Water in glass
Rainwater harvesting with Sustainable technology:
A look at the design, construction and
operation of a small scale slow sand water filter.
(Building a small slow sand water filter for individual use)
Please help support this site by purchasing a summary of our research which includes drawings, pictures and construction details to build filters. This page on our blog has the info.   $7.50   Thank you!
Literature cited

1. Presence of Noroviruses and Other Enteric Viruses
a in Sewage and Surface Waters in The Netherlands
W. J. Lodder and A. M. de Roda Husman*
Microbiological Laboratory for Health Protection,
National Institute of Public Health and the Environment,
Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

*Corresponding author. Mailing address:
Microbiological Laboratory for Health Protection, National
Institute of Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1,
NL-3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 30 274 4325.
Fax: 31 30 274 4434. E-mail:

2. Coliform Bacteria and Drinking Water
(Washington State Department of Health)



The following abstracts were accessed:
November 23, 2007 and would be very good reading especially for
understanding the biological action in a (slow) sand water filter:

3. Biological and Physical Mechanisms in Slow Sand Filtration
Haarhoff, J; Cleasby, JL
IN: Slow Sand Filtration. American Society of Civil Engineers,
New York. 1991. p 19-68, 11 fig, 10 tab, 54 ref.

Slow Sand Filtration: Influences of Selected Process Variables
Author(s): Bellamy, William D.; Hendricks, David W.; Logsdon, Gary S.
Citation: Journal AWWA, Vol. 77 Iss. 12, December 1985, Page(s) 62-66

Bacterivory by a chrysophyte in slow sand filters
Monroe L. Weber-Shirk* and Richard I. Dick
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY 14853-3501, USA
Received 1 September 1997; accepted 1 June 1998. Available
online 25 February 2000.


4. Information on roofing material:  
A review of Methods for the Manufacture of Residential Roofing Materials.
Hashem Akbari, Ronnen Levinson, and Paul Berdahl. Heat Island Group
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, Ca. 94720. A report prepared for:
California Energy Commission PIER Program. June 2003.


5. Read more about viruses here:
freedrinkingwater.com/water-education2/87-water-disinfection2.htm

6. Use the
information on this page
and on this site at your own risk. The Author assumes
no responsibility whatsoever
for any damages of any kind as a direct or indirect
result of the use of any
information on this website. The information
provided here is free and published
with the intent of sharing experience, and
is not provided as an
absolute solution to anything.
This is a work in progress. Mistakes
will likely be found. We reseve the right to remove
this content or change it at any time we choose.
You have been advised.


7.Mechanisms of inactivation of hepatitis
A virus in water by chlorine dioxide:
Jun Wen Li Corresponding Author Contact Information,
E-mail The Corresponding Author,
Zhong Tao Xin , Xin Wei Wang , Jin Lai Zheng and Fu Huan Chao
Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine of Tianjin, 1 Da Li Road,
Tianjin City 300050, People's Republic of China
Received 15 April 2003; Revised 7 November 2003; accepted 13 December 2003.
Available online 4 March 2004.

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/0/5A25BF765B400911CC25708F0002B5A8/$File/07-viruscompliance.doc


9. viruses that are not killed by
chlorine in swimming pool water (caliciviruses):

www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/ps/2007/mid/2006/transcript_02_mid37.pdf


10. The Turbidity Tube: Simple and Accurate Measurement
of Turbidity in the Field:
Written April 2006 for the requirements of CE 5993 Feild
Engineering in theDeveloping World and
FQ 5770 Community Planning and Analysis. Elizabeth Myre and
Ryan Shaw M.S. Candidates. Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Master's International Program.
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11. SUSTAINABLE DRINKING WATER TREATMENT
FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES USING MULTISTAGE SLOW SAND FILTRATION;
by Shawn A. Cleary.
A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo
in fulfillment of the thesis requirement
for the degree of Master of Applied
Science in Civil Engineering
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2005 © Shawn
A. Cleary 2005. page 31,32.
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12.Toxicant and parasite challenge of Manz intermittent
slow sand filter G. Palmateer, D. Manz, A. Jurkovic,
R. McInnis, S. Unger, K. K. Kwan,
B. J. Dutka Environmental Toxicology. Volume 14, Issue 2 ,
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13. Logan, A.J.; Stevik, T.K.;
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University of California
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Rav-Acha3 and V. Glezer3
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960 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30605, USA
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
26 W. Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
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Shungo Katoc, Akinori Takamid, Shiro Hatakeyamad, Yoshizumi Kajiic;
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Existing or Designing New Drinking Water treatment facilities.
EPA/625/4-89/023 March 1990 300048WU.PDF
pages 38,39,40,41. virus information is on page 41.
accessed March 11 2009. search for "slow sand filters
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31. Roofing Materials' Contributions to
Storm-Water Runoff Pollution. Shirley E.
Clark, P.E. D.WRE, M.ASCE; Kelly A. Steele, A.M.ASCE;
Julia Spicher, A.M.ASCE;
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32.http://www.purdue.edu/envirosoft/grants/src/msieopen.htm
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33. Slow Sand Filtration. L. Huisman,
Professor of Sanitary Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering,
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A Field/Laboratory Guide". Dr. M. A. Crayton, Biology Department:
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of Health Olympia, Washington 98504-7846. 1993.
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36."Removal of microcystins by slow sand
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http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=15776
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39. Cyanosite: (receives support from the
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Modified (FVB Tg.AC Hemizygous) Mice (Dermal and Drinking Water Studies)
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p. 424 - 432 biofilm


59. Visualisation of the microbial colonisation
of a slow sand filter using an
Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope
Esther Devadhanam Joubert; Balakrishna Pillay
Electronic Journal of Biotechnology ISSN: 0717-3458 Vol.
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64. Sophisticated Mayan water management system revealed
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by Kate Taylor

The Mayans used sand to filter water
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65. UC Research Reveals Largest
Ancient Dam Built by Maya in Central America
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66. Harvest your own rainwater to drink?
King County board considers it.
By VANESSA HO, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 11:26 a.m., Monday, July 18, 2011
King county in Washington state considers rainwater harvesting for drinking accessed 2012-07-17.

Links to other sites with information on biological sand filters:

Harvesting rainwater and BioSand filters

Brief description and drawing of a BioSand filter

Filters are used in many parts of the world

Drawings and explanations

Manufacturer of filters

Manufacture of filters

Nice explanation and drawing in English and other languages

Very detailed explanations are here at this site

More detailed explanations here

M.I.T. site

Commercial site and one of the first developers of the BioSand filter

Pictures and explanations here

this link has information about the size of sand grains: (.15 - .35 mm)

An article on slow sand filter maintenance