How to extract drinking water from sea water using a solar still.

In this video I demonstrate how to build a solar still. Solar stills can be used to extract drinking water from ocean water. Under most circumstances extracting drinking water from the ocean is an extremely energy intensive process. The name for the industrial process is called water desalination. This is the complete opposite. The idea was to create a process that is as energy efficient as possible while using no external energy sources other than the sun and the night air.

[@michaelmelad9430]

This method is very appreciated because the island assisted are very hard to see a potable water use in garden for watering thier plants.

[@Remraf]

It’s a step in the right direction. The biggest issue would be the amount of water that can be generated from the water Decell unit. Thanks for the comment!

[@ninatrabona4629]

Could you explain "island assisted" ? Are you looking for ways to make salty water into fresh water in order to give water to your plants? Fresh water is also sometimes called sweet water.

[@danielstewart9125]

I have used this method for years except for the inner jar. Inner jar is flat black coated which heats up the jar and evaporates the water much faster.

[@Remraf]

That’s cool to hear. What do you use the collected water for? It would be interesting to hear. Cheers!

[@jorgeo4483]

Distilled water is not potable, you need mineralizing it.

[@didgeridooblue]

The water still needs to be boiled to disinfect.

[@Remraf]

There is another way to disinfect the water. Put the collected water into a clear plastic water bottle and leave it in the sun. The UVA and UVB light will kill the bacteria if there is any. This has been proven by the WHO. This is a far less energy intensive process, the other option is of course, like you have said, boiling. Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

[@Remraf]

This is a misconception. Distilled water is very much potable. No doubt about it. Your suggestion about mineralising it is important though. There’s no harm in adding a bit of taste back to the water. The very act of distilling the water removes all contaminants. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate the feedback. It helps to generate a conversation about the subject which I believe is vitally important. Cheers!

[@jamespayne8781]

I think this is the right direction. One thought occurs to me is that it would benefit from a larger surface area to give up more molecules of water to the air. One bad thing about taking too long to decant the distillates is the opportunity for bacteria to grow.

[@Remraf]

Yep. I agree. I did design a system to help improve with the surface area. Check it out and see if there’s anything else you would change to improve the system. Cheers. www.michealfarmer.com/home/upcoming-and-continuing-projects

[@Artoconnell]

Is always wise to treat ANY raw water if you can. ( raw means water you do not KNOW the origin of).

[@dinosaur0073]

Thank you very much. That will be enough for small plants 🪴 to survive....we should never underestimate the volume.

[@Remraf]

That’s spot on! It’s a start and understanding the process means more than the quantity received! It’s just a matter of expanding upon this working principals. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate heaps! Cheers! On my website I have created a different variation of this where I water a plant at the end of it. I am yet to build it but plan to at some point in the future. www.michealfarmer.com/home/upcoming-and-continuing-projects

[@Marko-qy5eg]

A couple of ideas. 1) If you’re going to do anything solar you need area. 1 kilowatt per square meter is what the sun puts out. Your setup should be designed around that. 2) the salt water region should be as hot as possible. Your collection region should be as cold as possible. 3) colors matter your hot region should be black to absorb the heat and your collection area should reflect the light. 4) if you can bury the collection surface into the ground a foot or two it will always be much cooler than the surface temperatures. This will pull water out of the or faster. How much cooler is based on your geography but a good rule of thumb is the average of both day and night temperature.

[@Remraf]

Yep, I agree. I did design a system that had a focus on using far more surface area. It can be found on my website. michealfarmer.com Burying the larger jar would could potentially be a good way to improve the results without too much change to the setup. This is a great suggestion. It would be interesting to set up a variation to test the results compared to the normal setup. Cheers!

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

The emergency inflatable solar stills they use in long distance sailing have a piece of black felt like material inside a teardrop shaped clear float. The felt is kept damp from a 5 L saltwater reservoir. It is important the seawater just moistens the black material. If it becomes too saturated it impedes evaporation. The clean condensate runs down the inner sides of the clear float into a perimeter channel that drains into a freshwater container. It is about 3'/1 meter in dia. and can make 1 to 7 cups of pure water a day. The output is based on how much sun you get. Stills like the Aquamate emergency still are a good example of what I mean. I think if you floated a disk of something like black wool felt in such a manner that it stayed damp with salt water it would increase your evaporation efficiency. Maybe you could float the felt on a thin donut of something boyant so it just contacts the sea water. Note painting the inner container black is not as efficient at evaporation as a drying black wick that covers the liquids surface. This is why black wicks are used on solar survival stills. If water heated faster bouncing off itself they would make marine stills totally clear with no wick.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the awesome information. I appreciate it heaps! I have since checked out the stills online. They are awesome. I kind of want one. Imagine having a giant one of these made up to produce on water on a larger scale. Would be epic to try!

