Filter System for "Brackish" Water?

[Texan-in-Training]

A&M tested the water from our emergency "back-up" well and we've got 405 ppm Sodium and 1257 ppm Total Dissolved Salts. Tastes pretty bad.
Was wondering if anyone has any personal experience with a filter system for this? A search on the internet finds solutions, but my concerns are cost and having sufficient replacement cartridges on hand to survive SHTF.
Any kind of "home brew" solutions are welcome too.
By the way, our pumping system was discussed in a "solar pump thread'. We're using the "Simple Pump" brand and pulling water from 180 feet with a hand pump (have their motor adapter on hand for photo-voltaic conversion).
Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

 

[TheDan]

Reverse osmosis. You can extend the life of the filters by back flushing. If you're ever in a bad spot where you can't get the filters anymore then rig up a solar still.

 

[Shady]

you might want to look into filter systems for salt water aquariums. The water in those have to be very clean.I used to make my own.

 

[Texan-in-Training]

Reverse osmosis. You can extend the life of the filters by back flushing. If you're ever in a bad spot where you can't get the filters anymore then rig up a solar still.

I appreciate the reply. I'd considered both of these, didn't know about back flushing the cartridges. Guess I need to think about "scaling-up" a survival still.

you might want to look into filter systems for salt water aquariums. The water in those have to be very clean.I used to make my own.

Thank you. The well water is "clean". What I need to do is remove the salt. I know nothing about salt water aquariums. Can the filter remove salt?

 

[shortround]

Reverse osmosis will treat brackish and high SO2 content water.

It is highly effective, but has to discard a large quantity of "discharge" water with all the impurities that were filtered.

Hence, you get clean drinkable water, but have a problem where to dump the discharge water.

Also, if your water supply is limited, RO might not work, since the exchange rate could be up to 10 gallons of raw water for one gallon of purified water.

It cracks me up that water starved California exports RO/Purified water through thousands of WalMart stores!

Be well.

 

[Eli]

You're trying to make drinking water out of saline? Good luck!

Eli

 

[grasshopperglock]

That's east Texas swamp water. Lol

405 sounds high but it's not. 1000-3000ppm is categorized at slightly saline. At a 1000 ppm it's .1% of the water.

For reference, ocean water is 35,000ppm. 35grams salt to one litre. Your water isn't that bad.


I've been planning a water filter myself. The plans ain't on paper yet. It's a 8"x4-5' sch40 PVC pipe. Ball valve on the bottom. Stood vertically.

Filled in this manner,

Where it calls for cloth. Cut circle of stainless steel screen. Robbed off a couple cheap vegetable sink strainers. Charcoal, busted up, finely, Kingsford charcoal. Play sand from Lowe's. Pea gravel left over from road construction.(There's a pile near here).

 

[Texan-in-Training]

That's east Texas swamp water. Lol

405 sounds high but it's not. 1000-3000ppm is categorized at slightly saline. At a 1000 ppm it's .1% of the water.

For reference, ocean water is 35,000ppm. 35grams salt to one litre. Your water isn't that bad.


I've been planning a water filter myself. The plans ain't on paper yet. It's a 8"x4-5' sch40 PVC pipe. Ball valve on the bottom. Stood vertically.

Filled in this manner,

Where it calls for cloth. Cut circle of stainless steel screen. Robbed off a couple cheap vegetable sink strainers. Charcoal, busted up, finely, Kingsford charcoal. Play sand from Lowe's. Pea gravel left over from road construction.(There's a pile near here).

That's really encouraging to see. Thanks!
Kingsford charcoal? As in briquets, or is that lump, natural charcoal? Don't briquets have potassium nitrate or something similar in them to accelerate burning?

 

[TX14239]

... in for knowledge!


Sent from my iPhone using something or other...

 

[grasshopperglock]

That's really encouraging to see. Thanks!
Kingsford charcoal? As in briquets, or is that lump, natural charcoal? Don't briquets have potassium nitrate or something similar in them to accelerate burning?

My understanding. Once the filter go's biological. The algae in the filter eats such things(the stuff trapped out the water as it passes through). Potassium nitrate is an ingredient of things like bird crap. It'd probably super charge the algae eating the nitrate.

