Things You’ll Need
- Whole House System water filter
- Adjustable crescent wrench
- Pipe thread tape
- 6-inch shower arm extender, 1/2-inch diameter
- 12 hard charcoal sticks
- Coffee filter paper
- Large kettle of boiling water
Shower filters may eliminate chlorine from your water and make your shower more enjoyable. Chlorine dries the skin and hair and does not always leave a nice odour. If you don’t want to smell like a swimming pool when you get out of the shower, getting rid of the chlorine is your best chance. Shower filters may cost up to $50 and do not last long. With a little imagination, you may save money by creating your own shower filter.
Step 1
Go to a home improvement store and buy a whole-house water filter. These are often put near where the water main enters your property, but in this instance you will be utilising it to power the shower filter. This should greatly reduce your initial costs. In most circumstances, the entire home filter case will function as the outer casing for your shower filter and will cost less than $20. One example is the GE Opaq Whole House System, model GXWH04F, which costs less than $20.
Step 2
Shut off the water supply. Using an adjustable crescent wrench, remove your shower head. You may utilise your current shower arm to connect to the filter where the shower head was. If your shower head does not connect to a shower arm that protrudes a few inches from the wall, you will need to install a metal shower arm at the point where the water line supplying the tub or shower contacts the shower head. A shower arm is a curved or slightly bent section of 1/2-inch pipe that is used to direct the shower jet downward.
Step 3
Screw the new shower arm extension into the old water supply after taping the pipe threads. Tighten the pipe by hand until it is firmly in place.
Step 4
Insert the other end of the extension into the “in” side of the whole-house filter. Screw the original shower arm with the shower head into the “out” side of the whole-house filter. You shouldn’t require pipe thread compound for these because the filters should have gaskets to prevent leaking.
Step 5
Boil roughly a dozen pieces of hard charcoal for at least 10 minutes. This is not the charcoal you use to start your outside barbecue. You’ll probably have to do some web searching to find any, but you should be able to buy some hard charcoal sticks and have them brought right to your home. You might be able to find some at your local hardware shop. Avoid using soft charcoal since it will degrade and leak into your water.
Step 6
Wrap each hard charcoal piece in coffee filter paper. Wrap it securely enough so that it does not come undone. Fill the filter case with the wrapped charcoal. Fill the filter with these pieces until it is completely filled with charcoal and filter paper. Replace the shower filter and run water through it to confirm that it hasn’t impaired your water pressure flow. If your water pressure drops, detach the filter and remove some of the charcoal to allow the water to flow more freely. Because hot water quickly degrades the carbon in charcoal, it should be replaced every two to three months.
Step 7
Recycle the charcoal by boiling it for 10 minutes and then repeating the procedure. You can repeat this process until the charcoal is entirely broken down.
Step 8
As an alternative, buy new filters for the whole-house filter. In most circumstances, depending on the amount of filtration desired, you can achieve this for less than $12 per filter.
