$50 DIY Berkey Style Water Filtration System 👀👀👀
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2024
- Welcome back to our channel, the Purpose Driven Homestead!
Here is our DIY STAINLESS STEEL water filter. I'll show you exactly how to build your own water filter out of a pair of 12 qt stock pots. Stainless steel is more durable and sanitary than plastic buckets and it only takes a few tools. Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or off-grid, safe and drinkable water is a must have day to day and in emergencies.
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Items seen in video: Items used in the video are listed below if you'd like to consider buying them through our links. As an Amazon Associate we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Intro 00:00
Build 04:39
Items in Video:
Amazon
Berkey Complete System - amzn.to/3A05Ubk
Berkey Replacement Filters (official) - amzn.to/3C7kQqV
Stainless Pots - amzn.to/3ZUdSiO
Lead free spigot - amzn.to/3QpKBXW
Step Drill set - amzn.to/3QpSEUs
Digital caliper - amzn.to/3SS9cWJ
Walmart
Berkey Complete System -
goto.walmart.com/c/3178115/56...
Berkey Replacement Filters -
goto.walmart.com/c/3178115/56...
Stainless Pots - goto.walmart.com/c/3178115/56...
Lowe's Hardware
Stainless Machine Screws - www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-8-32...
Stainless Acorn Nuts - www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-4-Co...
ZINC Brackets (not stainless) - www.lowes.com/pd/ReliaBilt-Re...
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@Purpose Driven Homestead - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
This is brilliant. We have a set of filters in our emergency stock. I had planned to use plastic buckets, but those stainless pots have changed my mind.
That's awesome! We're glad it inspired you. Did you wind up doing the project yet?
@@purposedrivenhomestead
Haven’t yet. It is definitely on the list. There’s been a lot of more pressing issues to check off.
Good luck if you do! Make sure to get decent quality stainless pots so there isn't any flavor to the water
Great video....I will order from your links and get it done with my 8yr son.I was just about to go ahead and attempt with the plastic buckets before I found your videos,so THANKS!!
Our pleasure and thank you for the comment! We hope the project turns out as well for you as it did for us!
Hey, thank you for posting this man. Awesome.
So glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for the comment! If you like our channel content, we'd love to have you subscribe!
@@purposedrivenhomestead why not I gave it a subscribe. I see you have a video about soap. I also make my own soap as well.
Awesome work! I would like to try this.
Thank you so much for the kind words and for taking the time to drop a comment! You should absolutely try this little project, it's pretty straight forward. We like doing DIY projects around out homestead and have a few more that we're working on. We'd love to have you subscribe to our channel if you're interested. One of our next ones will be working on a solar pump for our DIY rain barrels if we can get to it before winter.
Great video thank you.
I was tempted to go for food grade buckets, but after watching this I am convinced my original instinct to use the stainless steel stock pans was in fact right!
Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement!
I'm sure they would both work, but we like the stainless steel as a way of ensuring that we can get the maximum life out of them. There's probably zero risk of leeching of chemicals from the food grade buckets, but why not just go with the stainless to be sure, right? Also, durability of the stainless pots is going to be dramatically higher than the food grade buckets. If you drop a stainless steel pot... it makes a loud noise and maybe has a small dent. If you drop a plastic bucket... there's a high probability of having a broken bucket. Just seemed like a better investment in our time with the stainless pots.
@Purpose Driven Homestead you are spot on, and in our home dropping things has become an Olympic sport😂 the stainless does look much better and will for sure last longer, the reality being that if I use buckets I will not display that in my kitchen it would be left in the utility, but with stainless steel, I will happily have that on a stand in the kitchen! Great content, it was a great video thank you 😊
Thanks!
Our pleasure!! We hope it helped you get some ideas on how you can build your own. If you enjoyed the video and like our content, we'd love to have you subscribe to our channel and give the video a thumbs up. It helps us out a ton. Good luck with the build!
Just subbed great video thanks so much
Oh man... thank you so much for the sub! We're really glad you enjoyed the video and we hope you check out some of our others. Don't forget to click on the notification bell so you don't miss any of our new videos as they come out! Thank you again for the support.. we really appreciate it.
Badass. Thanx!
Glad you liked it! Hopefully it gives you some ideas on how to make one yourself. If you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing if you like our other content!
@@purposedrivenhomestead You got it!
I like your ideas here. Perhaps placing a large pressure cooker lid seal where the bottom pot lip and the top pot side meet
would be helpful in order to keep contaminated water from dripping down the sides and into the purified water container.
