PURE WATER FROM A BIOFILTER

A biofilter or biological filter has long been thought of as either:

- A waste water treatment method

or

- Something used to treat water for fish ponds.

This is like having a tool that can clean water and then only using this water to wash your boots. I always use nature as a guide to instruct us on the best ways to get clean drinking water. One of the best methods is a biofilter.

A biofilter set up and used correctly will both filter and actively react to waste particles using microorganisms that consume viruses and harmful bacteria.

Types of Biofilters

The most common types of biofilters are:

- Natural wetlands

- Built or constructed wetlands

- Slow Sand filters

- Slow Earth filters

- Some types of dense porous rock

- Treatment ponds

- Naturally wet meadows

- Some types of marshes.

Pure Water Biofilters

For our purposes, we want a simple, reliable, cheap, cleanable filter that will provide tasty fresh water on an ongoing basis. It is interesting to note that Europe has been using this water purification technique since the early 1900's. This method is starting to catch on all over the world as an accepted way to get clean drinking water in quantity.

When setting up a biofilter for drinking water, it is strongly suggested that you follow the instructions for "sand filter sterilization" and "how to introduce a healthy colony of microorganisms" in your filter.

Most biolfilters all work the same way. Water that is to be treated, enters from one side or end of the filter and slowly moves through the filtering media. This allows time for filtering and micro biotic action inside the biofilter.

There are a number of enhancements you can add to these filters such as:

- Air / oxygen injection

- Activated carbon layer

- Back wash or cleaning feature

- Multi stage biofilter

- Fresh water plants growing between filter layers.