Homemade Barrel Filter.

What Follows is a step by step guide to building a Homemade Barrel Filter.

List of parts:-

Length of 1 1/4 inch flexey tube. (Outlet size of pondpump 1)

Length of 1 inch pipe and hosepipe. (Outlet size of Pondpump 2 and internal filter tubes)

Length of 1 1/2 pipe. (For outlet. It can be as wide as you like)

Connectors and fittings.

Foam.

Tools and drills.

Silicone Sealant. (Optional but worth a think about!)

Picture Shows the fountain and the outlet hoses. Just!

First you need some sort of pump. I have 2 pumps with fountain and waterfall outlets. You need to site these just off the bottom of the pond or the pump will clog up quickly!

Now measure from the pump to the final position of the barrel, and add a bit.

I had to use 1 1/4 inch flexey tube, 1 inch pipe and standard hosepipe for the outlets from the pumps. I then had to join the hosepipe to the 1 inch pipe with a connector.

When you have all the pipes and tubes near the water butt, it is time to do some drilling.

The inlets on my design are about 2 inches from the top, side by side. The outlet is about 2 inches below this. You could this outlet any where along this 2 inch line, but mine is directly below and to the right as this is more convient for me.

When you have drilled the holes, you can screw the connectors to the waterbutt. Do it tight now! As we don't want it leaking. Now push in all the pipes and tubes home tightly.

Picture showing inlet/outlet pipe set-up.

Connect the bigger ( 1 1/4 inch) pipe to it`s connector and take this pipe to wherever you want. Preferably back to your pond/ stream or waterfall.

Picture showing outlet to greenhouse.

My outlet goes to my greenhouse pond.

Picture showing the layout of the pipework.

Now you need to design the internal pipework of your filter.

I`ve only used one outlet to provide the internal flow of water. Oneday I may use both.

Measure the width of the waterbutt and calculate including connectors the general size of things.

Note that to the left of the above picture, there is a `tee` piece. This pipe goes all the way down to the bottom of the waterbutt with a 90` bend at the bottom to direct the water across the bottom.

I have drilled holes in all of the tubing within the filter. The top tubing drips onto the foam and the rest of the water flows down the pipe and into the bottom of the waterbut.

The foam is from a old folding chair that was all foam. I cut this to almost the right size and drilled a hole to accompany the downtube. This makes it all neat and tidy.

NOTE. Make sure the foam hasn`t been treated with fire retardant and bug killer or else you may be in trouble. The foam I used cost me nothing and was ok. If in doubt buy some proper foam with a guarantee.

NOTE. It is a good idea to seal all joints with the silicon sealant. If you do this you will need to not use the filter for 24 hours.

Picture showing the final Barrel Filter in place.

Their is a water butt tap just above the bottom of the filter. The filter is raised on bricks so I can use the tap as a drain for all the muck that collects at the bottom. I can also use it for filling up my watering can to water the roses!

I think that I have covered everything. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve it. My email address is on my titlepage.

Sorry for the long download. about 44 seconds.