Apocalypse Tips: BioSand Water Filter

Usually I write up wordy descriptions of videos, but for my new series, “Apolcalypse Tips,” which is fun because it rhymes, I think it’s more important to provide the write up of the actual video script. Because you WILL need to know this crap. So here it is:

One of the first things you’re going to need to know to survive after Al Qaida, the Mexicans, or Dick Cheney has ended the world, is how to get you some clean drinking water. Or brushing your teeth water, which is going to be one of my main concerns after society is wiped out.

One of the simplest ways to get some clean water, is by building yourself a BioSand Filter.

Ok so here’s what you’ll need:

A big bucket, like a 50-gallon guy.
A pipe of some sort, PVC or otherwise.
Some sand.
Some gravel.
And some dirty water – from rain, the East River, your neighbor’s abandoned pool, etc.

Cut a hole in the side of the bucket toward the very bottom. Attach the pipe to the hole. Make sure it’s a nice, tight fit so you don’t lose all your water.

Put the gravel on the bottom of the bucket, and fill it up to right past where you’ve connected the pipe. Then put in a bunch of sand on top of that, filling it until the bucket is about three-quarters full, maybe a little more. If you can’t find gravel, you can still do this – you just need to find some other way to keep the sand securely above where you made the hole for your pipe connection – otherwise the sand will go into the pipe too, instead of just your water.

Pour the dirty water over the sand. You’ll see an active layer that forms on top, which is where good bacteria is eating up the bad bacteria. The water will slowly flow through the sand and the gravel, and eventually clean water will come out of the pipe for you to drink.

You can keep sending the same water through, too, to purify it even more if you want.

Scrape off the crap layer that is left on the top of the sand from time to time where the active bacteria eating goes on, and then you can keep using the same bucket filter.

You won’t get lots of water for showering or anything, unless you have a really big container and a ton of gravel and sand, but it will keep you in supply of drinking water all the supermarkets have been raided.

And that’s for your filtered drinking water tip for How to Survive the Apocalypse.