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100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

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Home / How To / 100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel

100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel

By Linda Holliday on July 11, 2013
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During our boiling, broiling, blistering summer of 2012 here in the Missouri Ozarks, water was a
topic of conversation wherever we went. Creeks and ponds dried up (some never recovered) and
the water table dropped, forcing a few neighbors to have their well pumps lowered or to even have
deeper wells drilled.
Many folks shared memories of rain barrels, cisterns, hand pumps and drawing water with a well
bucket as a child, usually on grandpa and grandmas farm. Some said theyd never want to rely
again on those old-time methods of getting water. But, at least they knew how it was done.
It seems we have lost much practical knowledge in the last 50 or so years because we thought
wed never need it again. Now we are scrambling to relearn those simple know-hows.
A tattered, 4-inch thick, 1909 book I happily secured for $8 in a thrift store reveals, among
umpteen-thousand other every-day skills, how to make homemade water filters. The instructions in
Household Discoveries and Mrs. Curtiss Cookbook are quite basic as everyone had a rain barrel
back then and presumably knew how to clean the water. Now, 104 years later, I am thankful the
authors had the foresight to preserve their knowledge for us, and pointed out that rainwater
collected in barrels from a roof is a necessity in some locations, but also is best for laundry and
often more wholesome for drinking purposes than hard water.
The wholesome observation applies to plants, too. I noticed during our 6-week dry spell (not a
drop of rain) that I was only able to keep my vegetables alive with the garden hose until our well,

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100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

too, began sucking air. The pitiful
potato, tomato and bean plants
actually seemed petrified, like
faded plastic decorations. Then,
after a 2-hour rain shower, the
plants miraculously leapt to life
vibrant, green and THRIVING. I
did, too.
In early June last year, my
husband surprised me with a
425-gallon water tank so I could
water with nutritious rainwater,
although it was August before
any measure of water was in the
tank. When the elusive rains
finally paused briefly overhead, I
was out in it with my 2-gallon
watering can, running and
sloshing the water like a crazy
woman onto our neglected trees
far up the hill.

100-year-old
instructions
For gardening, rainwater is,
naturally, best unfiltered. But, for
household use, the vintage book
says the following instructions
yield a cheap and easy way to
make a filter just as good as a
patent filter costing 10 times as
much:
Take a new vinegar barrel or an oak tub that has never been used, either a full cask or half size.
Stand it on end raised on brick or stone from the ground. Insert a faucet near the bottom. Make a
tight false bottom 3 or 4 inches from the bottom of the cask. Perforate this with small gimlet holes,
and cover it with a piece of clean white canvas.
Place on this false bottom a layer of clean pebbles 3 or 4 inches in thickness; next, a layer of
clean washed sand and gravel; then coarsely granulated charcoal about the size of small peas.
Charcoal made from hard maple is the best.
After putting in a half bushel or so, pound it down firmly. Then put in more until the tub is filled
within 1 foot of the top. Add a 3-inch layer of pebbles; and throw over the top a piece of canvas as
a strainer. This canvas strainer can be removed and washed occasionally and the cask can be
dumped out, pebbles cleansed and charcoal renewed every spring and fall, or once a year may be
sufficient.
This filter may be set in the cellar and used only for drinking water. Or it may be used in time of
drought for filtering stagnant water, which would otherwise be unpalatable, for the use of stock.
This also makes a good cider filter for the purpose of making vinegar. The cider should first be
passed through cheese cloth to remove all coarser particles.
Or a small cheap filter may be made from a flower pot. A fine sponge may be inserted in the hole
and the pot filled about as directed for the above filter. It may be placed in the top of a jar, which
will receive the filtered water.

Free online reading

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100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

My copy of the 1,000-page book is stained and worn, I assume from many years of use in the
house, barn and garden. Even though I could read the bright, white online version, I treasure my
rag-tag book and am hanging onto it. I still have much to learn.
To read the free online version of Household Discoveries and Mrs. Curtiss Cookbook that covers
everything from how to eradicate vermin, salt fish and build a 5-hole privy, visit Household
Discoveries on Open Library.org. Information on filtering water begins on page 108.
[divider_1px]
Linda Holliday lives in the Missouri Ozarks where she and her husband formed Well WaterBoy
Products, a company devoted to helping people live more self-sufficiently off grid, and invented the
WaterBuck Pump. A former newspaper editor and reporter, Holliday blogs for Mother Earth News,
sharing her skills in modern homesteading, organic gardening and human-powered devices.

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10 Comments

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Knowdafish

10 months ago

A better way instead of having the spigot at the bottom is to have its outlet connect to a
piece of hose or piping and have the actual out let up a ways on the barrel, this way the
contents of the barrel always stay wet allowing beneficial bacteria to thrive and never die
because they dried out.
5

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Mike Kennedy

8 months ago

With our modern acid rain how about an update and adding a layer of marble chips to the
top? They are available at hardware or aquarium stores. I don't think this system would
discourage bacteria---it might even be making a better place for it to live than an empty
barrel!
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Guest

8 months ago

Hard maple for the charcoal. Not hard marble! Typo.

Reply Share

Pat Henry

Guest 8 months ago

Mod

Thanks for the heads up!

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shaun

7 months ago

I could not find that book on openlibrary .org.have you seen it there recently?any help
would be appreciated.it may have been written by a distant relative and I would like to
read it.If you could email me any info that would be great.
1

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Pat Henry

shaun 7 months ago

Mod

The link is in the article above, but here it is again.

http://openlibrary.org/books/O... The links to download this book in different
formats are on the right side of the page.

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Pat Henry 6 months ago

Unfortunately PDF link seems to be down. Annoying, because I want to

print it out. But, not your fault either! :) Cheers for good info. :)

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Pat Henry

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Nick Vasey 6 months ago

Thanks Nick!
Are you talking about the link for the actual book or this site? We
had some issues last hour that should be resolved now. The link
to the actual book should be working too.
https://ia700608.us.archive.or...
Pat
1

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Nick Vasey

Pat Henry 6 months ago

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100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

Downloading it now. Just didn't realise it is such a monster. It's

74.5MB!
1
Don Darkes

Reply Share

6 months ago

Thank You! I enjoyed and learned from the article. I live on a self-sustaining sailboat with
its roof adapted to catch rainwater and condensation. Even though I live in a relatively
pristine ocean environment the amount of contaminants in the air/rain water are
terryfying. I have used a number of commercial charcoal/ceramic/UV light filters and
processes to purify the water. The effect of this is best seen when tasting the water or
baking bread with and without filtering the water first. Eye-opening!
1

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