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InIn this Instructable I'm not going to show you as much some thing new as make you aware of the possibilities. Buying things to throw away drives me nuts. The phrase "When you're done, just throw it away!" never made sense and is nearly unforgivable today. Also, you aren't contributing to transportation waste by using materials about your home (I hope)
There is a plastic pitcher and filter company out there making a good buck selling the benefits of user water filtration. It uses a throw away filter. It's a great thought. I have a better one.
If you are in a rush I'll let you in on the secret right now. Instead of making coffee in a coffee maker, use the coffee maker and filter along with Activated Filter Carbon (instead of coffee) to filter your water. Who doesn't have a spare old coffee maker lying around? Don't have one? Go to a charity store and pick one up. I like to use half gallon used PET juice bottles (cleaned, c'mon) to hold the filtered water.
Material list-
Activated filter Carbon - I got mine from a pet store. I called the manufacturer and they very nicely told me that it is NOT for human consumption. YOU might like to go to a health food store and buy some meant for human consumption. I recommend that method.
Drip Coffee Maker with accessories. - Carafe, filters etc.
Sieve - for rinsing the dust off the carbon particles.
Carafe - to put finished water in.
Absorbent material to mop up any possible spills.
There is a plastic pitcher and filter company out there making a good buck selling the benefits of user water filtration. It uses a throw away filter. It's a great thought. I have a better one.
If you are in a rush I'll let you in on the secret right now. Instead of making coffee in a coffee maker, use the coffee maker and filter along with Activated Filter Carbon (instead of coffee) to filter your water. Who doesn't have a spare old coffee maker lying around? Don't have one? Go to a charity store and pick one up. I like to use half gallon used PET juice bottles (cleaned, c'mon) to hold the filtered water.
Material list-
Activated filter Carbon - I got mine from a pet store. I called the manufacturer and they very nicely told me that it is NOT for human consumption. YOU might like to go to a health food store and buy some meant for human consumption. I recommend that method.
Drip Coffee Maker with accessories. - Carafe, filters etc.
Sieve - for rinsing the dust off the carbon particles.
Carafe - to put finished water in.
Absorbent material to mop up any possible spills.
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Signing UpStep 1Wash the carbon
If you don't wash the carbon first you'll clog your little paper filter and potentially end up with some pretty gray lookin' water. Probably won't hurt but doesn't look so appetizing. No need to dry it. Use as much carbon as you would use ground coffee.
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I'm not certain. If it's activated charcoal then it should burn and the ashes would compost. I think it depends on the type of carbon. I remember that charcoal is used to "sweeten" things, Not like sugars but to remove the acids type of "sweeten". I remember seeing advertisements for bourbon that touted the fact that they made their own charcoal from specific wood and that it made the bourbon better because of it. In a nutshell, I would think that it would break down in the compost pile or if nothing else it would add bulk and absorb and hold water in the final product.
The cone filter being made of paper will eventually break down into fibers and from thence into a composted item.
"You keep saying that you're throwing less trash away . . . " Yes I mentioned it. I have an issue with single use anything that gets disposed of after use and in this instance it's the plastic shell of the filter for the plastic pitcher assembly. The biggest idea behind this entire process is to avoid using the plastic shell of the filter. After that the benefit is that it shouldn't cost a ton of cash or a lot of extra "stuff" in the land fill that won't break down.
You can also avoid bottled water bottles. There are any number of companies that sell reusable containers for potable water. I believe I mentioned that when I make my weeks worth of water, I use a number of former PET juice bottles. The neck is bigger so there's less spillage when I decant the water and the bottle is stronger than a soda 2L bottle and the bottles I use are squarish so they fit in the fridge better. I wouldn't want to travel with a half gallon of water so I use smaller refillable bottles made of stainless steel.
So, yes, that's all part of it. The further you delve into it, this process, the more positive change you have made. Make sense?