Yes, we agree. It's absolutely something we've considered if we were to use this for filtering overly questionable water and didn't want to take any risks. I think this setup works fine using a pitcher or other pouring tool to avoid accidental dripping. The connection is fairly tight but definitely not water tight. You'd need something that was more like a "rubber skirt" to allow free movement of the top pot but also keep water out. Still thinking on that one...
pressure cookers are like 180 on the cheap side. You might as well just buy a berkey at that point
The point the other person was making was to use a pressure cooker seal (which cost like $10) to keep any contaminants out since there is a gap between the pots nesting in each other. He wasn't suggesting that you use an actual pressure cooker pot to make the system.
@@purposedrivenhomestead I thought he was referring to the entire lid of a PC. I am a completely stupid, moronic person. Apologies gentlemen.
The brackets cause a gap. How do you kept anything from getting in the water?
Great! I see now why Berkey has that bulge on the bottom of their top tank. We're already brainstorming improvements like you did.
Thank you for the comment and for checking out our video! Yes, there are definitely ways to improve the design I'm sure. This was a fairly quick and easy way of doing it for us though... and we still use it to this day. We've not had any issues with the seal, but others have mentioned wanting to put some type of seal around where the two come together. We'd love to hear what you come up with when you make your improvements on the design! If you liked our video, please consider subscribing to our channel!
You did a GREAT job on this video! You were very thorough and precise. I will definitely check out your other videos. Are you or were you an engineer by trade? Thank you again for your guidance!
Thank you so much @bridgetoconnor2823 for such a thoughtful and kind comment!!! I'm definitely not an engineer by trade and I'm sure engineers the world over that have watched this video have done collective "forehead slapping" at some point on m process. LOL. I'm just really grateful that it helped you and that you found it interesting. Please consider subscribing to our channel if you find other videos of ours that are helpful and please share with others on social media. It really helps our channel grow!
Use the lid to sit it on instead of the L brackets. Just need to remove the handle and make a couple of larger holes that line up with the filters. If the lid isn't flat enough perhaps bash it out
OR just cut one huge hole leaving about a 2 inch ring
Yes... I've heard of people making that modification. It's a great solution for those concerned about debris, pet hair, or dust getting into the purified water. Great suggestion!
The lids aren’t flat so the is a gap between the top pot and the lid. Or did you turn the top upside down?
You could use a paper plate or round piece of paper, fold it twice to get the places you want to drill, or whatever. I’m no good at math and as a quilter…this is the method I use. Still watching but adding machine ta-e folded in half or fourths measures around things.
Great idea!!! Thanks for the suggestion! Please check out some of our other videos and don't forget to drop a like on the video if you enjoyed it!
For smaller amounts of drinking water, the Zero Water pitcher is excellent. Im guessing it is comparable to Berkey in filtration.
Thanks for subscribing to our channel! We've had a Zero Water pitcher in the past and their big selling point is that they get all the dissolved solids out of the water. I believe the Berkey is better at removing bacteria, viruses, protozoa, etc. but I won't profess to be the expert on the differences between the two. One of the big deal breakers for the zero water product is exactly what you mentioned. We have a big family and for us, the small little pitcher just doesn't hold enough water in reserve. They are both good products though... probably for slightly different purposes.
Do you have an idea on how to close the gaping hole where the two pots don't nest closed? I envision all manner of dust/debris/pet hair getting into the filtered water through there. For me, the only place I have to stand the pots for use is on top of my dryer (I live in a tiny house). What can be used as a gasket to close that gap? Otherwise, I CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED! I live in an area where the municipal water is trash and they failed all quality testing. I've been using Zero water filters but they are not as good as they tout. So glad I found you! Thanks!
So glad you liked the video and thanks for the great question! The gap isn't very large between the nested pots for us... but in a laundry room, I could see even a small gap being a challenge... especially pet hair. I've talked to some people who say "in our house dog/cat hair is a spice" but candidly... I'm not quite as bought into that opinion. Lol.
One thing I've recommended to others who have asked similar questions and are looking to cover that gap is to use a pressure cooker gasket. While we haven't used it for this purpose, if you order the right size... this should work as a way to keep the unwanted items out of the purified water while also being able to be removed for washing or adjusting. Just slip it over the bottom of the nested pot and move up enough to be out of the way. Then put the pot in how you want it nested in the other and then slip the gasket down over the gap. Should work like a charm in theory. I hope that helps!! Heres an example of the gasket I'm talking about to get you started, but size it based on the pot diameter you're using (which I didn't know... so I chose a random one).
amzn.to/44wWodb
If you liked our video and like our content... please consider subscribing and don't forget to turn on the notifications so you don't miss any of our videos!