[@lostpony4885]

Do they have reflectors to increase production? 1 to 7 cups per day for 3 feet of device sounds tantalizing...

[@ninatrabona4629]

If you make a half glass from a I pint brown glass. (500 ml) beer bottle or a 1 quart brown beer bottle by removing the top of the bottle that slants (the neck) with a hand held glass cutter and a miter box ( in which to roll the bottle while cutting it), and use that as your center jar , it should empty more quickly. I saw a fellow somewhere on the African continent, where people find the most amazing uses for worn out automobile and lorry tires, fashion a solar cooker out of a tire lying on the ground. It was used to hold up a half sphere of reflective material like the inside of crisps bags that are shiny, which shiny film in USA is called mylar ( thanks, Mrs from Virginia, USA for this info and your video ). The African man used those thin aluminum metal sheets like the stuff some chocolates are wrapped in for his reflective material. He put a metal pot (painted black on the outside) in the center of his old tire and in the center of the reflecting half sphere. He cooked rice in it by the heat of the sun. ( He also .put a lid on the pot and a large flat piece of glass on top of the tire.) This should make the evaporation go faster and the. salt in the glass center container should be easier to remove than if the center container were made of other materials. If the water does not contain VOC's (volatile organic chemicals) your process will purify other contaminated water also.

[@Remraf]

Thanks so much for your detailed response! Believe it or not glass cutting is something I really want to learn. I have seen it done with string soaked in ethanol and then lit up and cooled suddenly to crack the glass. Your suggestion in regard to using the glass beer bottles is definitely worth considering. I would love to try this! Is there any chance you could provide the link to the man in Africa making the solar cooker? (I will also have a go at searching it myself) This would be great to see! I understand the process but the ingenuity of some people just astounds me! The power of the sun remains immense and well worth using in many different aspects of daily life. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate the feedback so much. Cheers!

[@alakritz4726]

Nice job being scientific with your experiment and measuring everything! Water doesn't absorb heat from sunlight very well because it's transparent. Have you considered putting an opaque (especially a black) object in the center jar? I would expect an opaque object to heat more quickly and then transfer its heat from direct contact with the water that you're trying to distill.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the awesome comment. I have thought about this subject at length. At first I thought the same. Apparently evaporation occurs from from light actually touching the surface of the water and bouncing molecules off and not the heat of the water itself. However, I think it would be worth trying. I have seen drinking glasses that have been left in closets etc… that have limited light and they still manage to evaporate. Perhaps I could try a couple of experiments to see if changing the colour of the inner jar helps to improve the evaporation rate. There’s no harm in trying! Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate it heaps.

[@stellaqaustralia]

@A Lakritz & @Farmer Thank you. There’s something…I don’t know…’refreshing’ about hearing some plain old intelligent, non-agenda’d conversation. Sigh. PS Sub #300 👍

[@vanessastuller8121]

I was thinking the same thing. I saw the trampolene in the background. I wonder if placing the jar on a black surface would be enough to speed up the process. Good luck with the next experiment.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the kind comment! I appreciate it heaps! And thanks for the sub!

[@Remraf]

Hi Vanessa! Thanks for the comment. I originally thought the same. However, upon further research I learnt that evaporation actually occurs because the light bounces molecules of water from the surface of the water. I hope to complete an experiment in the future demonstrating this.

[@brucewayne-cave]

Nice video. Try putting a huge Fresnel lens on it (from an old rear-projection TV).

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the suggestion. So many great ideas! Can’t wait to get around to trying them all! Cheers!

[@ninatrabona4629]

While researching solar cookers I learned there are a number of designs using Fresnel lenses and that there are safety issues because apparently Fresnel lenses focus a great deal of heat, fyi.

[@Remraf]

I believe there was a high rise in London (the gherkin) that was melting cars in the street because of a similar issue. The output of the sun when magnified should never been underestimated! So much potential!

[@ninatrabona4629]

@@Remraf wow! I had not heard of that one.

[@onestarabove7027]

A fresnel lens can melt rocks.

[@mariusneumayer4419]

Great experiment AND with COMBINATIONS from the comments makes a great LEARNING SURVIVING method

[@Remraf]

Absolutely! This was the main focus of the video, purely to demonstrate the process so everyone could understand it and perhaps come up with ideas on how to improve it. Thanks for your comment! I appreciate it heaps! Cheers!

[@Ben-qm9zq]

If you were stranded on an island 🏝 and all you had was this setup and a tarp, you'd be better off using the tarp. Just dig out a crevice, place the jar in the crevice and lay the tarp over the wide crevice, place a small rock in the center top of tarp. Water will condense underneath and drip into your container.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment Ben. I appreciate it heaps. This video was all about demonstrating the process so people watching might actually getting a better understand of how evap and condensation work. I don’t think my wife would appreciate me digging up the back yard to lay the tarp! I’d likely end up in it!

