Update January 6, 2024

Filter 1 is still functional; running since 2007. Hopefully we can have some tests done soon. The other filters, all but two, are running, but very slowly.

The first pond filter is still functional. The pond container, and pump was destroyed by raccoons. We have repaired the container, and replaced the pump; and the filter has been running for 4 months. Perfectly clear water now. The fish pond filter is still working. Four fish in the water, and the pond is perfectly clear.

The weather here was hot this summer, and some wild fires were burning. So far, this winter has been cold; about average temps. We have snow on the way, however. There will likely be about 8 to 10 inches, maybe more. We will be snowed in for, hopefully, only about a week. Temps have been slightly below “average”.

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Update June 22, 2023

The original filter, started in 2007, is functional, as of today. The first and second pond filters are functional also. Watercress is growing in the first pond filter quite nicely. The water is crystal clear in both ponds. The fish pond filter is fully functional, and the water there is also crystal clear.

The weather, so far this year, has been “normal” here. We are headed into some very sunny weather that may last quite some time (weeks). Temperatures have been very near “normal” for this area, so far. Winter was cold and there was about 6 inches of snow. The filters froze. 3 of the filters need minor repair. More later. . . .

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Update January 3, 2023

The weather has eased up a bit. No freezing for about 10 days now. The filters are starting to flow again. Hopefully we can get some testing done now, after some minor repair work. The snow and ice caused some damage to the downspouts.

We have had more rain this past year than average. December was particularly heavy with over 8 inches total for the month. As soon as the filters have been able to flow for several weeks; we will have more updates. The screens in the standpipes on the diverter barrels have really done a good job of keeping organic material, washed off of the roof surface, out of the system. The screens should be cleaned often, once a month or more often. Here, there are many fir, maple, and hemlock trees and the roof gets covered with significant amounts of fir needles, hemlock needles, and big leaf maple tree leaves. This material decays quickly when it gets wet. We’ll have more info when time permits.

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December 18, 2022 Update

As of July this year, this blog has been on the net for 14 years. The oldest filter here has been running for 15 years.

This winter is starting out to be severe, for this location. It has snowed 8 inches so far and temps have been near or below freezing nearly every night for the past 5 weeks. Currently it is snowing and more snow and temps in the high teens are forecast. We have not been able to get out much; as our 4 wheel drive truck is now gone. Our Prius cars are great, but not in 8 inches of snow.

This summer/fall was very smokey from forest fires, and as a result it was not healthy to do much work outside; so very little was done on the filters.

We have managed to do some repair work on the filter that had a leak at the base where the output pipe is located. We used potable water epoxy glue to cover the leaky output pipe. So, far, it is holding. Hopefully, this spring we can post some videos of the filters functioning. We will be doing some water testing also.

A big thank you to all who have purchased our pdf of this blog info. Every little bit helps.

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November 2022 Update

It is now November 9 in 2022. All but one of the filters are functional. We are now able to start working on the filters again, as we have fully recovered from the back injury. We may be able to have some professional testing done now that Covid has ceased to be a problem here.

There were fires in the Pacific Northwest this year. Very, very bad smoke here for about a month. The smoke was so bad we could not do much work outside. The fish pond filter is cleaning the water perfectly crystal clear. There are still 4 fish in the pond.

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Slow Sand Filter Update

It is now June 17, 2022. All of the filters are still in place. Some work needs to be done on several of the filters.

We have just had a major website update/change completed. All our websites and blogs have been migrated to another server. We have corrected a number of issues in the blogs, and in the websites. Our donation/purchase page has been fixed. All is https now.

The weather so far this year, has been much wetter and much cooler than average. Record rainfall in May. Slightly over 6 inches here.

The filter on the fish pond is functioning perfectly. It has a 45 gallon slow sand filter with an overflow into the pond, cleaning the water 24/7. The fish are doing well. The water is crystal clear and odorless. We’ve done nothing to the filter for close to one year now.

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The newest fish pond water is still clean after over a year with 3 fish in the pond.

This is a sample of the water from the pond. Clean and odorless. The water is filtered by a biological slow sand filter in a 45 gallon barrel. The filter runs 24/7 with an overflow that allows the water that does not make it through the filter to just flow back into the pond. The fish are about 4 inches long. Goldfish.
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Biological slow sand water filters remove over 99 percent of nanoplastics

Read the info at this link:

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-treatment-efficiently-nanoplastics.html

From the article: “Both in laboratory tests and in a larger test facility located directly on the premises of the Zurich Water Works, the biologically active slow sand filter was the most effective at retaining nanoparticles—achieving an efficacy level in the region of 99.9%.”

This is super important news. Nanoplastics are horrific poisons that are in water all over the world.

This information is from: The website “techxplore”;

“Water treatment efficiently removes nanoplastics

by Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

More information: Gerardo Pulido-Reyes et al, Nanoplastics removal during drinking water treatment: Laboratory- and pilot-scale experiments and modeling, Journal of Hazardous Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129011Journal information:Journal of Hazardous Materials Provided by Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology”

Update: More news about nanoplasctics removal by biological slow sand water filters here: (this article references the Journal of Hazardous Materials also.

https://newatlas.com/environment/slow-sand-filter-nanoplastics-drinking-water/

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Update April 4, 2022

Website hosting continues to get more expensive. We will try to keep this blog and website running as long as we can. We do not want to run ads on this site, or on this blog.

All of the filters except 2 are still functional. There are 2 small pond filters that have been running 24/7 for over 5 years; and the water is perfectly clear. There is one fish pond that has been running for about 11 months now. The water is clear and clean; and the fish are doing nicely. Two of the slow sand filters need repair on the pipes. That will be done as soon as I am able. More later. The Covid situation has severely hampered our work. We are just now getting back to “sort of ” normal in this area in western Washington state.

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Update; January 17, 2022

In the last week of December this year, we had 11 inches of snow here and temps down to 11 degrees f. All the filters froze. As of now they are thawed out and all but 3 of them are running again.

We found info on rain water harvesting in Nevada, and created a new page with the update and all the previous data we found in past years. Nevada changed their laws in 2017. :

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