I have wanted to give some insights into some of the pieces of life here that have become part of our daily life.  Above is a photo of our water filtration system.  Tap water carries many risks, so it is best to filter the water unless it is boiled.  Boiling doesn’t seem that appealing in the heat!  The “main” filter is the one on the top left, which has 3 “filtration candles” in the top container that prevent all sorts of bad things.  The water passes through them into the bottom container.  It filters fairly slowly so it is a good idea to think ahead and keep the water supplied in the top container.  Every few weeks I scrub it out as it gets a bit musty.  Thankfully the filters have an element inside to prevent the filtered water from becoming musty.

For this main filter, simply put, “Brown Water In, Clean Water Out”.  See below for a look at the unfiltered tap water in the top compartment of the main filter.  Often it has quite a bit of dust sediment in it as one simply can’t escape the dust in the Sandbox!

In the first photo you may have noticed it looks a bit more involved than just this main filter system.  This is because this system does indeed render the water completely safe for drinking, but it ends up with a slightly “chalky” taste.  To deal with this, we have the Britta filter sitting next to it on the top right.  We brought this from the US and are very glad we did as it leaves the water tasting very good.  We have enough filters for this to last a few years, after which we hope someone will visit us bringing a few with them!

Finally, the blue and white water cooler at the bottom right of the first photo is simply there to keep the water cool!  We use frozen half-filled 1 Liter bottles inside the cooler for the ice, and each morning fill up the cooler from the Britta filter.  Then when we have a power out day we can still have cool water.

Thanks to several people that have experience in the Sandbox for recommending pieces of this setup to us before we came!