Author Archives: Orpheus

Compared to the other filters I have put together, this one is slightly different. The majority of the sand is .45 mm effective size. This filter appears to be more subject to variations in the input water quality. Heavy rain … Continue reading →

Feb. 28 6:30 AM PST: The output water directly from the filter is now perfectly clear based on visual inspection. The filter did not freeze last night, although the temperature was 30 degrees F. Feb. 27 5 PM PST : … Continue reading →

Here are some (large) photos of the sand sizes used in filter 4. The .45 mm is the lower level of sand , and the .25 mm is the upper level.

NEW I spoke with the testing lab this afternoon regarding filter 4. The filter is working. “Working”, means that the filter is removing coliform bacteria completely from the input water; however a word of caution here: this is only for … Continue reading →

This is a quick video I made to demonstrate the operation of filter 4. Refer to the previous post of November 13 2011 “Slow sand filter construction” on this blog for more information about the parts of the filter system … Continue reading →

January 31, 2012: Filter 4 (posted on November 13, 2011) has been frozen intermittently since the end of December 2011. We had a massive snow/ice storm here in January, and I am still cleaning up the damage (nothing serious, but … Continue reading →

After a very informative conversation with Jim, the author of several of the comments on this blog, it has become obvious that some additions to the websites and this blog are in order. First, where and how to get the sand … Continue reading →

This topic has been covered here and on the accompanying websites before; but it is so important it demands reiteration. The simplest way to clean a slow sand filter is to use “wet harrowing”.  Stop the output flow (put a plug … Continue reading →

There was a comment on one of the videos describing the diverter: Does the barrel have to be 55 gallons? The answer is no – with several caveats. The volume of water that is diverted depends on the condition and … Continue reading →