Using a pool pump and sand filter to get drinking water from pond

Does anybody know if a pool pump and a pool sand filter would clean water from a spring fed pond enough to be able to drink it?  And can i use sand, gravel, and charcoal in the filter instead of just sand?
Will the water be pumped too fast to actually be cleaned? Can i do this and add a filter using the 3 to filter from a storage tank and have clean drinking water?

So many questions for my brain to handle right now!
Maybe im thinking way too far out of the box!
Please feel free to help me...or call me a nut lol
Anybody with any experience with this?
Suggestions and comments welcome!

I don't know the answer to your question, but I added your post to the "Plumbing" forum, and gave it a big BUMP!

I use a pool type sand filter for my pond based irrigation system and much fine sediment and microbiology get's through.Those filters are for cleaning "big" stuff out of swimming pools.You could use it as a primary and pump into a slow sand filter/biochar bed and then into a holding tank for domestic use.There are membrane/cartridge filters for pool systems that will filter down to 25 microns or so.they're relatively expensive and tedious to clean but would provide potable water.It would be useful to do some water testing and find out exactly what you're trying to filter.

Jeffrey Bodony wrote:I use a pool type sand filter for my pond based irrigation system and much fine sediment and microbiology get's through.Those filters are for cleaning "big" stuff out of swimming pools.You could use it as a primary and pump into a slow sand filter/biochar bed and then into a holding tank for domestic use.There are membrane/cartridge filters for pool systems that will filter down to 25 microns or so.they're relatively expensive and tedious to clean but would provide potable water.It would be useful to do some water testing and find out exactly what you're trying to filter.

Thanks, I was thinking of what you suggest. Homesteading is always a process of experimentation and implementation! I plan on getting a water test done to see just what im dealing with. Using the pool sand filter as a preliminary filter, then sending the water through a slow filter should do the trick. Of course i am going to be testing the water even after the secondary slow filter system.
Love to have a few more heads than mine helping
figure things out!

Probably what you want is called a "Slow Sand Filter" it's actually a biological filter rather than just a mechanical filter.

Good info here:
http://www.slowsandfilter.org/index_mobile.html

You might want to run the output through a ceramic filter just to be sure you get rid of all the pathogens.

I'd also recommend having the water tested to make sure it doesn't have any heavy metals, etc. in it that might slip through the filters.

Do you have any ideas for backwashing the filter. I started using one and it's pressure fed from a tank so don't have a pump or pool to backwash from.

I wonder if passing the water through a passive solar water heater at some point in the extraction process would kill a bunch of pathogens with heat, kinda like a water hose laying in the sun. It would be fairly cheap to build and free to run.
Maybe run the solar heated water into a holding tank before the sand filter and fill a cistern after. Paint the holding tank and connecting pipes black, and place it all in full sun. Bury the cistern to cool the water back down before delivery for use.
Hope that helps. It might just work 🙂

Michael Dotson wrote:I wonder if passing the water through a passive solar water heater at some point in the extraction process would kill a bunch of pathogens with heat, kinda like a water hose laying in the sun. It would be fairly cheap to build and free to run.
Maybe run the solar heated water into a holding tank before the sand filter and fill a cistern after. Paint the holding tank and connecting pipes black, and place it all in full sun. Bury the cistern to cool the water back down before delivery for use.
Hope that helps. It might just work 🙂

This should work pretty well as long as the temperature of the water was above 60 degrees celsius (and preferably higher see world health org).  The only caveat would be the materials the tanks and piping are made from: some plastics will leach into the water, and there is a possibility of pathogens (such as legionella bacteria seeLegionnaires' disease) multiplying at lower temperatures.  You may need a temperature sensitive valve to ensure only water that reaches a high enough temperature continues to the 'safe' tank.

Nancy Reading wrote:Legionnaires' disease

Great points! I was thinking PVC, but hadn't considered what heating it might do to the water. Current construction techniques for plumbing include PVC hot water lines, but in a solar box it's liable to get much hotter.
I read your link for legionnaires disease. That's some nasty stuff! It was very interesting to learn from where it got its name.

We built a biosand filter based on these plans: https://sswm.info/sites/default/files/reference_attachments/CAWST%202009%20Biosand%20Filter%20Manual.pdf

We've been running all our drinking and cooking water through it for 6 years and have had zero illnesses or fatalities. We draw our water from a very shallow dug well.

MH, that filter seems practical.
I can add that the use of a large tank [50,000L] will enable water to self clean.
Storage time is a wonderful 'fixer' of water also.
My signature below deals with rainwater and the issues are similar.

Not much experience about this, but pool sand filter help you with the situation

This is how they do it in financially challenged areas for dirt cheap.

Make your own water filter and never buy drinking water again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kazEAzGWuIc

I've used slow sand filters before with mixed results. They tend to produce water very slowly, and as the biomat forms on the top (a good thing, filtering wise) they slow down even more. The solution out of that is to use bigger filters, like 50 gallon drum sizes. But 50 gallon drums full of wet sand are very heavy. So it's totally do-able,