Looking for feedback on these water filtration products. One of them, the SeaPack, converts salt water into a survival drink. www.sea-pack.com No electricity. No pumping. Far less expensive than a hand held RO pump. Thanks for your feedback. Rick
Cool!... good features and price point... might be worth giving it a try... I've got the Katadyn Survivor 35....
A few points I'm uncomfortable with . . . 1) Requires 'syrup packs' to "drive" the process. 2) Limited filter life? At least one version states it only lasts through ten cycles - and that's the expensive bugger! 3) Limited output. You'd really need two to provide enough water per day for one person, expecially if under exertion. 4) Expensive for it's limitations. I could see it as a car or boat carried piece of gear - but operation is obviously far too slow for pack use. The basic concept is interesting - but I'll wait til the bugs are worked out.
How does distillation rack up against salt water? If anyone here has access to a portable camp stove, a TIG welder and some stainless rod, you should try and weld together a portable distiller out of stainless steel cups and such. I don't see why it wouldn't work, the water in the pot would get saltier and saltier, and the steam running off should be clean enough to drink, right? If I get a nice little 110v TIG welder for christmas then I'll see if I can make one.
You are correct, distillation will do it, almost without consideration of what is in the feed stock. The problem is that distillation is expensive in terms of required heat input for boiling. There are a few tricks you can use to reduce fuel requirements, but those are not (even close) to being practical on small scales. Now, if there is waste heat around, that can be used productively. If you can live with low rate output, a solar still works well. Bear in mind that solar stills are low temp, and a bit of care has to be employed when setting up a condenser to prevent cross contamination from the feed stock.
I wonder if hand-crank operated vacuum devices for boiling water exist... Since water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, someone's gotta have something like that invented by now. The real question is would it be more or less efficient than a hand crank operated device for heating water electrically... I'll have to read more.
No real need to weld up a still, get a pressure cooker, some copper tubeing that fits to the nipple the weight goes on and a clamp to hold it in place. Then you just put the water in, close it up and disstill the water and after cleaning it up and removeing the tubeing it could still be used as a pressure cooker. If you heat with wood or some such then durring cold weather the water can be distilled by just useing the heat source that heats the house.
