Diy carbon tap water filter

hey team. ive been posed with a problem. i dont want to have to carry 5 gallon containers of water all the way from the store to my house whenever i need to change my nute solution. for those of us that use larger tanks ( i have a 30 gallon rubbermaid filled with 20 gallons of water) we need a better easier way, so i thought i would make a large imitation brita filter. all parts can be found at petsmart and lowes. total cost was about 40$.


ok so this this the reason i bought this stuff in the first place. tap water has all kinds of minerals and such in it that plants dont necessarily care for right? so lets just filter it just like brita does with activated carbon! 12$ for a big ass thing from petsmart.



ok heres all the stuff you will need.

id make a list but i dont know what half this crap is called, i was just shootin by the hip at the store.



ok first thing you want to do is take your 2" endcap with threaded 3/8" hole

cut strips of duct tape

cut up pieces of a small net bag or some kind of very small mesh

cover the threaded holes of the endcap with the tape and mesh. make sure the seal is VERY tight.








next take some screen material and cut 2'' circles out of each piece to fit into the endcap over the duct tape net squares.

do this for both endcaps making sure that you have a good seal around the edges.







next grab some pvc glue and glue your threaded endcaps to your 2'' couplings







then glue your 2'' coupling to your 2'' piece of pvc



next take your ammo carb and fill up the pvc tube. this size box was perfect to fill up the tube (there was only a little bit left over)





next fill up the remaining endcap with some carb and cut another piece of screen material to cover the carb and also to keep it from pouring out while you glue it to the open end of the pvc tube.







now were almost done. keep the doors closed while assembling because your neighbors might think your building a pipe bomb.



next take some thread tape and tape up the 3/8'' threaded end of this brass fitting and use a pair of pliers to tighten down both ends.





next take a hose clamp and a washing machine hose and tighten it down on one end.

on the other end attach your peice of garden hose with the other hose clamp. (this will be the end that you fill your rez with)



i use a screw gun cause im lazy. a flathead will do just dandy.



then go to your sink, remove the aerator and install this handy little adapter available at lowes.



and finally thread the washing machine hose onto the adapter and turn the sink on!

let the runoff drain out first before adding water to your rez.

ive been using this filter for over a month now and my plants dont mind one bit.

i live in a city so the tap water is clean and runs a ph right at 7.

so this is it. let me know if i left anything out. i would make an exact list of everything you need but im not sure of some of the names so just look at the pictures.

STAY HIIIGH!

 

actually no, i havnt used a tds meter to check. i dont use one when i grow. i just use the cheapo ph balancer kit.

so some feedback if someone used a tds would be saaweet.

its basically just a bigass brita filter.

i water with this filter and it works juuusssst fiinnneee.

im prob bout due for a carbon change...