Potters for Peace founded in Nicaragua, in 1986 is a network of volunteers, supporters, educators, technicians and potters that work mainly in Central America and abroad with ceramic water filter projects all over the world.

Traveling the world and teaching the fabrication of low-cost ceramic water filters is what PFP has been doing since 1998, bringing cleaner, potable water to those who need it most.

Low-cost colloidal silver-enhanced ceramic water purifiers have shown in the field that they eliminate 99.88% of most water born disease agents.

Ceramic water filters are a very simple design; a pressed bucket shape 11 W x 10 D, made from a combustible of some kind (such as rice husks or local sawdust) and a local terra-cotta clay.

Milled and screened, the combustible material is burned out in the firing, leaving fine pores, then coated with colloidal silver.

The bacterial properties of the silver and the fine pores create and effective filter.

Between one and three liters of potable water can be effectively filtered per hour with a fine tuned firing process, and the final cost is between 10-15U$ per unit, with replacement filters costing only 4U$ dollars.

Ceramic water filters are manufactured to accommodate over the top of a five-gallon bucket with a spicket for water collection.

While the transportation and production costs will tend to vary from country to country, three or four workers in a basic factory could produce around 50 ceramic water filters a day.

Ceramic water filters are a low-tech solution to cleansing dirty drinking water, a solution that could save the lives of children the world over.

Related:
Potters for Peace Manuals

In Mexico City this year, Scandinavian and German environmentalists that have been working in West Africa with composting toilets took their toilets to the World Water Forum to show how they separate number one and number two intodifferent compartments to thus be used after proper sanitization without the use of expensive chemical treatments or water.

Cecilia Ruben is an environmentalist for the Stockholm Environmental Institute in Scandinavia and while at the fair this year demonstrated how with the proper following of guidelines in using their waterless toilets, people can achieve a useful agricultural product between 2 and 6 months time depending on the climate.

Linus Dogerskog was another environmentalist at the fair this year whos passion for composting toilets is so great that he sees it as the future and even plans on making one for his own home.

While composting toilets may not be something that everyone is happy about, they really are starting to make an impression on the world community, and so much in fact that some experts on sanitation even advise against the use of composting toilets, regarding them as Green Imperialismsuch as Iain Murray the Senior Fellow at Competitive Enterprise Institute located in Washington DC.

Historically speaking, Murray does have a point about human fecal material being dangerous, but the question of composting toilets is one that seems to be coming back every time the issue of sustainable agriculture comes popping up, again and again.Can a civilization be sustainable if they continue to poison valuable H2O with excrement that could easily be transformed into humus with just a little thermophilic composting?

While the fecophobics argue about the dangers, activists like Cecilia Ruben and Linus Dogerskog are really showing how composting toilets are safe and have been in the testing for years. According to Dogerskog, people in the world can now see human excrement as a resource to be reused rather than left to pollute otherwise, clean, fresh and even drinkable water.

Dogerskog has even shown how countries like china have already gone to scale on the production of their composting toilets they have constructed one million units” he says. While other parts of the world like West Africa(where Dogerskog himself has personally helped introduce a pilot project), are just now, beginning to go to large scale production.

Composting toilets like the ones shown this year at the World Water Forum in Mexico City are definitely proving to be an option in underdeveloped countries. With the whole logic of non-polluting in the first place and instead recycling human organic byproducts into a useful and potentially sustainable agricultural system, the developing world will be able to avoid the mistakes made in the past by those already developed.

Inlet filter fabric that is stretched flat traps particles and requires cleaning while a filter that is inclined will self clean itself. Inlet filters are also low cost and can be made out a variety of fabrics including silk and muslim as long as they remove the correct level of debris. Muslin outperforms silk but there are also many other materials that will work.

There are only two things to be concerned about when using inlet filters:

1. The amount of rainfall you are getting - If you are in a tropical region an inlet filter can become overwhelmed and rainwater will be wasted during heavy downpours. Increasing the catchment area of inlet filteration can make it more efficient.
2. Contamination – Though inlet filters a less likely to get contaminated it is always good to remove and clean an inlet filter from time to time. A inlet filter that bows in will eventually clog so again, the inclined filter is a better idea.

Inlet filtration is just one step in a process to remove debris from rainwater, but it is a fact that angled debris removal with low cost fabric works.

A Living Machine is an advanced biofilter that has been designed to treat blackwater sewage. What demarks the living machine is the fact that it does the job of eliminating the human threat to our lakes, streams and oceans, through the purification of our raw sewage. For most people, the difference between whitewater greywater and blackwater is unknown. There are three things that make this innovative idea in biofiltration and wastewater management a real Living Machine, aesthetic appeal, reliable performance and high quality final effluent suitable for a variety of reuse applications.

