry christmas & happy new year,

[rascalfromkochi]

A filter removes a portion of a contaminant, not all of it. The brita filter for example, removes 36% of the copper present and 72% of the chlorine, on average. Those are not my numbers--here is the source:

http://www.mikexstudios.com/archives/2006/12/06/analyzing-the-effectiveness-of-brita%C2%AE-water-filters/

The obvious conclusion is that if you want to remove more of a contaminant, filter it again. The second time it filters out x percent again, and again, until you reach your desired decontamination level. Remember, though, it is never zero...

[m00dimus]

Just got my 12lb order of activated carbon today and the filter mod works great. I let my re-filled filter to set in a glass of water for 15 minutes just like a new filter before it is put to use. Great instructable!

[kc8hps]

This is GREAT! I had just put a Brita filter in the Recycle last night thinking WHY can't I refill this, these puppies cost too much! Now I can! In comment to the person above. I don't think there is a difference between pet store activated charcoal and such. I would think Carbon Is Carbon... Is Carbon. Someone please do correct me on this one. also if this is a non polar element could you not just reheat it a bit over a burner and re purify it to the point of reuse? I'm open to ideas. I suppose the question then is "how pure did it become?"

[IAMSatisfied]

My father worked with automotive paints and used a carbon filter respirator, and his method of recycling the carbon was to spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it in the oven at about 200º F. Although I don't know how this would affect the resin beads that come with the Brita® filters.

[kc8hps]

actually you are on to something. if you study up on the resin bead filtering of Biodiesel that is currently being used. they take the beads and bake them to recharge them. this helps them rejuvinate and become usable again. I would think that if carbon had picked up some filtered organic matter that putting it in an oven at a temperature of 200 degrees or slightly higher would work very well. I would think 212F would be best. Im sure though that what your father was doing was indeed working. over time the organic matter would dry up or burn up/die etc. in the case of the "DRY UP" it may just fall away from the carbon at some level. I would think a higher heat would be needed to purge the carbon completely as in total burning of the filtered matter, but then you run the risk of carbon ignition as well. given that its basically glorified charcoal. ;)

[IAMSatisfied]

What my father was baking off were gases rather than solids... VOCs (volatile organic compounds). The actual paint particles were caught by a fiber pre-filter. What you said about baking the resin beads indeed sounds interesting... I will read up on it.

[Culturedropout]

So your father filtered the VOCs out of the air he breathed at work, and baked them out at home to share with his family...? (Maybe heating breaks them down somehow - I don't know. But it sounds scary...) Thanks for sharing your ideas in the Instructable; I've thrown out I don't know how many of the Pur under-sink filter cartridges when they were full. At $25 a pop, that adds up pretty fast when you use them on three different sinks. I'll have to see if I can open one of those up and refill it.

[ramedia]

I wonder if you could just microwave it for a few minutes. I read that microwaving your kitchen sponges for 2 minutes on high kills all bacteria in the sponges. I wonder if you could put your filter in the microwave and "kill" any bacteria and rejuvenate/recycle the filter?

[IAMSatisfied]

This *may* work, but I would be mindful that the plastic is VERY thin and might likely not appreciate being heated up. I don't know how this would affect the resin beads, if at all.

[IAMSatisfied]

cynder, thank you for your question. The carbon itself does not rot... it's whatever organic compounds that the carbon traps that could potentially rot. Even so, the by-products of decomposing carbon-based compounds will still be carbon based, and will, in theory, remain trapped in the carbon, even when the carbon is saturated. In other words, the carbon should still work perfectly fine up to the point that the carbon is "spent" or "full", and at that point you should begin to taste the impurities that pass through the filter. Trust your tongue to tell you when the carbon needs replaced. You can also flush water through the filter for 30 seconds or so to rinse out what bacteria might be present on the interior walls of the filter or on the outside of he carbon... this would flush away the majority of anything that is not adsorbed. If you are sensitive to microorganisms I would suggest that you consider using a solid carbon block filter, as these are considerably more effective than GAC (granulated activated carbon) at filtering water.

