How to make water filters with tree branches according to the MIT

How to make homemade water filters with branches

Globally, about 3 out of 10 people, lack access to drinking water at home. Translated into clearer numbers globally, around 2.1 billion people according to the WHO, almost nothing!

Obviously, this is a serious problem that needs practical solutions to make a water filter for home , cheap, useful and easy to do.

We know that technology is contributing its grain of sand with projects such as extracting water from the air to turn it into drinkable good! But they are still expensive ideas and not so easy to build.

Can you imagine that from a tree branch you could make a water filter? … Well, yes. The engineers from MIT (Institute of Technology of Massachusetts) have put all their knowledge so that we can make a homemade filter in a simple way, already used in the real world and with instructions details (at the end of the article) so that anyone can do it.

This idea is conceived in the project Xylem Water Filter . Inspired by nature, researchers from MIT created a water filter called "Xylem" . Use the conduits of the xylem (plant tissue) and the microscopic pores that found naturally in the wood and branches of trees trees .

Umm… What's that xylem thing? In the inside non-flowering trees, for example, pine, in the young part that corresponds to the last rings of the wood (sapwood), the ducts that transport the sap, water, mineral salts and other nutrients from the roots even the leaves of plants are called Xylem .

Here is the trick, this vegetal structure serves as a filtering for water bubbles and sap in the trees is the perfect membrane to purify water!

But… Is it really capable of filtering water well? Well, according to research, the pores of the xylem are much smaller than various contaminants present in the water, such as dust, protozoa, Escherichia coli and rotavirus, a virus that causes gastroenteritis.

Actually, the tested filters remove more than 99 percent contaminants . At treatment level of water, complies with the category of "integral protection of two stars» established by the World Organization for Health.

For two years the MIT team worked closely with NGOs from different parts of the world to develop a project that is really useful.

The ultimate test was established in India, real case and with more than a thousand users using this technique. Assembling homemade water filters with local trees and getting a debugging to a speed of one liter per hour .

Already knowing that we are facing a viable solution. The researchers have created the Xylem Water Filter website with all the details to be able to make a filter of water in our house, with simple materials and easy way.

Great. And now, How can I create my own filter of domestic water? According to the indications of the MIT…

• A section of tree branch without flowers is needed (such as pine, cedar, etc.). It must have a minimum thickness of more than 0.60 centimeters.
• Carefully remove the bark from the cut branch.
• Find a hose – tube to mount inside the branch of tree. If it is a little elastic, better, because it will adapt to the piece of branch and it has to be a little longer than its own branch.
• Clamp to seal the branch inside the hose – tube.
• A reservoir to feed the tube with water. and another for store clean water.

In the page that we have commented on the project for mounting a domestic water filter there is instructions for its maintenance. When they dry up filters, the xylem - due to its structure - seals the walls laterals and will produce a lower performance to filter the water dirty. There are three methods to maintain in better condition water filters :

• Alcohol treatment: Immerse the cut filters in alcohol (ethanol, isopropanol, etc.). Alcohol must be food grade. Will preserve structural integrity membranes and provides a useful life of at least two years.
• Check the thickness of the filter. It is better to use filters of branches with a thickness of about 7 millimeters and stack several fine filters in series. This method is useful in areas where the access to alcohol is difficult, although quality control it can be difficult.
• Over time, the xylem "self-blocks" and does not let through Water. The useful life of water filters can be extended if we soak them for an hour with hot water at 60º.

As we have seen in our blog, it is manufactured with materials they are plentiful and cheap. Filters that perform realistic and can be done anywhere in the world.

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