Rain water harvesting and slow sand water filters

As of August 26, 2019 most of the winter storm damage from last year’s snow and ice has been repaired. The cistern roof collapsed under  the weight of the snow. Pipes were broken and water contaminated. The repair work was difficult and time consuming. There is still more work to do, but 6 of the original filters are now functional. The filters feeding the cistern have cleaned the water and we will do a test as time and finances permit. We are forecast to have extended dry warm weather which will require us to shut down the pumps till the fire danger subsides. More updates will follow.

It is now June 15, 2019; and this blog is approaching its 11th year on the net documenting our studies of slow sand filters. All but one of the filters are still running, including two of the pond filters. ( as we posted years before, the 5 gallon filters are not running and have not been for some time; as they did not work). We had an extensive amount of structural damage from this winter’s record snowfall, and we are still working on repairing that damage.  Other climate related damage is slowly destroying the forest here, and in other places in Washington state. Hemlock and fir trees are dying all over the area:

Emerging Issues with Western Hemlock and Douglas-fir

this will likely adversely affect our ecosystem here beyond repair. Damage to the microbes necessary to make a slow sand filter ( and natural water filtration ) work may very well occur. This is a SERIOUS problem. Read the info at the link; its from trusted sources. No “alternative facts” here.

We will post more info as time permits.

Here is a link to a video on YouTube of the first filter we set up (Filter 1). It was uploaded in 2007:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ca6ZbZePBY

Now the story of the video:

In 2007, we uploaded a video of one of our slow sand filters to YouTube. From a website claiming to have “free” music we downloaded a music track to put on the video. This was 12 years ago. The website claimed all their music was free to use without any copyright issues.

Fast forward to 2018: we get a note from YouTube that someone claimed to have copyright to the video because of the music; well “copyright” to be paid a certain amount for each view.  At that point in time we had upwards of 200, 000 views on the video and hundreds, to thousands of views a month. Since our purpose is not exactly to “make money” from views, we decided to take the music off of the video. No problem. . . .   well yes – problem. The references and links that were in place all over the net were no longer valid because YouTube changes the address of the video if you remove music from it. Of course, (we were told) we could just leave the music on the video and then YouTube would leave it alone and we’d still have our place and the links would all be good; but the unknown person/persons claiming copyright would still be making money for every hit to the video. We were told that the music was ok to leave there only if all the money from the hits went to this unnamed entity. Now were the hits due to the music, or the slow sand filter content. Quite frankly, there were 50 or 60 comments saying the music was horrible, and stupid; and yes it was. Ok, enough of that. Let this be a warning: NEVER trust any source unless you are 100 percent sure the music is free.

Its now March 14, 2019. We have had the most severe winter in at least 60 years here in the foothills of the Pacific Northwest part of Washington state, in the U.S A. . We had 20 inches of snow here and freezing temps from December through the beginning of March.  (Interestingly enough, as we talked with acquaintances in Alaska, we found that they had temps higher than, or nearly equal to, ours in many cases. Yes, climate is changing, its getting warmer there and colder here in the winter, and hotter everywhere in the summer.)  The filters have been frozen for 3 months. Damage to the cistern will take months to repair. The filters are damaged but fixable because the pipes were not glued.

We will have another update when we get time to repair everything; and when there is no chance of another extended below freezing weather event. The first filter, that we started back in 2007, is still functional (with the exception of temporary freezing each winter), and has had minimal damage in this most recent period of below freezing weather. Its been running for nearly 12 years now (as of November of 2018); with the exception of freezing weather times. It still produces clean, clear water when it is running. We still have some work to do on it – the electric pump that automatically recirculates water needs repair. We have, however been able to run water through this filter manually by pouring five gallons at a time through it from a bucket. We will do another water quality test as time and finances permit. There is much to repair here and it will take time to get everything done.

It is now January 25, 2019. We are still working on the website. Nearly complete. We are also working on the filters. It froze here in November, and December, and we are working on repairing the filters. No serious damage. Pipes were not glued, so they just came apart as the frozen water inside expanded. All the filters, with the exception of the five gallon filters are still here and will be started up soon. Several have  been running continuously. The first filter we built, 12 years ago, is still running. The first pond filter we built still runs 24/7 , and the water is crystal clear 24/7. More updates will be posted as time permits.  There has been a lot of damage here due to severe weather events both summer, and winter; so we have much work to do.

We are working on the website now and hope to have the work done in a few days. More updates will follow.