Since the days of Rome and Constanople, when lead was first used to channel water and plumbing was born, and even before this, rivers have been sacrificed in the name of human convenience. But how convenient is it really to sacrifice a river? It is only convenient for those people living in small population up river. For others, however, it is not. Those who live downstream, and those who inherit the earth, learned to pollute the earth’s drinking water supply, in such a way as if to say that it was not a problem. But it is.

Living Machines do the same job nature would do (if we gave her the chance). Take blackwater (also known as sewage) and return it to its natural whitewater state (unpolluted by human waste). Greywater is that which only contains water from household drains such as the shower, the laundry room, the sink and even roof water. But once human organic wastes have come in contact with water, it is unusable by any complex living organisms. But Nature is perfect, and in her living self, microorganisms just love blackwater. In fact, microorganisms like it so much that they are the basis for the Living Machine. The process goes: anaerobic septic tank, anoxic reactor, closed aerobic tank (with plants to filter gases), open aerobic tank(s) (with snails, shrimp and fish), sludge is redirected back to the septic tank (or composted), while water goes to a wetland (usually indoor); finally it is ready for returning to the environment. A wonderful composting and irrigational product has been achieved, and Mother Earth is happy. And if further treated properly (without chemicals) studies show that the water could even be consumed more safely than when first polluted.

Biomechanical, a Living Machine is part nature part machine, without the Star Trek sci-fi fantasy. Living Machines are very practical and very real. As the Living Machine is a patented term and always needs to be spelled with capitals, we can quickly go over why. First of all, beauty… A Living Machine is first and foremost a philosophical attempt to unite human custom (unethical as they are), and the perfection of Mother Nature into harmony with each other. This environmentally sound and ecologically correct method of human wastewater management is reliable and efficient as its performance is 100%. When properly designed and constructed to suit individual or community needs, all Living Machines guarantee a safe, reliable, and high quality effluent. The uses of this Living Machine effluent range from the large scale crop irrigation to the small scale bathroom shower.

With our current usage of drinking water, and the approach of an ever growing ignorant next generation, new strategies must be found to deal with this looming and decadent downward spiral into the abyss of a chaotic and desolate future of sadness and sorrow. Living Machines are a desperate cry for hope and imagination in a pragmatic world that has been beaten down by generations of pessimists and down to earth traditionalist who “know Mr. Reality”. But Mr. Reality is not who these specialists expect.

Living Machines are a way to correct bad human habits that date back to the invention of plumbing and the scarification of rivers as waste management. The biggest dilemma is teaching people the difference between whitewater greywater and blackwater. Whitewater is clean and drinkable, greywater is not drinkable, but not highly polluted either, while blackwater has come in contact with human fecal material and is unfit for return to the environment without proper treatment (as it is an extremely dangerous pollutant). Living Machines are beautiful, dependable and insure a safe discharge of previously contaminated blackwaters into useful and efficient grey and white water. The Living Machine is not just a whimsical dream… The Living Machine is the future and the cutting edge of a dawning scientific revolution.

A Biofilter is any group of microorganisms cultivated in a closed biomedia with the intention of purifying contaminated gases or liquids. How could a biological filter of this kind help purify harvested rainwater for example? One of the biggest points to harvesting rainwater is making absolute certain that the water is clean and pure enough to drink. Biofilters have been around as long as nature itself, but have become wide spread with the ever propelling of modern day technologies. In nature water purification occurs because one organisms waste is another organism’s food, and thereby sustaining the biosphere’s food web. Biofilters are usually a second or third stage of filtering, usually done following a mechanical filter, or series of mechanical filters. Once the basic concept of a biofilter is understood, the creative possibilities of building one become only as limited as the human imagination.

“Biofilter” comes from the term biological filter, which can trace its origins to the Greek words for life “bios” and thought “logos”, with the word filter having more recent meaning in the material “felt” used to stain liquids in the past. After pondering the etymology, a poetic linguist may say that biofilters are “living strainers”. Microorganisms that feed off of the impurities in a liquid or gas, and in this way producing energy to be consumed by other organisms in the food web. A biofilter will combine these basic principles of nature’s law in a more sustainable way by harmonizing humankinds distancing, artificial and ego intense glorifying technological advancements with billions of years of natural evolution. A biofilter incorporates the very essence of the third law of competition; when organisms learn to work together in order to survive in a niche.

