Are you looking for ways to make your own homemade water filter? If so, you’re in the right place!

There are many ways to make the water drinkable even if we cannot be sure of its purity. Ιf we are getting the water from an unknown source, we can still purify it.

In order to purify the water, we need to process it through filters. If there is no way to determine if the water is drinkable, you will need to boil it. There are situations in life, especially in the wilderness, which will leave us on the edge of drinking the water and get sick, and not drinking it and suffer from dehydration.

What are the basic things we can do to make a homemade water filter, so the water will be drinkable regardless of the source we are currently getting it from?

1. Boil the water

The best way to make sure that water is safe is to boil it for ten minutes. The most difficult part is to be able to keep the fire strong for 10 minutes. This is a suggestion from most of the survival books and experts. Also, this spends a lot of time. It takes the time to lit the fire, to boil the water, to cool it so you can drink it. When all this is over, you have to start all over again.

If you do not have enough fuel and time, there is a way to purify the water in only five minutes. This method will work great unless the water is really dirty and muddy. If your fuel is limited, boil the water for one minute.

This is much better than not boiling it at all. In the case of actual fuel shortage, simply heat the water to a boil, and most likely the water will be drinkable. Certainly, it will be safer than before.

2. Iodine

Iodine is also a good way to disinfect dirty water. It just takes longer. Let iodine act between 30 to 60 minutes if it’s very cold. That’s why you should always have iodine drops in the box of first aid. Not only that it can be used for disinfection of a minor injury, but it also purifies the water.

Most iodine tinctures are sold in dark glass bottles. Pour a few drops to your water, stir it and wait about 30 minutes before consuming.

3. Filter the water

You can buy many kinds of filters which can be used whenever is necessary. There are whole-house filtration systems, but for those on a tighter budget, there are discount fridge filters and even pitchers with a purification system built right in.

Usually, we don’t have such a filtration system when we are going to nature, that’s why sometimes, we should knowhow to make our own homemade water filter. But it is required to get rid of the bugs and other residues from the water. In the case of water filtration need, you can improvise.

Find some clothes, pants or socks and create a tripod made of wood or anything that can contain a series of layers through which water can flow. You can also use a plastic bottle of water. Once you have prepared the filter container, fill it with any physical material which you can find around you.

You can use sand, clay, stones, gravel, charcoal from your fire, or any other similar material as a water filter. It is important to make layers with finer material at the bottom and the bigger materials on top. Try to use thinner fabric on the bottom, so the smaller particles do not drift into your container.



If there is a lot of water, like from a creek, it is advisable to let the water run through the filter long enough to rinse and refine any particles. Soluble filtering methods will not kill or remove the parasites of the intestines but it will give the water a better taste and reduce the total amount of bacteria.

References:

  1. https://www.wikihow.com/
  2. https://gizmodo.com/

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Alexa @ iWater

    Is there anything you could possibly use as an alternative to activated carbon? Or I guess maybe it’s just something you should have on hand at all times? I’m just thinking in a survival scenario, activated carbon would be a little tricky to come by, unless you happened to have it with you.

  2. Chris Beauchamp

    This has helped me for many years so use it

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