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How to Use Aquarium Charcoal to Filter Drinking Water

Most aquarium charcoal is "activated" charcoal. Activated charcoal has been specifically processed to be very porous and thereby adept at absorbing and eliminating harmful toxins. In an aquarium, activated carbon filters out high concentrations of chlorine and other toxins, such as pesticides. You can use aquarium charcoal to filter drinking water, provided you properly set up a filtration system. Just as the activated charcoal filters out harmful toxins in your aquarium, it does the same in a drinking-water filter.

Things You'll Need

Sand
Gravel
Aquarium charcoal
Plastic container (bottle or bucket)
Leather punch or pocket knife

Instructions

- 1
  Poke small holes (no larger than the diameter of a standard flat-head nail) into the bottom of the plastic bottle or bucket using a leather punch or a pocket knife. The size of the container you choose depends on the size of water filter you want to create. Use a small, 2-liter plastic bottle or gallon milk jug to filter water for personal use.
- 2
  Pour gravel into the bottom of the plastic container. The gravel should cover the bottom of the container and rise up the sides of the container 2 or 3 inches. Make sure the gravel pieces are large enough not to fall through the holes in the bottom.
- 3
  Pour aquarium charcoal onto the gravel layer. Add more charcoal than you did gravel for the first layer. If you used 2 to 3 inches of gravel, consider using 3 to 4 inches of charcoal.
- 4
  Pour sand onto the charcoal layer. For personal filters, use 2 or 3 inches of sand.
- 5
  Place the plastic container over an empty cup or bucket. Be sure the empty cup or bucket is wide enough to catch water flowing through the filter. Pour water into the top of the filter until water almost overflows (the exact amount varies depending on the size of your filter). For example, pour 1 liter of water into a filter made from a 2 liter bottle; this should be enough to fill the bottle and not have water overflow. Allow the water to filter through the system. Pour the filtered water back into the filter a few more times to thoroughly remove harmful particles.

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