The secret to sustainable water filtration systems such as micro organic biological filtration is: “let nature do all the work”. If microorganisms have air, water, food, then they will thrive. Some microorganisms live and swim freely in water, while others can skim to the surface for oxygen, while still others can be attached to rocks, pebbles, limestone, sand, and pretty much any hard surface, as well as straw and roots. In nature, processes, such as settlement and filtration usually occur through sand or soil. Microorganisms decompose and break down organic material into nutrients. The end result is a balanced food web of consumption and production.

Biofilters such as those that could be used in rainwater harvesting have mechanical filters like grates, wire mesh, sponges, brushes, sand, gravel and others that keep big things like leaves and twigs out as well as smaller ones that keep dust particles out only as a first stage. In second stages of most biofilters, for pond water, grey water treatment, and even blackwater management, the system chosen for biological filtration can vary as widely as those used in rainwater harvesting. Most commonly the upspout or downspout systems are chosen. In up spout filters, the water comes from below and gets in contact with the biomedia (pebbles, limestone rings, bones… etc.), which is home to microorganisms that eat any decomposing micro organic materials naturally and then storing the water or passing it on to another, more intense filtraion system, like activated carbon. Down spout filters work in a similar fashion, but usually have better primary filters, and recycle the water constantly back into the biofilter, or into others more refined as in the example of up spouts.

There are two main types of downspouts; trickle down (or drip systems) and flood systems. Trickle down systems work with pockets of air all throughout the biomedia, as the flow of water is random. The flood systems, on the other hand generally use a pump and their biomedia tend to move around constantly inside the biofilter chamber. Both systems are common in freshwater pond filters and saltwater aquariums, but if the water is to be consumable, it needs a finer drinking water biofiltration using multiple layers of sand and gravel (especially if the water comes from some untimely origin such as in the cases of wastewater management biofiltration systems). As is done in underground streams to purify the natural well spring, by running for miles and miles under the earth, until finally crystal clean drinking water comes flowing right out of the ground.

Sand and gravel can be as much a circuit of biomedia as those installed in top dollar aquarium pumped multi-system filters or even more highly evolved breakdown organisms, found in the ocean. The fact is however; biofilter microorganisms need a place to thrive! They need place that has “air”, “water” and “food”. Rainwater biofilters differ from other kinds of biofiltration systems because the water is already very clean, and needs very little to become drinkable, but if contaminated, these systems for being a hundred percent positive about the harvested rainwater, become far more important and sustainable in the long run than highly expensive activated carbon systems that leave ecological footprints.

During the first moments of a rain storm pollen, mold spoors and other contaminants are washed off a rooftop and into its drainage system. If the downspout tube does not have some type of first flush device to remove this foul water it will be washed into a rainwater harvesting system. The water will then stagnate and make it even unfit for washing clothes. The combined pollutants can stagnate water quickly inside a rainwater tank so a first flush device is required.

Two of the more popular types of devices are first flush units and constant volume containers. Constant volume containers simply fill to capacity then spill over into the pipe leading to a rainwater tank. First flush valves are optimized to meet the rate of water flow using a filler ball device.

The problem with first flush valves is that they do not divert water to a rainwater tank unless there are ample amounts of rain coming off a rooftop. For smaller roof surfaces the constant volume container is a good choice. For places that have monsoon like rain showers a first flush valve will work fine.

Both the constant volume and the first flush units work great for different weather. If they are correctly set to meet the flow of rainwater from a rooftop catchment area they are very useful in removing contaminants. Make sure if you are purchasing a first flush device that it has a removable screw cap so you can clean it out from time to time.

A roof washer is a device or even simply a method for removal of sediment and debris from collection surfaces shortly after the rain has started to fall. This is usually accomplished by diverting the initial rainfall away from entry into the rainwater harvesting storage tanks or cistern.

The better roof washers will usually have a debris screen. A good debris screen will protect the roof washer from the damage that is caused by waste and vermin. Usually the debris screen should be corrosion resistant.

A good roof washer will automatically divert the first 0.02 inches of rainfall per 24 hour period per square feet of roof area away from the rainwater harvesting storage tanks or cisterns.

Roof washers should be installed in such a way that they will be easily accessible for regular maintenance to ensure that they are working well all the time.

A roof washer makes a great difference in the quality of the water that is harvested. You will not believe how dirty a roof can get within such a short period of time. This is really not surprising when you consider the fact that roofs are prominently exposed to all the elements and will tend to attract dust, leaves, debris, bird droppings and a host of other dirt and grime that greatly impacts on the quality and safety of the rainwater harvested. So by having a roof washer to ensure proper cleaning using the rainwater moments before the water starts entering the storage tanks impacts tremendously on the quality of water you will always end up with.

