Water filter recommendations...and treatment of water

On another thread, I learned that I am a bit behind the times on the treatment of water and on water filters so I thought I would post this...

First, I need a good water filter that can move water from a 55 gallon (BPA free) drum (purchasing 2 of them) reasonably quick for family use - meaning - I would be needing 2+ gallons at time so I don't want a Life Straw type filter. I wonder if anyone has recommendations concerning this and why would you recommend this.

Secondly, I wonder if there is some way to treat the entire 55 gallons prior to use so it does not have to be filtered? Is there anything out there now that is trustworthy to kill everything but doesn't leave a bad taste?

Third, I have used a LifeStraw in the past. And, was considering purchasing some but thought I would ask the Tree if there is anything better now available?

 

Consider a Berkey filter. The Big Berkey can hold about 2.5 gallons and the Royal, Imperial and Crown versions hold even more.

AquaRain is similar to Berkey, but I think their biggest holds 3 gallons.

Sawyer also has a 4 liter gravity filtering system that is a bit more portable.

If you have a powered pump, you might also be able to rig one of the many inline filtering systems used to filter home water supplies to filter the water from your barrel as you pump it.

You can also treat the entire contents of the barrel with chlorine dioxide like Potable Aqua or Aqua Mira, or even just plain bleach. I would recommend that for storage, but would still want to filter it through some kind of carbon filter before drinking if for no other reason than to make it taste better. (Stock up on Tang!)

As with everything, one is none and two is one. I have multiple filters, multiple treatments and lots of bleach stored...as well as multiple ways to boil.

 

The Berkey system uses ceramic filters if I remember correctly. I like that idea a lot. A bit pricy but definitely a way to purify a good amount of water in a reasonable time. I like their Sport bottle (looking at it now) for packing around.

"you might also be able to rig one of the many inline filtering systems used to filter home water supplies to filter the water from your barrel as you pump it."
I never considered this and it another good idea!

 

Berkey's can have either the white ceramic or the black carbon filters. I keep both. The ceramic filters are better for nasty, muddy, dirty, cloudy water, while the black carbon filters make the water taste a little better.

 

Sawyer mini.

 

If he's using one of those manual pumps to pump out of the 55gal drum, he could definitely rig it to flow through a Sawyer Mini or other inline filter.

 

+1 on the berkey's! I find them to be better at handling large quantities of water faster with less effort, and the filters are easy to service and replace! The MSR pumps will handle several quarts for food and drinking needs, but the gravity systems can be rigged to handle what ever you need them to and you can set them up and work on other tasks while they do there thing! Ketidyne makes a nice gravity feed system that I like to use for medium flow use, I just hang it off the drum and set as siphon into what ever I need, and let it go!

 

Another vote for the Berkey. Bought my first one back in the mid 90's.
Buy once, cry once.

 

I purchased three Berkey's fairly cheap. Just two 5 gallon plastic buckets and three black filters for each. Works great. I also purchased a 12 volt chlorine generator so I don't have to store bleach. Just make it when I need it.

 

My plan is using the bucket filter method using; coffee filter, gravel, sand ,and charcoal, then using a commercially made filter just for back up , and may be a stri-pen .
Boiling water is an option as well as distillation especially for medical emergencies.
I store a lot of water in several containers and IMO its best to filter as needed rather then attempting to do it all ahead of time seeing how long things can set in between uses.
Aerating your water will help the taste, however charcoal is still a prudent filter media .
Except for stainless ,practically every other storage media is going to leach something into water in time.
That's why I plan to filter as it's being used. .
When we lived in the desert there was always water on the wood stove all the time, knowing it would be safe after being boiled. needing more water, another pot was added so the previous was not contaminated with the added .

 

For the home I use the Monolithic Just Water bucket system. Filters 5 gallons of water overnight. Uses a 0.2 micron ceramic filter which is cheap and easy to replace. You can drill the buckets yourself or buy the system pre-made with minimal assembly.

A stovetop distiller is my next step when I can afford one..

 

My wife and I lived without running water in a house we were "squatting" in (forclosure) for several months. Since we hauled all of our own water our consumption went down to about 3 gallons per person per day. We reused water from our daily 6L camp shower to flush toilets.

 

Anybody have any recommendations on a whole house water filtration system for a house on a well?

 

search for water filtration in your area or 'home water filtration' and find a company that has them,

i have this one from Ameriflow for the whole house
drinking water is filtered again for differnt reasons
Whole House Carbon Filters

 

That depends on what you are trying to get rid of...microbial iron, sulphur smell/taste, chemicals...???

 

We are looking at putting in an ultraviolet water filter for the whole house. That was a recommendation by a water company. It is about $1,000+ to buy and have installed but it is the one that keeps getting the thumbs up. What is wrong with your water?

 

Personally I think a whole-house system is a waste of money. IMO, if you can do it, it's better to plumb your house so that you can have two zones...one for filtered water used for drinking, cooking, bathing, etc, and the other for water that really doesn't need to be filtered like toilets, outdoor spigots, etc. So basically your well would feed through the normal water softener, rust, mineral, etc. removal system first (if needed at all), then would branch into two separate piping systems, one that is further filtered via carbon filters, reverse osmosis, etc. and another that isn't. I just don't see the sense of doing any extensive filtering of water that is used for nothing but human waste disposal, watering, etc.

We have something like this in our home...but we also have two distinct water sources...the well, which is softened and filtered, and the rainwater cistern, which isn't. The well is used for most of our internal plumbing, while the cistern provides water for the outdoor faucets and some of the wash basins in the basement. I am in process of switching over the toilets to be on the same branch as the latter. All I need to do to feed the entire house with just one (or neither) of those sources is to turn a couple of valves.