[cynder]

I really think that this will be useful. I have a 'refillable' cartridge in one of my filters, but can't get the refills here in New Zealand. I hate the idea of cutting up a cartridge to get at the granules. Bdixon, What could I add to stop the charcoal from rotting?

[romedeiros1970]

I did not know that activated charcoal could rot. I would think that carbon would need some source of nitrogen and perhaps a few other nutrients to support life like that. Have you had other filters rot before? I would think that the filter would be just fine in most environments.

[Bdixon]

Please be warned that Carbon ALONE will grow lots of microbes and can make you very SICK!. Brita filter use silver as an antimicrobial agent. You can also add Activated Silver Impregnated Charcoal. Sometimes called Chlorgon, this adds chloramine exclusion and bacteria killing ability to the basic carbon. THe organic compounds that the carbon filter traps (which are held on the vast surface area of the carbon) can, and DO, rot. If you store your filter in the fridge, you should be Okay for a few weeks... however if you store your filter at room tempature (like you can with a Brita) they will start to rot within the week. The resultant water, would not be better than un-filtered. See my earlier post regarding Ion Exchange Resin. A Brita brand filter contains Carbon, Ion Exchange Resin (probably a number of types - each have different attractions) and Silver (both impregnated carbon and metalic compounds (you can see the silver if you look closely)... Virtually all retail available Carbon filters contain silver to guard against organic growth (rot). Whilst Carbon only is OK. I would not recommend it unless water is stored in fridge. Your filter will start to have an OFF (mouldy) taste when the organics over-run the carbon. Discard at that point. I am not an infectious disease expert, so I don't know how sick this would make you... (if at all) but please becareful.

[boardboyd]

Agreed. you hit the nail right on the head. Carbon is the perfect breeding ground for microbes. In large scale treatment facilities if PAC or GAC (powder or granulated activated carbon) is used, it is used prior to dissinfection (UV, oxidation, ...) because of the very fact that it traps organics and has a high porosity and surface area perfect for growing bacteria.

[chrwei]

thanks for explaining this in such detail! First question I had is "if mold is an issue, then how can I keep a PuR on a faucet head for months at a time?" and you answered it perfectly!

[kida001]

I know that Brita also adds minerals for taste (or atleast they say they do) how can we do something like this???

[halciber]

This was a terrific article. Even if I didn't use a Brita water filter, I would have enjoyed this, because of the explanations. Thank you very much for writing this. I'm off to purchase some carbon now!!

[VMSmith]

This is one of the best instructables I've come across. Not only in terms of value, but in terms of explanation. It was very clear, and very well-done. Good job. Hope to see more of you.

[jimid92691]

It is a great instructable. To possably prevent shattering or cracks how about running the drill in reverse mode? It will melt the plastic with friction. Also the plugs bought did they have a size or type number?

[hapsavage]

Wow that is one of the best instructables ever. Intelligently written, highly informative, helpful and clear. Thanks!!

[emilyfis]

Smart, easy, and inexpensive! The history of 'activated carbon' is also a lovely addition to your Instructable.

[mrhealthpatriot]

That is one of the most practical Instructables I have seen. Also, your instructions are easy to follow.

[chriscc63]

DaMM of all the Instructables I have seen here this one seems to be the best. now how much does the replacement charcoal cost.

[charleeanna]

yer awesome. this just saved me $200 bucks a year :) I'm definitely going to try this project out after i get some charcoal ordered from your ebay source.

[snabdangler]

very nice! thanks, this will keep a bunch of these out of landfills too.

[plusbryan]

Good stuff, thanks for the informative instructable. We will certainly be trying this this weekend. Glad beads?! When did we lose corporate integrity - or did we ever have it?

[bigj]

Awesome!!! Thanks so much. This will save lots of money on unnecessary plastic purchases. It will probably encourage me to change my filter more often, too. I can't wait to try it.