It's not that I doubt you; I was just wondering which countries require nuke-type disposal of water filter carbon? That would be interesting info to have. Thanks in advance. Have a GR8 day.
Or, words to that effect 8-D
..........and freakn taste like prehistoric algae........
............this might work for out tap water...or maybe if i do it 3 time........
any one have solutions for my tap water ???
Thanks for commenting though. It makes me feel good that people think enough of my ideas to spend time to comment on them.
Also, im so glad i read into the comments about the "cold water slime" phenomenon. This solves an annoyance I've had with my brita system for some time now! I started noticing awhile back that there was a reddish/pinkish area right where the water comes out and I actually thought it was from... chef boy ardee cast-off. no joke. i thought it had gotten there as a result of me using the sink sprayer to rinse out the cans of the chef boy ardee that my kid loves and eats on a regular basis...I've been taking toothbrushes with baking soda, trying to scrub it clean, thinking it was yucky pasta sauce residue...lol
Good luck with the travel 8-)
Please don't take this as offensive. Those were just my initial thoughts and I was curious for the answer but didn't have the time to skim through all 63 messages.
Still another issue is that this defeats "Cold Water Slime" that can develop in the plastic filter if you tend to keep it in the fridge.
The heat just might kill off some microbes and helps move the chlorine out of the water. chlorine evaporates as a gas from water at around 72-75 degrees so this would speed that process.
Others have cited the need to cool the water, I let the coffee carafe sit and cool to room temp and then decant it into another BPA free container.
So to re-cap;
• Germ free (Potentially)
• Filtered
• Recyclable filter if not recyclable then compostable
• You already have the equipment
• Lower cost
• No Cold Water Slime
• No Chlorine flavor/taste
I wanted this to be low impact on the environment and the personal finance. OTOH, a friend of mine has a 5k water system to clean the water from his well. I couldn't conceive of this being a replacement for that. Each coffee maker is different even between one and he next on the assembly line so Your Mileage May Vary. Use with caution.
If you could find a way to pump cold water through the carbon it would be much more effective. What you have here is a Brita type water pitcher with a plug!
OTOH I have read about some items not being killed by chlorine but I'm not sure about the Urban Legendry of that.
So, In essence I'm more into the heat of it with the charcoal batting clean-up. Again, it's the flavor of the water that I'm looking to improve with potential side benefit of less pathogens.
When you throw out a cold water pitchers filter after a month take a close look at the filter case. In this area of the country they just start developing what's known as "Cold Water Slime". It's a common thing and can usually be found on the bottom of most cold plates used in beverage dispensing. Mostly pinkish in color. Usually in restaurants (Nobody want's to clean them). They are also found in the drains of ice bins and the like. Heating the water helps to hold that off as well as off gassing the chlorine. Howm' I doin'?
First I would do a reality check on your usage of the coffee maker. My suggestion was for using the water for personal consumption on a semi-regular basis, intended to replace pitcher filter systems and bottled water. Approximately one half gallon per day. In my little 2 cup coffee maker that's two "pots" of water. I don't cook with it, don't bathe in it, don't perform morning ablutions with it. If you are using it to do more that what I outlined above you need to skip to number four. 8-D
Second, my home electric bill generally runs about $100/ mo in the summer and about $30 more(these amounts include service/office charges) in the winter so we're rather frugal. As such, we do not notice the additional energy cost.
Third, if you find that you are in line with my circumstances I would call an electrician or the electric utility that services your account to investigate what exactly is going on with your usage/billing.
Fourth, If by any chance (though you said your bill which usually means a utility is involved) you are off grid then you should be heating water with wood, coal or other means and not using solar or wind.
I wouldn't accept this as outrageous enough to give me pause without having this situation looked at by a professional. What I'm trying to say is that there might be a safety issue that isn't obvious.
Failing that, there are perfectly acceptable Whole House filters that filter all incoming water so no matter where you use it , shower cooking flushing, the water is filtered. This option might work better for you.