How to Make Homemade Water Filters

When making a homemade water filter, it is important to have the right materials readily available. A homemade water filter can easily and inexpensively be made, and it can help to serve your immediate clean water needs.

Things You'll Need

• 2 liter pop bottle
• Straw
• Sand- fine and large grain
• Gravel- fine and large grain
• Charcoal granules
• Cotton batting
• Coffee filter
• Cup

Instructions

1. 

   Cut the bottom off of the two liter bottle. Cut a hole in the lid and insert the straw into the hole so the filtered water will flow out of the straw.

2. 

   Insert the cotton batting at the bottom of the bottle. If you have charcoal granules, layer those next. The next layer is fine grain sand followed by larger grain sand. After the sand layers, add the gravel layers. Start with the fine grain gravel followed by the larger grain gravel. Alternate these layers until you reach the top of the bottle. Top the layers off with the coffee filter.

3. 

   Once you have everything in place, pour the water through the coffee filter. The water will work through the different layers to remove the impurities. The cotton batting at the bottom works as the final layer to catch particles from the sediment. The water will flow out of the straw and into the cup.

Tips & Warnings

• Adding a couple drops of chlorine can also help filter the water.

• Make sure the sand and gravel have been washed before you put them in the filter. Otherwise the sand and gravel will only make the water dirty.