@purposedrivenhomestead I saw another video where the guy took one of the lids and cut a hole in it to act as a "shelf" for the top pot to sit on. Amazing idea! I might try that.
Hey when you activate those filters, do you need to continue to use them or can you store them?
Thanks
The recommended approach is to continue to use them because they need to be primed each time and you don't want bacteria to grow in/on them while in storage. However, if you let them drain, you may (key word... may) be able to put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and essentially store them that way. I've done this with personal filtration systems for camping before... and by getting the majority of the water out and then freezing the filters essentially stops any bacterial growth and allows you to thaw and pick back up where you left off with some water still in the filter. Full disclosure... I've never tried this with the Berkey filters... so I can't speak from experience. There is a risk of the frozen water expanding some when it freezes, which is why you'd want them mostly drained. Let me know how that goes if you try it.
You can make your own filter holder and use charcoal from the fish department at the pet store comes in milk carton.
That's super creative! We try to keep spares of the Berkey filters on hand and with them filtering over 6000 gallons of water before needing to be replaced, we really like the ones they produce.
Thank you. Do you have a link or the size of the washers?
If you're using the screws we linked in the video, it should be a #8 washer as well. Hope that helps!
What size are the stainless steel pots? The Amazon page is no longer available. Thank you.
Thank you for letting us know! I've updated the link on the video but to make it easier for you, I'm dropping it here also. Helps us out a ton if you buy through our Amazon links.
amzn.to/3ZUdSiO
What size is the drill hole for the filters and spigot ? Then i will just know what drill bits to use without having a caliper to measure ????????
I actually show the size using the calipers in the build section and then call out the drill bit size on those graduated bits in case you don't want to use calipers. Just watch that portion of the build and I call it out in the voiceover and show it in the video. That should give you the right drill bit size without needing calipers, but keep in mind that if you get a different filter besides the ones I've linked in the video... I can't guarantee that the size will be the same.
@@purposedrivenhomestead Thank you I’m going to try this this weekend I’ve got the pots coming in the mail today
Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Have you considered Pro One filters?
I've seen the Pro One filters but never had any experience with them, whereas, we've had really good experiences with the Berkey filters. Do you use the Pro One filters today? Any pros or cons to call out from them?
How did you remove the metal burs?
Thanks for the comment and great question! They sell "deburring tools" like the one I've linked below.
amzn.to/3whW5Ia
If you're on a budget, you can also use and strong flat metal edge like the back of a heavy duty knife. You don't want to use the blade edge, but instead you want the thick back edge that has a 90 degree angle on it (essentially a square edge). The flat square edge will flatten out and break off those burs if you work it enough. The reality is that a burring tool will work much better though, so I'd recommend using the tool designed for it. It's not very expensive to pick one up and they will last you nearly forever and the tips are replaceable if the edge ever gets nicked up.
If you liked the video, please give it a "thumbs up" and consider subscribing to our channel! Thanks again!
We got our pots from Rural King. We can't get the China smell out. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the comment! I'm not sure about the pots you may have purchased, but some stainless steel is a lower quality and you can potentially get some residual iron/metal taste from the pots. If that's what you're talking about... that may be a hard fix. We haven't used any pots from Rural King, but you may want to try a vinegar wash to try to eliminate any odors or flavors. However, in the end... you may have to go with a more high quality stainless steel (maybe from a different store) to avoid the unintended flavor. 🤔
Remove labels with a heat gun or oil like olive oil
Those are definitely options too. We didn't have a heat gun, and we've used the goo gone for years and knew it worked really well. Definitely go with olive oil if that's what you prefer and if it works. Thanks for the comment!
please add the GAC x2 filters price in title :D
Hey there, thanks for the comment! We intentionally didn't include anything about the price of the filters because the video was only about building the actual system that houses the filters and not the filters themselves. Around the 3-5 min mark, we talk about how we prefer the genuine Berkey filters, but that there are other knockoff Chinese versions that we don't trust... but that people could buy if they choose to. The type of filter you use greatly impacts the cost... whether you prefer ceramic filters, GAC filters, and whether a person buys the genuine filters or knockoffs. As a result, our approach was to do the build of the housing system and show that it was about $50 at the time to build it... and then let each person decide how much to spend on their filters.
Why didn't you just install the stainless bolts from the outside?
