Making a micro water distiller

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by chelloveck, Dec 30, 2014.


  1. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    This is a clever design...you probably only need to watch the first five minutes of the video clip. The remainder of the clip explains the effectiveness of the system, finishing up with some hints and tips for best performance.



    You may possibly make a solar distiller by painting the dirty water container with stove black and containing the dirty water reservoir inside an improvised pet bottle container....though the production of distillate would most probably be much slower.
     
    Hanzo, 3M-TA3, tulianr and 5 others like this.
  2. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    PERFECT addition to a biolite.
    They should actually have this sorta thing as an accessory, especially for the base camp stove they're marketing to Africa.
     
  3. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    Saw one on youtube that used a soda can filled with water and a 2 liter plastic water bottle to make a solar "rube" distiller.

    Found it...

     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2014
    arleigh, Hanzo, Brokor and 4 others like this.
  4. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Nice videoclip...PET bottles and soda cans are common enough detritus even in the most isolated of places. A good way of converting Guinness stout into urine, and then the urine into drinking water....makes for an entertaining BBQ trick.
     
    Hanzo, Ganado, kellory and 1 other person like this.
  5. DarkLight

    DarkLight Live Long and Prosper - On Hiatus

    @chelloveck , I love you like a brother but please, remind me to NEVER come over for a BBQ at your place. ;)
     
  6. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    Any purely solar water distiller needs a fairly large "footprint" to soak up enough heat to evaporate a reasonable amount of water per day. The WaterCone is almost a meter in diameter and makes1.5 liters/day, at the absolute most.
    ().
    A 4" X 12" water bottle might get as much as 1/3 sq ft of sunlight, or 0.031 sq, meters. So the max output would only be about 0.046 liters per day. That's 1.55 oz/day. Survival-wise, solar distillation just won't cut it with a bottle that small. But with a fire, 1 cup of water in 40 minutes will definitely keep you alive.
     
    chelloveck, madmax and tulianr like this.
  7. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    You are undoubtedly right...however, it may be a matter of doing the best with what you have.
     
    UncleMorgan and tulianr like this.
  8. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    they are lightweight and stackable. and if affordable enough , you could have a hundred of them working at the same time.
     
    tulianr likes this.
  9. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    There is a commercially available "emergency distiller" that doubles as cookware. Uses two pots and works well. Then there is the old Boy Scout plastic sheathing, stone, and straw method.
     
    Homer Simpson likes this.
  10. nkawtg

    nkawtg Monkey+++

    I like that still design chelloveck. So many home made distillers let in contaminants in to the final product.
    This one is simple and compact.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  11. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    I see that water cone video posted in alot of places.... But I've never seen a site that actually sells one. Any of you ever find a link?

    I like cell's better as it's portable... Still not sure how you get the condensation in the coil on a hot day. Does a cool rag alone really work?

    I wonder if it could be adapted for essential oil distillation?
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  12. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Thank you nkawtg. Although the still will produce water clear of most contaminants...it may not prevent some contaminants, particularly synthetic chemicals from being condensed with the water. I am not so sure on its ability to remove radiation contaminated water in the event of fallout. Filtering the water to be distilled would be highly desirable.

    (1) the wet rag alone will create a temperature differential between the condenser coil and the steam travelling through it to help form condensed water droplets, it will work more efficiently if the condenser coil rag is positioned in a breeze and out of the sunshine so that evaporation and thermal radiation will help cool the condenser coil. Eventually the heat being lost from the condenser coil will heat the rag and the efficiency of the cooling system will be lost...but all one needs to do is re-wet the rag with cooler water. It may be feasible to modify the condenser coil by improving a water jacket similar in principle to the cooling system of the British Vickers medium machinegun.

    [​IMG]

    (2) There is no reason why the system couldn't be adapted to use in distilling essential oils. You'll just have to separate the the water from the oil in the distillate. having said that...it's probably best to keep your distillation systems separate, for the different end products (drinking water vs essential oils). I doubt that sipping water that has been through a coil that has produced a batch or three of lavender oil would be a great taste sensation. :eek:
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2015
    Ganado likes this.
  13. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Ofc keep them Seperate silly! I just like the compactness of your design but stuffing all the leaves in that small hole could be problematic... Then you have to get them out again =)
    *hands chell some lavender water*
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2015
    chelloveck likes this.
  14. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Chop the leaves in a blender with a little water, place in a muslin, or better still, calico bag, and poke through the bottle's neck and then, once distillation is complete, pull the bag out ...sew the bag long and narrow (like a sausage) with a drawstring with a ringpull....use a hook to pull the drawstring and bag out of the bottle so you don't scald yourself. Too simple.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  15. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    I don't know if you have a devious mind or a practical one =)

    But I like it =)
    Off to buy vodka bottles
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  16. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    I'm not sure about either...I do like to solve problems though.
     
    kellory likes this.
  17. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    I quite agree. Small output X multiple units = enough water. And if the small units are cheap or free, all the better!

    I've seen WaterCones "priced" at $69,95 each, but no place that actually sells them. Not even the WaterCone home page. Odd.
     
    chelloveck and Ganado like this.
  18. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    How long to get that mouthful of water?
     
    Dunerunner likes this.
  19. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    My guess is that you build more than one...
     
    Hanzo likes this.
  20. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    That is my guess too. As many as you possibly can. But the shot glass of water from two of them... my guess is that was pretty much an all day result. That will only be a moral victory in getting your mouth wet and will NOT sustain you. Would probably need 50 to give you one liter. Maybe. I am just guessing from watching the video.
     
    Dunerunner likes this.
  1. Navyair
  2. Ganado
  3. Dunerunner
  4. Yard Dart
  5. Asia-Off-Grid
  6. Asia-Off-Grid
  7. Asia-Off-Grid
  8. Asia-Off-Grid
  9. chelloveck
  10. Dunerunner
  11. Oddcaliber
  12. Asia-Off-Grid
  13. oil pan 4
  14. Bandit99
  15. phorisc
  16. cabot
  17. CATO
  18. madmax
  19. GhettoPass
  20. Amelia here
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7