The oldest filter here was started in 2007. Its still running. The sand has not been changed since it was started, and it has not been wet harrowed for 9 years. The output water needs to be tested, but the water is clear and looks clean. Still it must be tested. The other filters here are still running and in service. The three pond filters, and four other roof water filters are still running, and producing clear water. All need to be tested again. None have had the sand changed. Three of them have been wet harrowed twice in 5 years, but the sand has not been changed. As I get more time there will be updates. Other concerns have temporarily altered my focus. Now, I hope to get back to more filter work.

According to some major news media outlets the latest “fad” is “raw water”.  If one reads the “news headlines” about this issue, it becomes evident that the facts are obfuscated behind the desire to sell news. Reading through the articles does show that this situation is more complicated than just unfiltered bottled water. It appears as though somehow news media outlets have branded unfiltered water as “raw water”:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/03/raw-water-is-the-latest-health-craze-heres-why-drinking-it-may-be-a-bad-idea/?utm_term=.158d4cb8d750

http://time.com/5085792/is-raw-water-safe/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/01/03/what-raw-water-trend-could-kill-you-health-experts-say/998956001/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2018/01/03/the-latest-wacky-craze-raw-water-could-kill-you/#57a783aa655c

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/dining/raw-water-unfiltered.html

“Raw water” is such a general term, it is ludicrous. Unfiltered water can have anything in it.  Calling spring water “raw water” and saying it is good to drink because it is “natural” is just as dangerous as believing unfiltered water is ok to drink in any circumstance.

Now, what is “filtered” water? Who filters it and through what, and what, if anything, do they add to it?  What is “raw water”, where does it come from and what is in it?

With filtered water we are supposed to know what’s in it and what’s not in it. It has become apparent lately, that lots of nasty stuff like lead, flouride compounds, and even bacteria can be in “filtered” water. Chlorine compounds are usually added to kill bacteria and fluoride compounds help prevent tooth decay.

Spring water can contain harmful bacteria and chemicals from “natural” sources. It can also be quite pure. The only way to be sure of the condition of a water source is to have the water tested regularly and to know the source and the existence of any possible contamination. Testing water is expensive and complicated. I’ve done it. Its nearly impossible to keep up with.  Drinking unfiltered bottled water means you must trust the bottling company to provide safe water.

Please, lets not confuse water from a spring, or a deep well; with water in a lake, river, stream, or public reservoir, in other words, surface water. Water from any of these sources is in effect “raw” water; that is to say, untreated water. Water from a deep well is exponentially safer than surface water. Both are raw water in that they are untreated, or unfiltered by humans. Spring water and deep well water are usually filtered naturally. Often, water must pass through lots of sand and often compact glacial till, before it is accessible. Some well water is actually water that was trapped deep under ground hundreds, and/or tens of thousands of years ago, when there were no people living to pollute. Surface water is subject to contamination from sources not found in subsurface soil, sand and compact glacial till (limestone like substance).  Anything water comes into contact with on the surface will be present in the lake, stream, river, or reservoir it ends up in. Just about anything from motor oil, to dangerous bacteria or viruses, pesticides, herbicides, toxic metals, fertilizers, paint residue, garbage, petroleum products of any kind; anything people use, make, throw out, discard, burn; can be in surface water. Drinking that water with the intention of getting “good” bacteria is totally insane. Putting well water, and spring water in the same “raw water” category as surface water is equally insane.

As far as selling “raw” water: that is an opportunistic scheme using obfuscated facts in order to make huge profits from selling water. If you want water that won’t make you sick; get distilled water and add the necessary minerals to it. A gallon of distilled water costs about 1 dollar. What is being charged for that special “raw water” that supposedly contains all that beneficial bacteria? Do people selling that “raw water” tell you specifically what “beneficial bacteria” you get when you pay for “raw water”?

Rain water is distilled water. True, there may be some contaminants in it but its not really polluted until it hits a surface. Water is one of the best solvents (if not; the best solvent) known to science.

It is now November 6, 2017. This summer was unusually hot and dry. Many forest fires in this state. Horrific air pollution from the fires. All electrical connections were disconnected for safety reasons. No recirculation of water through the filters for 4 months. Now the rains have returned and the filters are working in spite of being inactive for 4 months.

It looks like this will be another unusually cold winter. The first snow was this past week. Below freezing temps now at night.  More later.

It is now April 16, 2017. All the filters are now running again after having been frozen solid this winter.  Hopefully we will have the time and finances to do another water quality test on them. As soon as we have more information, we will post it here. We are in our tenth year of work with slow sand water filtration study.