Solar distillation: Difference between revisions

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Introduction

Template:Stub Solar distillation is the use of solar energy to evaporate water, then collecting the recondensed water vapor. Unlike other forms of water purification it can turn salt or brackish water into fresh drinking water.

Cost has been a major barrier to implementing this.

Design

The main design challenge is keeping the distiller airtight. If not airtight, efficiency drops severely.^{[verification needed]}

Often a shallow trough is used, painted black, and flooded. A slanted pane of glass covering, allowing condensed water vapor to slide down into an output channel. Expect 1 gallon per day per square meter of glass.

Another approach is molded plastic, e.g. the Watercone (see below). This has the advantage that it is can be more easily made airtight, and mass production should make it affordable.

In 1999, the average American used 60 gallons of water per day (http://www.aquacraft.com/Publications/resident.htm)

Watercone

The Watercone®[1] is a solar powered water desalinator. It is claimed to be simple to use, lightweight and mobile. It is designed to produce 1.5 liters a day.

The WATERCONE® is a long lasting UV resistant Poly Carbonate product and can be used up to 5 years daily. The material is non-toxic, non-flammable and 100% recyclable. The black pan for the saltwater is already made out of 100% recycled PC. Even when the WATERCONE® becomes old and tarnished, it can still be used to collect rain water, as a roof panel or container for other goods.

The Watercone® project is looking for investors and companies to initiate mass production tooling and distribution. So the Watercone can be manufactured for a lower price and become affordable to the people in need... Single products are not available at the moment![2]

<img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/gmoke/solarwatercone.jpg" alt="" title="" />

Cost: The planned price is below € 20,[3]. This works out cheaper than bottled water once it is used for a number of months; however the target market cannot afford to buy bottled water, so this is not a useful comparison. Solar distillation needs to become much cheaper than this before it can achieve widespread use by the poor. The design looks very simple and suitable for mass-production, so a cheaper price does seem feasible.

Watercone external links

• EcoGeek, August 2007
• Watercone - An Ingenious Way To Turn Salt Water Into Fresh Water - The Sietch Blog, August 2007
• Watercone - WorldChanging.com, July 2006,

Temporary content from Solar water treatment

As suggested above, years from now, when your Watercone® wears out, you can use it to collect rainwater for the gravity drip irrigation system exhibited at the recent <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/10/19154/3051">Design for the Other 90%</a> show at NYC's Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

<img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/gmoke/gravitydrip.jpg" alt="" title="" />

<img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/gmoke/solardesal.jpg" alt="" title="" />

Change the color of the gravity drip bag to black and you have a solar hot water heater. [See Simple Solar Rules above.]

I plant my garden a month or six weeks early by practicing <a href="http://solarray.blogspot.com/2005/03/recycled-solar.html">Recycled Solar</a>. Place a ring of plastic bottles on the soil, fill them with water, plant seeds of your choice (I've grown tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, and greens with this technique) in the middle, and cap it with another bottle with its bottom cut out. This makes a solar heated coldframe or cloche.

<img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k18/gmoke/IM000099.jpg" alt="" title="" />

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/30/142018/700">Solar IS Civil Defense</a>.

External links

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