You can get activated charcoal. But how would you change it out? Dump the entire filter and start over? Looking at the design, I think the charcoal is a dated idea on the filter. The biological stuff in the sand is what supposedly eats the impurities. The sand traps the bulk.

Activated charcoal would last a year with mild pumping through the filter. In my theory, the only thing it does is improve the flavor. I've tested a POR carbon filter before and after. It only reduces the tap water PPM by like 5-7 points. Not really cleaner. Taste better though.

On the bags. Don't buy the ready to start stuff. The bag that says no starter fluid needed.

You can check HEB charcoal. I wouldn't get the stuff that has wood chips in it. I don't think it'd hurt it. But the wood would rot and break down different then the charcoal.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Theory again. A small amount of worm casings added to the sand would speed up the microorganisms involved in the eating of impurities out the sand. I'd add a tablespoon to one pound sand.

Worm shit, is a micro universe of beneficial organisms. So it shouldn't take much. After 30 days in relative hot weather. It's a freaking kingdom of microorganisms. Cold weather, I'd give 4-5 months.


Edit. Not a pound of sand. Tablespoon per Gallon of sand. 1.5 cubic yards is something like 10-12 gallons of soil.

 

[grasshopperglock]

This is popular in hydroponic systems where the microorganisms compete with stuff like brown or white slim. It's a tea made from worm casings. The microbes compete with the nasty stuff. They don't need much oxygen and eat the same food. (Water impurities)


Crude description. A search will yield more detail. For now, the basic process.




http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Worm-Castings-Tea

 

[grasshopperglock]

Make a gallon of tea and run it trough a filter of alternating sand, gravel, sand, gravel. Charcoal somewhere if desired.

Hmmm, Charcoal will rot sooner or later. Or fill up with junk. Using biological organisms. That's the key, maybe. Stalactite grows from the roof of a cave. The water that drips off it is some of the purist water found in nature. No charcoal involved...


Instead of charcoal. Crushed limestone

Limestone/sand/limestone/sand/gravel.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Heavy a$$ filter. 5' of 8" pvc. Cap at the bottom. Drilled and tapped for a valve. Top, another cap with a big screw in plug. Mounted to a frame of 2x4s or welded/bolted metal.

To fill it. Electric or muscle.

Surflow pump. This,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FAA5Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Or if want to do it manually, this;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EBQRJC6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Pumped out a five gallon bucket. Filter. Into a 5 gallon,clean, water jug.


Hmmm

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Try a place that sells fish, buy a charcoal insert for a filter.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Anything that comes off the main filter can go through a ceramic hiking filter. For straight drinking. Everything else is suitably potable. Boiled with food.

Then you might need to take calcium supplements because you're no longer drinking it. It's way below milk levels but still present in hard water.

 

[grasshopperglock]

If the PPM coming out the filter is 0-50. That's Perrier bottle water.

 

[Texan-in-Training]

If the PPM coming out the filter is 0-50. That's Perrier bottle water.

I'm going to have to think a bit on everything you've been saying. I think I'm understanding that we're using micro-organisms to remove the salt?
I just now found a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter on eBay for a reasonable price so I can see if the filters I start working with are making a difference. I'll start with charcoal and maybe dolomite (I think that's basically powdered limestone for the garden). Might hold off on the worm casings for now... have to think on that one.

 

[grasshopperglock]

TDS (PPM) meters are cheap. It's the cheapest way to tell how pure water is. Buy new, if you get one. It has two metal electrodes. Kinda fare apart. Don't have to clean it.

No matter what ideas we have about a filter. A ppm meter tells what's up on the purity.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...qmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_8gx727debg_e

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

There are three main type of filtration methods: chemical (carbon, liquid additives, etc.), biological (using live organisms for a desired result like nitrosomas for a fish tanks for example), and physical (mechanics to remove particulates such as a micron filter). I don't know of any biological or chemical method to remove salt and don't think there is one. Salt would require a physical method. Reverse osmosis or solar desalination would probably be the only two methods feasible.

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