Outdoor water filter

Back in the old days, there is no need of having a water filter in our house.

The water in the stream is so clear you can see fish swimming way down deep and so clean that you can swim in it.

Not many will have to go to market to buy fishes as they can easily set the traps at the river bank. The fish that caught is big enough for a meal.

All this was a long time ago, my friend Chai remember well before any factory industries began, after that I don’t think you would even want to wash your feet in polluted stream caused it will make you itch.

Either the world we live in has become more in advanced technology as more home have some sort of water filtering system or our water becoming increasing polluted.


Having water filter is necessary to ensure water safety and cleanliness; it’s no longer a 'rich man's' gadgets.

In the olden days, what we must do before drinking is simply to ensure we have boil the water but these days are not enough to be safe.



When water filter promotion first started it focus on water filtering for drinking purposes but then as water became even dirtier, manufacturer include the outdoor water filter.

We use the outdoor filter for utility water on household purposes such as washing clothes, car wash and bathing.

If you do some renovation work before shifting to your new house , make sure you have the contractor to provide you a pre-installed piping follow by a incoming water flexible hose get ready when you want to install your new outdoor water filter.

Most of the housing water holding tank is made of fibreglass tank and some house owner may have replaced it with stainless steel tank.


Before installing the new outdoor water filter, you might also need to check the water holding tank to be sure it’s clean. Most people often neglected to do a cleaning on water holding tank after a long period of time as we taking things for granted, thinking the water holding tank is clean. We did not have the chance to peek at what’s inside the tank.

Some of the things that will shock you, other than sludge are dead flies, wasps, cockroaches, to more extreme contamination can found mice, rats, birds and even human corpse found in those rare few cases.

Residential water storage tank normally in the old days are placed outdoor, on the floor of the concrete roof slabs but nowadays it’s hidden from the view when placed inside the roofing attic. (Why change the old way of placing which is so convenience for maintenance work?)

It's hot in the attic

Normal cleaning procedure on cleaning the household water holding storage:


Turn off the incoming public water system (JBA water) from the main water shut off valve.

Cleaning begin with draining the water down and NOT to disturb the sludge. Once all the water removed or drain out, you can remove the sludge by using a water jug to shovelling the sludge out and a container of pail to dispose it. Scrub with PVC broom (clean one - NOT the one used on the toilet) to remove the stubborn sludge.

Once all cleaning completed, refill the tank by turning the mains water valve back on.

Urgh, Look at those dirty water inside the water holding tank 

Remove the sludge by using a water jug to shovelling the sludge out and a container of pail to dispose it.

It will take some time for the tank to be full, depending on your area water pressure. Also there is a need to open the water taps to allow any air locks to clear out.


After cleaning the water holding tanks we wait for the tank to be fully refill before using, to allow the pressure to build up.  Normally it will take a couple of hours, at the meantime we have restraint from using the water taps that comes from the tank.

Something went wrong as the next day water is not coming out of my taps that comes from the water holding tank.

The first thing you should do is check for the common an airlock in the water pipe.

Now unless it's the draught season - no it's raining season and the water authority board has decided to cut off water supply at specific times during the day(only when comes to water rationing), there must definitely be a problem with my water system. It happens when an air bubble gets trapped inside your water pipes and then creates a blockage, preventing water from flowing smoothly in your water system.

You can try to drain the water system down. You will need to turn off the main water shut off valve supply to your house. Then open all taps until all water has been drained down. After that, you need to turn on each tap only a little bit, let the water flow for a little, then turn it a little bit more. Keep on opening each tap a little bit more until they are all fully function.


Ehh....fail



After searching extensively we found the brass float was the culprit. There was no air lock in the pipe after all. The brass float provided by housing contractor was not a quality one or maybe while cleaning the tank, some of the sludge may get into it. I would prefer to replace a new as it won't cost much for a branded one. The brass float failed to open to allow water into the tank. The brass float is used for control the water level in a tank.

No problem when the brass float has been replaced.

An increasing number of consumers are installing outdoor water filters at their houses in addition to the filters inside the home but not all outdoor water filters are suitable for you.

If the water supply in your area is very dirty than using outdoor filter that based on membrane and cloth filter technology will not be advice as the large sediment particles will easy clog very fast your outdoor filter. This also will cause your house water pressure low and you need to frequently clean your outdoor filter daily.

Water from municipal water (JBA) contains chlorine to disinfectant and fluoride to prevent tooth decay among children but most owners fails to understand this by installed filter that tend to remove these two elements.

Most municipal water provider has to ensure some residual chlorine acts as a shield to counter or prevent contamination. Without it, water stored in the tanks will not be protected against possible contamination.

Generally most household will need to have a outdoor water pre-filter to remove dirt , rust, sediment down to size of 10 micron and reduce excessive chlorine down to 80%, followed by a indoor filtering for drinking and cooking need to be fine down to 0.5 microns to remove the widest range of water contamination by using carbon block filter or numerous ceramic filters. More advance indoor water filter now use sophisticated technologies like RO and UV filtration.

No matter what brand of water filter we choose to buy, we need to ensure that we need to do self maintenance washing, outdoor sand filter requires backwashing cleaning every two weeks. 2 minutes for slow rinse followed by 2 minutes for fast rinse.

Don't forget sand filter is not everlasting, it may only require sand replacement every 5 to 10 years if it is not heavily used.

By using an outdoor water filter unit surely save a lot of changing indoor filter cartridges as the outdoor filter already capture all the larger sediment particles thus prevent any premature clogging and prolong the indoor filter cartridges lifespan.

When you do your house renovation, get the plumber to add another kitchen faucet for your new indoor water filter unit. The kitchen faucet is for point of used when required for drinking and cooking.

Indoor water filter is a water purification process to remove contaminants from raw water to water safe for human consumption. Substances that will be filter during this process included thoroughly removal of bacteria, silt, rust, algae, fungi and toxic minerals.



I further request the installation piping to include a bypass system.
 This is for safey measure only as any low pressure or faulty filter I will still be able to use.

Water is so precious and yet we are taking things for granted, the moment you turn on the tap water you assume water continue flow out.

If there is no more water, life can no longer sustains all life on earth.

We must respect the water by keeping it clean from rubbish dumping, chemical pollution and water wastage  through leaks of pipe and fixtures.

I hate it when those idiots who toss their garbage into streams or rivers because it's conveniently for them. Don't they know it's the same river the drinking water is obtained from.

This is not acceptable!


Remember This Well.

NO WATER, NO LIFE!