Hey Michael! Thanks for the comment and question! Not sure if you noticed on the video, but the fit for the two pots to be nested inside of each other is pretty tight. When we added the "L" brackets, it removed additional space on the inside of the filtered water pot. If you look closely at the stainless bolts and acorn nuts we used... they were chosen specifically. The screw heads were low profile (as close to flat as we could find) and didn't take up much space on the inside of the pot. Because of how thick the pot was, the shortest machine screws we could find were 1/4" but they would still stick out too far on the inside of the "filtered water" pot. That's why we chose the low profile head stainless screws to mount to inside. Those added a very nominal amount of space on the inside and allowed us to use the acorn nuts on the outside to keep it safe with little people as screws can be very sharp if left exposed.
Hope that helps explain! Thanks again for the question!
What about reverse osmosis?
Thanks for the comment/question! RO is absolutely another choice for sure, and if it's what you prefer, then go for it. Years ago, we used RO filtration for an aquarium we had and it provided good water. Here are a few reasons we didn't go with RO for our project, but to each their own.
1. It requires pressurized water and wastes a fair amount as "waste water" as it flushes the filters during the process.
2. The RO filters don't last as long as they tend to get clogged easily. That's a big cost play.
3. A system to make RO filtered water is fairly clunky and typically needs to be semi-permanently mounted to work properly. We wanted something that was mobile and could be shifted around as needed.
4. Similar to #1 above (but distinct enough to merit it's own call out) is the fact that you can't use collected water (rainwater, river water, etc.) in an emergency because there's no way to force it through the RO filter.
5. If drinking for daily use, the RO removes all the trace minerals that the body needs in small amounts. A lot of these "dissolved solids" are only available through water, and the Berkey doesn't filter those out.
Hope that helps!
Getting frustrated, I broke 2 thin drill bits trying to drill the holes 😢 HELP!
Oh no! Sorry that it's not working out. If you're using the thin drill bits, that's probably part of the issue as they need to be heavy duty and you have to be patient with them. Drilling through stainless steel is pretty difficult. Try using a nail setting tool (like I showed in the video) to make a small indention for the bit. Then use a graduated set of drill bits like the ones I linked in the description. They are a lot more heavy duty and you won't break them like the thin drill bits. Here's the link again if you need it or you can run to Lowe's, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight to pick one up.
amzn.to/3QpSEUs
Please help I need water filtering system in my place. The water here is JUST NOT OK
Check out our reply to your other comment. Hopefully that helps you.
I thought your detail instructions were great! Can you explain how to deburr?
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, if you go to a home improvement store, the plumbing section should have deburring tools. They are essentially little gadgets that have a small 90 degree edge that breaks off any small sharp metal around the hole. You can also use sand paper or a sanding sponge in a pinch if the burrs are small. Any rounded tool edge like the back of a pair of channel lock pliers can also be used. It's all about just getting those sharp edges off. If you liked our video, please consider sharing it (or other videos of ours) on your social media. It helps the algorithm see that people like it and helps support our channel. Thanks again!
Love this BUT the link to the brackets is not stainless! They are zinc and turn orange I made mine using your links and messed up how I need to replace brackets. Make sure all hardware is stainless don't trust the link it is zinc
Oh no... that's not what you want at all. I'll go in and adjust the link title name to say it's zinc. We aren't an affiliate for Lowes, we just threw the link in because that's where we bought the brackets from. We couldn't find any stainless brackets in any local store, but we're still looking. If you find any, please let us know so we can replace the link with ones that are stainless. Ours haven't started rusting, but where we're at in the Midwest, it's not very humid... so maybe that has something to do with how long the zinc lasts. Thank you again for the heads up!
@@purposedrivenhomestead Anytime! I am so grateful for this idea! I found 1inch brackets in stainless steel at home depot so I just needed to switch the zinc out easy fix. We are loving ours here in Ohio worried about water issues since the train. Thank you for another great video!
I am 28 yes old but I feel so old chez of water n my eyesight has been deceasing since I moved to this city
That's really tough... and sounds horrible. You can try this filter system or you can go even further and get a reverse osmosis system like this one ( amzn.to/45BhtVw ) if you're truly worried about your water that much. The reverse osmosis systems are really expensive though and they don't make a ton of water per day. That's their drawback.
Try Zero Water
We tried it and the filter seemed to impart a flavor to the water. It definitely removes dissolved solids though. To each his/her own... if thats your favorite, maybe there's a way to make a DIY gravity fed version of larger size?
love it, you talk too much tho
Well... it's an educational video, so the dialogue is necessary to share the steps for those who may not understand or aren't familiar with the tools used and how to use them.