Re: Anybody Using a Solar Still?

[COINARIAN@aol.com]

Mike,
If you want to try an experiment with a solar still, try building this one. 
All you need is a piece of heavy clear plastic sheeting (Home Depot) a nice 
roundish river rock, a few bricks and a container to catch the water. Dig a 
hole in your back yard where its sunny, and place the catch container in the 
middle sitting on a brick. Fill hole with water to just below the level of 
the container. Dont worry about the water soaking into the ground, just fill 
once, and let it soak in. Cover hole with plastic, weighing down the edges 
with the bricks. Toss the rock (gently!!) into the middle of the plastic 
sheet so it causes the plastic to bow downwards like an inverted cone pointed 
at the catch basin.

The sun will shine through the plastic, heating the ground and water in the 
hole and evaporating the water. The water vapor condenses on the bottom of 
the plastic sheet, and gravity causes it to run down the inverted cone and 
drip into the catch basin.

If you didnt want to dig a hole in your yard, you could get fancy and cut one 
of those poly drums down to make a giant bucket 2-3' high, and then secure 
the plastic to the top with a rubber band made out of a bike tube. Then come 
up with a way to hold the catch basin under the peak of the plastic. You 
could even pipe the distillate out the side of the "tank", and use a swamp 
cooler float valve from HoDe connected through the side of the tank to 
maintain the raw water level. Then you would never have to take the top off 
to get the distilled water or to fill the tank.  

David Chapman 
P.O. Box 55888 Phoenix Az 85078
Coinarian@aol.com  

`81 Jet Electrica (going to 120V?) & Too many other EV & AE projects to count.
Visit "Dave's World of Fine Junque" @ Http:\\members.aol.com/coinarian/index

"Success Comes in CANS!!"