Build Your Own Water Filter

This water filter is made out of a 5-Gallon Bucket.  The Spout can be made out of PVC Pipe and added after making a hole in the bucket.
The filter does NOT prevent Giardia (infection caused by bacteria in the water - diarrhea is the main symptom).  To accommodate for this, chemical treatments, such as bleach, can help.

Update:
Asked Question: Do we need to put cotton in the bucket?
Answer: In between the sand layer and the charcoal layer, there needs to be a clean cotton shirt to allow better filtration of the water as it passes through the layers. You won't need cotton swabs or similar items, but a cotton shirt is needed to build the filter.

Asked Question: What kind of sand?
Answer: There is a great blog post at http://www.enlight-inc.com/blog/?p=2139 that helps to answer this question. From the web page:

"1. Sand: Fine sand will provide better quality output at the expense of a very slow flow. Coarse sand will provide marginal quality output and a higher rate of flow than fine sand. A good compromise is to use .15 mm effective size sand and then provide storage for the output water. Never use “beach sand” from an ocean beach, there could be all kinds of contamination in it, including large amounts of salt and anything that can be tracked in by foot traffic. Know where the sand comes from to be sure there is no contamination. Mason’s sand, “play sand”, or commercial bagged sand is a good choice, but must be sifted first, and then washed until the water runs clear. The best, and the most expensive, is filter sand; processed specifically for water filtration and rated for potable water. The sand depth is critical. Very small diameter, shallow filters (4 to 5 inch diameter, and less than 12 inches deep) will not remove much contamination."