A roof washer should not stop the excellent practice of physically cleaning the roof just before the rains are due to start. Rather, both methods are supposed to combine to ensure a very high standard of cleanliness on the roof that will harvest the rainwater. Actually the two cleaning methods or systems should work hand in hand for the best results in rainwater harvesting.

There is a huge difference between a rainwater harvesting system that has a roof washer and one that does not have. Although areas and locations of roofs will greatly vary and will impact on how dirty a roof is bound to be, there is little doubt that a roof washer inclusion in a rainwater harvesting system makes a huge difference, wherever the location of the roof is and whatever the circumstances of the environment there.

Despite the fact that rainwater from rainwater harvesting is usually of a much higher quality than water that is obtained from most of the other sources, it still needs to go thru a rainwater purification process to be safe for consumption.

Cleansing the roof and water tanks and having adequate filters in the rainwater collection system is not adequate.

Sadly a few rainwater harvestors are fooled by the nice clean taste of rain water and the clean look it has, so much so that they think the water may not require further rainwater purification before it can be used for human consumption. This is a mistake that can have deadly repercussions.

To start with, during rain harvesting, when the rain comes into contact with a collection surface like a roof, it will tend to wash contaminants off that surface. Some of these contaminants may be so small as to be difficult to see with the naked eye. And even if they can be seen they will tend to settle at the bottom of the rainwater storage tank where they will be virtually impossible to see when the tank is full, even if one makes an effort to inspect the water tank.

Rainwater contaminants can be mold, bacteria, algae, protozoa and small particles of dust.

But there is an even deadlier group of contaminants that can be present in rainwater from rainwater harvesting. These are micro organisms like bacteria. Not to mention pesticides, lead and arsenic. These are all highly poisonous to the body.

If the rainwater from rainwater harvesting is to be used in the house for drinking and other household chores, then it has to be both filtered and treated so as to kill micro-organisms and remove all the contaminants.

The rainwater must go through various steps of cleansing, filtering and Purification. They include screening, settling, filtering and disinfecting. The screening stage stops debris and large particles from entering the rainwater storage tank. The settling process then further cleans the rainwater by allowing the tiny particles that got through the screening process to settle at the bottom of the rainwater tank.

Filtering is then supposed to remove sediment and contaminants and trap other smaller particles. The final process of disinfecting the rainwater can be done using chlorine, ozone or even ultraviolet light to kill harmful micro-organisms.

Any rainwater from rainwater harvesting that does not go through a careful filtering and disinfecting process, is dangerous for drinking or human consumption of any sort and should be avoided.

There is no point in taking the trouble to install a rainwater collection system and then being casual about the safety of the water you get from your efforts. Researching proper rainwater purification is the smart thing to do.

The rainwater entering the downspout filter is usually controlled by baffles in the downspout filter which then collected in a sump basin. Immediately the water flows over the sump lip, it is then distributed over the first filter step of the several cascades.

This first primary cascade filters out larger particles and solids, preventing them from flowing further or even going anywhere near the rainwater harvesting tank. This eventuality would usually make it a lot harder to take the water through the other stages of filtering and treatment of the water. By removing as much debris as possible, the downspout filter helps make the next stage of treatment much easier and much more efficient.

Immediately below the first primary cascade is a fine filter which removes all particles that were not dealt with in the first cascade. This filter mainly deals with fine dirt and much tinnier particles that may have flowed with the rainwater from the roof top when the water was flowing into the gutters.

All the time, both large particles and fine dirt are discharged through the front of the filter. The result is that lots of extremely clean-looking water usually flows out of the filter outlet to the rainwater harvesting tank or discharge area.

The 3P Rainus Downspout Filter is a high end, high quality downspout filter that also acts as a leaf and debris separator. So clean is the water usually produced that this is a good place to remind readers yet again that this downspout filter does not make water fit to drink or for human consumption.

This is a durable product that can be fitted to any water down pipe. What most people like about it, is that it is easy to maintain and monitor. It efficiently and effectively cleans rainwater without interfering with or altering the flow. Solids are separated through the front opening.

The Rainus filter can be installed on downspout tubes with the diameters of 110, 100, and 80mm. Adaptors facilitate an even wider range of connections.

I currently testing a small capacity rainwater harvesting system for people who would like to collect water for off grid cabins, homes or to use as an emergency water supply. The systems uses first flush and a downspout filter to separate rooftop debris from water, details coming soon.