| Back during WWII, a substance was needed to | | | | consumption. |
| use as a filter for drinking water for the troops. | | | | There are actually two different types of DE |
| Many of them were finding themselves in parts of | | | | filters available: pressure and vacuum filters. With |
| the world where they had no access to the | | | | a pressure filter there needs to be a pressure |
| water they needed for drinking and basic | | | | chamber which encloses it as well as a pump or |
| sanitation. The filtering device also needed to be | | | | another high pressure water source at the point |
| lightweight enough for soldiers to carry with them | | | | of inflow. Vacuum filters, on the other hand are |
| wherever they went. In answer to this need, the | | | | quite inexpensive to install and use no chemicals at |
| U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development | | | | all. They are open to the atmosphere with a |
| Laboratories created a filtering system made | | | | pump on their effluent sides. |
| from diatomaceous earth (DE) which fulfilled all of | | | | Besides drinking water, DE filters are used in |
| the criteria required. After the war, the production | | | | swimming pool and fish tank filtration as well as |
| of DE filters continued. | | | | numerous other industrial applications. |
| So what makes diatomaceous earth work so well | | | | Although diatomaceous earth filters are quite |
| for filtration? To start with, it's naturally-occurring, | | | | durable and hold up very well to a great deal of |
| and there is an almost unending supply of it | | | | use, a time will still come when they will need to |
| available. Made up of the fossils of tiny algae called | | | | be replaced. After all, they work like they do |
| diatoms, it has no odor or taste. It is also | | | | because the small particulates in the water catch |
| chemically inert which means it adds no active | | | | in them passing only the clean water through the |
| ingredients to drinking water and other liquids. | | | | filter, so eventually the filter will fill up to the point |
| Chemically it is comprised of 85% silica plus small | | | | where water is unable to flow through. At that |
| amounts of sodium, magnesium, and iron. The tiny | | | | point some filters can be cleaned while others will |
| fossils it contains are small enough to filter out | | | | need to be replaced. Fortunately, DE is |
| very tiny microorganisms, chemicals, and even | | | | inexpensive enough to be cost effective for most |
| bacteria from water leaving it safe for human | | | | applications. |