DIY Water Filtration: What’s Actually Reliable Long-Term?

[StarlitNavigator]

Gravity-fed vs. ceramic vs. bio-sand: which DIY water filter has actually stood up best for long-term use, in your experience? I’m looking for something low-maintenance that still gives reliable output month after month. Any hard-earned lessons or failures to watch out for?

 

[AquaFern1028]

Gravity-fed vs. ceramic vs. bio-sand: which DIY water filter has actually stood up best for long-term use, in your experience?

Between those three, bio-sand has definitely held up the longest for me, as long as you’re patient when first setting it up and let the biological layer establish. Ceramic filters are great for portability and emergencies, but they’re prone to cracking, and cleaning them is fussy. Gravity-fed’s convenient, but most DIY setups I’ve seen don’t filter out as much as people assume. Did you find any tricks for keeping silt from clogging up your gravity system, StarlitNavigator? That’s always been my biggest hassle.