Activated charcoal/carbon & exhausted Britta water filters. DIY uses anyone ??

In message , clonet writes

You could always make a helium adsorption pump

In message , clonet writes

If you life near enough to a store that has a recyling bin for them, they can be recycled. Seems to be mostly tesco and argos.

You should be able to reactivate the water softener by washing through with sodium hydroxide (being anionic resin softeners) and rinse thoroughly. You could then use it for non-potable softened water, such as steam iron or house plants which can't take hard water. I've never tried this though.

I have a pile of used ones, but even in a quite hard water area and using them much longer than a month (usually 6 months), they haven't run out of water softening capability. The risk is that the bactericide (silver) wears out, and combined with debris the unit has filtered, it becomes a bacteria breeding ground. I only use them for water which is being boiled which will kill any bacteria, but not necessarily any of their resulting toxins, so indefinite use is still not advisable.

Mostly it's re-using the cases with new fills.

Activated charcoal is very cheap, in bulk quantities.

Dry them out and burn them on the barbie?

(Just the charcoal bit unless you're into check baseball caps and bling ;-))

Kids can have fun making carbon mics. Or if older, carbon arcs.

NT