Are you satisfied with the purity of your drinking water? When you see the residue your evaporated drinking water leaves in a pan, it might make you wonder what all you're drinking. Of course, you can gain peace of mind by having a sample tested at a laboratory. But you may want to filter it anyway.

If you have decided you ought to filter your water but are unsure if it will make any difference, why not make your own trial carbon water filter? It isn't difficult or expensive, and it will give you the option of seeing what carbon can do to improve your water quality.

Step one is to acquire the needed supplies. You will need a piece of vinyl hose and a drill and bit the size of the outside hose diameter. You will also need a length of 2 1/2 inch PVC pipe, a cap and a can of sealant. Finally, you will need a paper coffee filter.

Now you are ready for the construction. First, drill a hole in the cap and insert the piece of vinyl tubing. Seal it as necessary so that water will not leak around it. Then insert the cap onto one end of the PVC pipe and seal this as needed. Finally, fold the paper coffee filter so that it fits into the PVC pipe and push it down so that it covers the hole where the vinyl tubing is inserted.

Add the carbon to the open end of the PVC and pour water over it until it is full. Point the vinyl hose into a container where the filtered water can collect. You may want to discard the first batch of filtered water since it might have washed out contaminants from the project.

A stand can be made with two 4 inch squares of wood, a wooden base and attached upright. Drill a hole in each 4 inch square large enough for the PVC. Then screw the wood blocks to the upright piece and insert your filter. A setscrew can be used in one of the square supports so the PVC does not slide down.

A rule of thumb is this: the more carbon the water passes over before exiting the unit, the more filtering takes place. Thus, the longer the PVC pipe, the better. Don't forget to replace the carbon from time to time and to clean out the PVC pipe at the same time. How often this is needed depends on how contaminated your water is and how much water you filter.

This unit has obvious limitations. It is not designed to produce a great quantity of water. But if you keep the PVC full and store the filtered water, it will surely provide sufficient drinking water for several people.

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If this seems like a lot of work, consider the Berkey Water Filter line. The Black Berkey filtration elements that ship with these filters can be re-cleaned with simply a brush to produce up to 3,000 gallons of water each.