Gravity water filter rainwater?

TxMex · #1 05/06/12, 10:09 AM

My municipal water supplier added fluoride to the water supply a little less than a year ago. Fluoride can be a contributing factor to developing heel spurs. Yep, I developed heel spurs. This is the first time I've been exposed to this toxin and I don't intend to be exposed to it ever again!

I bought a reverse osmosis system, but when I installed it, it malfunctioned and flooded my kitchen. I'm having to replace cabinets, flooring and sheet rock. Not to mention that it wastes 5 gallons of water for every gallon it makes. So I won't be going that route. Water distillers produce a lot of heat. Not too bad in the winter, but miserable during an Arkansas summer.

I collect rainwater in a 1550 gallon tank off of a metal roof. I use this water for my garden. I've used rainwater collection for a long time, but have never filtered it for drinking. At least I'd be starting out with water that doesn't have any chemicals in it! Has anyone here used a gravity type water filter with rain water? What were your experiences?

Ozarks Tom · #2 05/06/12, 10:32 AM

If you go to survialblog.com, and search "gravity water filter" the second article down gives a pretty extensive "how to". Hope this helps.

Harry Chickpea · #3 05/06/12, 11:10 AM

With a Doulton filter, it should be fine.

Big Dave · #4 05/06/12, 11:50 AM

May we ask HOW it malfunctioned? What brand is the filter? Is the 1550 gallon tank on a platform or do you need a pump to feed into the house? How many gallons per minute are you needeing? is this just for drinking or all water needs? just courious. If you are just drinking try a berley????

meanwhile · #5 05/06/12, 12:40 PM

Try reading from these three sites. All have great infor and you can find filtering advice too.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster

Oasis Design: Grey Water Books, Ecological Design Information & Consulting

Home | Greywater Action

Good luck. Remember to get the "first flush diverters" to rinse the bird poop off the roof before the rain water goes in the cistern.

TxMex · #6 05/09/12, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dave

May we ask HOW it malfunctioned? What brand is the filter? Is the 1550 gallon tank on a platform or do you need a pump to feed into the house? How many gallons per minute are you needeing? is this just for drinking or all water needs? just courious. If you are just drinking try a berley????

The RO system never shut off off. It has a reserve tank and when that gets full it is supposed to shut off. For some reason the 'waste water' line didn't drain like it should have and it allowed the water to back up and come out of the air inlet on the faucet that was installed on my counter. It's never a good thing to wake up to water streaming off of your counter top! I'll pass along the brand of filter after I have a settlement with them.

The 1550 gallon tank sits on the ground. It would take a heck of a platform to support that kind of weight. I am just looking at drinking water for the moment. I'll eventually use the rainwater for the whole house, but I have some components that need to be fabricated first. I'll soon have another 1550 tank and that will give me enough storage for household use and garden.

I just ordered a CeraGrav water filter. It is of the same quality as a Berkey according to the research I did, and it's about $100 cheaper.

CesumPec · #7 05/09/12, 10:43 AM

TxMex - where are you getting your 1500 gal tanks?

FarmerRob · #8 05/09/12, 10:51 AM

Check out the Propur at: https://propurusa.com/Products.html
These are being manufactured by Prepared Planet folks who used to sell the Black Berkey units. That is what I bought from them. However, they had problems with breakage in the Berkey filter elements. The Propur is even less expensive than the Big Berkey was and does the same level of filtering (99.999 on many things and 99.99999 on the rest). For anyone out there who needs replacement filters the Propur filter elements fit the Berkey units and they also have all metal spouts to replace the plastic ones we got with Berkey. Fortunately my Berkey is still working properly and I hope that it will hold up--I should not have to replace my filter elements until 2016 (approx 5.5 years at
3 gallons a day average--bought it last year). The Propur is about $20 dollars less for the same size unit at the Big Berkey.

Harry Chickpea · #9 05/09/12, 11:28 AM

Please read my blog post on the subject of water filters BEFORE buying. It IS important.

Chickpea Soup: What is the real story on Berkey filters?

TxMex · #10 05/09/12, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CesumPec

TxMex - where are you getting your 1500 gal tanks?

The cheapest place I have found is Vertical Tanks | Storage Tanks | Water Tanks | Poly Tanks | Plastic Tanks They are a tank manufacturer. I traveled to Jasper Texas to pick mine up. I ordered for several people and we all split the cost of gas for me to bring the tanks to Arkansas and it ended up being much cheaper than having it shipped.

gila_dog · #11 05/10/12, 08:27 AM

Is a well out of the question for you? I'm not sure rainwater is really chemical-free, with all the dust and other airborne pollutants.

TxMex · #12 05/10/12, 09:16 AM

The groundwater where I'm at has lots of sulphur. I am extremely allergic to sulphur. Also, I am located 'below' a metal recycling business. I wouldn't trust the groundwater here.

I'm not worried about the dust too much. I have a roof washer, so not much goes into my tank. What little makes it into the tank tends to settle to the bottom. At least there have not been nasty chemicals added to it on purpose like there is with municipal water.