Home-Made Single-Pass Water Filter System For Washing Machines

[Adrian Wong]

The Selangor Chief Minister, Khir Toyo, may have been a) smoking pot, b) delusional or c) blind when he declared Selangor as a developed state equal to countries like Switzerland.

Well, people say the proof is in the pudding. I say the proof is in the water. Just take a look at how wonderfully clean the water supply is at my condo. Remember, if this is the water quality in a developed state, the water in less-developed states must be literally muddy water.

We use a Sharp Aquamagic washing machine which features a water filter. However, this small filter is no match for our developed state's "amazingly-clean" water. Every wash requires me to clean the filter or else we will end up with khakis, instead of our usual whites.

Just take a look at the colour of the filter. It speaks volumes about the water quality in Selangor. Believe me, it's NOT uncommon for the tap water to look distinctly yellowish / brownish.

[Adrian Wong]

After over a year of living with the brown muck our "esteemed" Chief Minister, Khir Toyo, calls the water of a developed state; I decided that enough was enough. I had to do something about the water.

As I'm not much of a handyman, it would have to be not only simple and cheap, it will have to be easy to install. I also wanted to make use of components that are already at hand, so that I can just remove the filter whenever I like and the washing machine will work like normal.

Picture 1 - This is the current set-up of my washing machine. I intend to re-use both the tap head as well as the washing machine's water pipe.

Picture 2 - For an amateur handyman with little to no experience, I chose to use standard off-the-shelf components like :

- a cheap plastic water filter casing with a nylon filter (cost : RM 19.90)
- two reinforced rubber tubes, supporting pressures up to 10 bar, one 18" long and the other 10-12" long. (cost : RM 27)
- a 0.5" male-to-male ball valve (cost : RM 8.50)
- two 0.5" to 0.75" male-to-male converters (cost : RM 1.60)
- PVC tape (cost : RM 1)

Total cost : Only RM 58 (USD 16.60)

[Adrian Wong]

Okay, let's get started on this mini-project.

Picture 1
- First, TURN OFF the water main pipe that supplies the tap head.
- Then, remove the water pipe from the tap head.

Picture 2
- Here, I faced the first and biggest obstacle. After over a year in use, the tap head had become "stuck".
- Because it is really made from two separate parts, it came apart when I twisted it, leaving a small part still stuck in the pipe.
- If you have this problem too, do know that it's still possible to remove the rest of the tap head. Get a pipe wrench.
- Once it's removed, clean out the pipe in the wall. There is sure to be pieces of debris and PVC tape.

Picture 3
- Prepare the ball valve with some PVC tape. This is necessary.
- It may be simpler to attach the longer rubber tube to the ball valve first.
- Although I put PVC tape on the rubber tube's side, it is actually not necessary as its brass connector has a washer inside.

Picture 4
- Then just screw in the ball valve. Make sure it's nice and tight.

[Adrian Wong]

Now, time to prepare the water filter.

Pictures 1 & 2
- This standard water filter has 3/4" female inlet and outlet ports.
- Since the water pipe and rubber tubes are all using 1/2" connectors, we will need two 1/2" to 3/4" converters.
- These will require a generous wrapping of PVC tape around the connectors.

Picture 3
- Screw in the 3/4" connectors into the water filter ports.
- Note that the water filter has an INLET and an OUTLET port. Do not mix them up.

Picture 4
- Take the long rubber tube connected to the ball valve and connect it to the 1/2"-to-3/4" converter attached to the INLET port.
- Again, while I put PVC tape here, the brass connector has a built-in washer and do not require the tape. As long as it's screwed in tight enough, it will not leak.

Picture 5
- Now, take the shorter rubber tube and connect it to the converter attached to the OUTLET port.
- Why we are using a much shorter (10-12") tube here will be apparent in the next post.

[Adrian Wong]

Finishing up! Just a few more steps.

Picture 1
- Remember the tap head we removed earlier? Well, let's re-use it!
- Simply connect it to the short rubber tube we attached earlier to the OUTLET port of the water filter.
- Then, attach the washing machine's water pipe to the tap head.

Picture 2
- That's it!! The water filter is ready for use.
- In this picture, you can see why we use a shorter tube for the outlet. This is because we are attaching it to the long washing machine's water pipe.

In the future, should I need to remove the filter, I can simple unscrew the ball valve and the outlet rubber tube. Then I just need to screw the tap head into place and voila! it's back to normal.

Do note that if the water pressure is VERY high like it is in my condo, it can cause the water filter to crack and leak. To prevent that from happening, I installed the ball valve so that I can turn off the water when I'm not using the washing machine.

Of course, the ball valve also makes cleaning / replacing the filter much easier. Just turn off the water, press the red pressure release valve on the water filter to let the water leak out, unscrew the housing and replace the filter.

Till the day Selangor develops into a TRULY developed state with a clean water supply, we will have to resort to our own water filters. Fortunately, this setup is not only easy to do (even I can do it!), it's really cheap at just RM 58!

Updated Oct. 25, 2007

Picture 3
- This is what the filter looks like after just FIVE (5) washes. Look at how much dirt it has trapped. And this is only a single-pass filter....

Updated Nov. 19, 2007

Pictures 4 & 5
- After about a month of use (20 or so washes), I decided to clean the filter. Just look at the amount of brown muck it has managed to trap.
- These nylon filters can actually be washed and reused 2-3 times before you need to replace them.
- Yes, I know they are pretty cheap but let's do our bit to help nature, alright?

BTW, filtering out the muck also ensures we can use less detergent per wash, not only saving us money but also helping us save the environment!

[peaz]

Yup. I'm using that filter right after the main pipes into the house, so that i get 'filter' water for the whole house. guess what. after 1 day only.. it's all brown already!

[marc]

Hmm. Could the water pumps/piping in the condo area be the prob? Or maybe the on-going construction on the road outside your condo that may have been causing some damage to the pipes?

[peaz]

Nope. this is selangor water. Confirm. LOL! my mother can even see the difference from the kitchen tap water filling into a clear glass ! :O That's how dirty our water is compared penang.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by peaz

Yup. I'm using that filter right after the main pipes into the house, so that i get 'filter' water for the whole house. guess what. after 1 day only.. it's all brown already!

I wouldn't be surprised. The water is EXTREMELY dirty.

The single-pass filter is not completely effective. But it's good enough for my clothes.

For drinking, I designed a two-pass system, which I will be showing you guys later.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by marc

Hmm. Could the water pumps/piping in the condo area be the prob? Or maybe the on-going construction on the road outside your condo that may have been causing some damage to the pipes?

Nope, it has been going on ever since I moved in.