Make A Water Filter From Old Tires
by Tim McGee, Western Massachusetts 
on 11.21.06
Crumb rubber, chewed up old tires, is used on athletic tracks, playgrounds, and increasingly as an alternative to mulch. Now, Dr. Yuefeng Xie, associate professor of environmental engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, has found crumb rubber makes an excellent water filter.
"My research has found that crumb rubber, derived from waste tires, can be used as a filter media," Xie explains. "The crumb rubber could be used for treating wastewater, ship ballast water, and storm water."
His research shows that the crumb rubber is more efficient than anthracite or sand filters. More traditional filters rearrange themselves to allow larger particles through at the bottom, and finer particles filtered out on top- this is exactly the opposite of what you want to have happen. The rubber keeps the large particles out on top, and thus creates a much higher throughput. The rubber filter is also lighter in weight, making it ideal for portable emergency filtration. The use of waste tires also makes this an much cheaper option, and better than sitting in a landfill.:: Penn State
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There's a "then" where there should be a "than" :) Otherwise, great article!
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A. Note- ooops,Thanks, fixed!
This is a very interesting idea. I just wonder about the possibility of leaching out toxics during the filtration. After wastewater, ship ballast water, and storm water are filtered, they generally go directly into the environment. Have tests been done to make sure that no benzene, toluene, or other aromatics get leached into the water? I am all for not putting waste tires in landfills and for making filtration cheaper. I just want to make sure that we don't start new problems in the meantime.
I'm no expert on tires but I did a little research when I got interested in Earthship architecture.
there are no leachates from tires when encapsualted properly in the homes. there was some concern for off-gassing from UV exposure as well but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of that, either.
it COULD be possible that once they've been crumbed, there might be leachates released from the former interior surfaces but once washed they're not likely to continue releasing toxins.
I love the idea. More solutions for waste auto tires! I liked the mulch idea as well and most if not all plants should give indication of any toxins being released.
Wow !
that's an old idea to make a filter for our water needs. thaks for the information.
What a great indea to make water filters by using rubber tyres.Today it is very needy to find shower water filters for getting healthier water.
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i looking to invesment in recycle tire...what your advice...zayed
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Authors Note: You may want to try and contact the patent holder Dr. Yuefeng Xie, and see if corporations have licensed the patent.
Im all for the recycling of tyres and have been looking at the idea of using them as pot plants as i flat and cannot have a garden so i want to make a portable one.
My concern is that i have been researching my concern of dioxin leaching from the tyre into the plants and have come across many websites that discuss the leaching of toxins from tyres.
That is one of the main problems of them not being suitable for landfills, they leach toxins.
There have also been incidents where it was recycled into sport centre surfaces and again they had the problem of leaching, especially from shredded tyres.
I'm just pushing the point to be careful and fully research the possibility.
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Authors Note:
I agree, a precautionary principle is missing in many re-use items (as well as new items here in the US). If our primary products were non-toxic- we would not have this sort of issue... changing the way we make our everyday things is one of those fundamental principles of green products. In this case however, I was mostly interested in the physical nature of the filter, and why it doesn't clog. If it were to be used I would see if there is a way to get a tire type that doesn't have 3,000 unknown or known toxic compounds.
this is a very cool idea. However how to keep it always work well?