DIY manpack Water Filter- anybody tried ?

[ForgeCorvus]

I wasn't sure either, so:

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.[1] Activated is sometimes substituted with active.

Due to its high degree of microporosity, just one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 3,000 m2 (32,000 sq ft),[2] as determined by gas adsorption.[3] An activation level sufficient for useful application may be attained solely from high surface area; however, further chemical treatment often enhances adsorption properties.

I'm watching this with interest

[BlinkingCory]

deeps
physically it's the difference between say a pingpong ball and a dimpled golf ball. The 'dimples' in the activated carbon, increase the surface area, thus increasing it's filtering ability. In reality each bit is approx the size of a tic tac, so they pretty much pack into a solid filter wall.
costs me about £80 for 25KG.

[BlinkingCory]

d'oh! forge beat me to it.
cheers forge, that wiki stuff about nails it.

this is what it looks like
http://www.finest-filters.co.uk/aquariu ... ted-carbon

[Deeps]

Appreciate it guys, thanks. I'm up to speed with the jerryrigged sand/moss & charcoal filters using a goffa bottle or whatever but I've not really looked into a more permanent homemade one as I have a few sawyers. Its all interesting stuff, water is such a basic requirement so something I reckon we all need to think about.

[BlinkingCory]

deeps
charcoal ain't any good for permanent filtering options, it does eventually clag up.
years ago when I got into bushcraft/wild camping, i used to carry half a lb of it in my Bergen as an emergency thingy.
for that purpose it's spot on.

[Deeps]

deeps
charcoal ain't any good for permanent filtering options, it does eventually clag up.
years ago when I got into bushcraft/wild camping, i used to carry half a lb of it in my Bergen as an emergency thingy.
for that purpose it's spot on.

The beauty of charcoal (the normal stuff, none of your la-de-dah stuff ) is that its easily procured. If I was reduced to using a charcoal and sand filter I'd be boiling for sure. Boiling water on a wood based fire will produce......

Well, that's my logic, for now its only for 'fun' really.

[BlinkingCory]

exactly deeps, that's why I said emergency.
in reality when out, if i'd lost the sawyer and had no charcoal, it would be because i'd likely be brown bread.
wish i knew more about it's ability to remove chems though, proper prepping bit of knowledge that would be.

[shocker]

These were the ceramics that I was looking at using :

http://emsustains.co.uk/EM-ceramics.htm

available from :

http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/EM-X-Cera ... -10mm.html

no virus cover, but still interesting