[@gerryroush8391]

Ok , it is just a variant of one I already know Dig hole put can in middle, cover with plastic, center small pebble😊 wait

[@Ben-qm9zq]

@gerryroush8391 lol, ye... depending upon the moisture content in the ground, this works well for about half a cup overnight. Daytime sun, you're going to have to add green foliage to the pit. Seal up the edges well, or it'll evaporate! It's not a lot of water but it'll wet your whistle 😜

[@Remraf]

It’s a glass hole! Thanks for your comment. Cheers!

[@Remraf]

I remember seeing this process years ago. There used to be a fella by the name of Malcom Douglas here in the land of oz. He was always good for survival tips such as these. Another method one could use is a plastic shopping bag over the branches of a tree. Leave it for a day and night and come back to drinking water. Thanks for your comment! Cheers!

[@mikevincent6332]

if you paint the inner jar black it will work MUCH faster

[@Remraf]

Hi Mike. Thanks for the suggestion. At first I believed the same. After completing some more research into the matter I soon discovered that it is actually the light that completes the evaporation and not the heat. The light bounces molecules of water from the surface of the water. Therefore to speed things up I would need to increase the surface area of the inner jar. There is an experiment I am hoping to complete at some stage to test this. If I do I will post a video showing the results! Cheers!

[@strawman9410]

@@Remraf Paint half of the jar black horizontally so the light passes through the jar and water and bounces off the back paint or activated carbon felt inside the jar and a black metal plate underneath

[@Doubledonky]

I’d suggest placing the jars inside a parabolic mirror easy to make out of a plastic dish coated with some graphite powder for pennies . Then maybe something black inside the seawater jar and making sure the seawater jar is at the focal point

[@teararoaclapperton819]

I love this idea, other than the seal. There are no toxic plastic :))

[@wattosacrim]

Hi mike. I currently distill around 6L of water for drinking per day for our family of 3, but the distiller is killing our electrical bill. Do you think its at all possible to distill around 3L (or even 1.5 to suppliment) a day from the sun?

[@rev3182]

If heating and cooling are the prime target, if the initial water is heated to boiling before placing it in the still might help as well as adding heated stones during the process and maybe burying it in the earth or placing it in cool running water like a stream or river for cooling....in times when/if water is needed fast. Is this correct? I am just learning about the process of distillation.

[@kmusa9498]

One extra component that I would add is some type of reflector. Something cheap such as sitting it in a large bowl lined with foil. That would probably speed up the process

[@hfred06]

Might I suggest that you put an empty jar in the middle. Put your marine water on the outside of the smaller empty middle jar. Then use plastic wrap (saran wrap type) stretched loosely around the rim of the bigger container. Then put something heavy, like a marble in the center of that plastic wrap weighing it down over the center of the empty jar. Then place the lid on the bigger jar. The rising evaporated water will drip down to the lowest point of the plastic where the marble is causing the center jar to fill more quickly.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your suggestion. This is definitely worth a try. I recently tried a similar technique but I failed to seal it correctly and it failed. I really want to try this. Hopefully soon. Cheers!

[@Remraf]

Hello! Hope all is well! I managed to finally get that other video together (previous attempt). Feel free to have a look. It’s not quite what you suggested but it has similar mechanics. How to extract drinking water from seawater. Failed Attempt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWa6eKyXZ7yCsM0

[@aimaction7393]

I TOTALLY AGREE, AND. ALSO NO DANGEROUS CROSS CONTAMINATION FROM HANDS, AND. TABLE.

[@ninatrabona4629]

In the original setup you are trying to empty the center container. You need the cleansed water to drip into the larger container.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your input! I appreciate the conversation, it always add more dimension to the project! Yep. In the original set up that’s how it worked. I emptied the centre jar into the larger jar. I have tried to reverse this to see how well it would perform. But the results were non existent. Cheers!

[@MattNewman-e9d]

I would like to suggest a black classic container for the centre jar. Also get a cheap bucket from Bunnings, cut it in half and line the inside with alfoil with the most reflective side or and put the still slightly raised so you can rotate the bucket to follow the sun. That would speed it up.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the tip. I appreciate it heaps! I’m glad so many people are thinking about this subject. Lining a bucket with foil would be a great way to create a mirror chamber. Spending time with it all day to track the sun would be the challenge! In the very near future I intend to use some of these suggestions and put them to test! The idea of using the sun to reflect the light back into the centre jar Is certainly enticing! Stay tuned for an update! Cheers!

[@numberoneappgames]

Great video on distillation!

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the positive feedback! I appreciate heaps! I want to make a new version of it. Hopefully soon!

[@timothyalanogrady]

Thank you for letting us see how your water from saltwater process

[@Remraf]

No worries! I’m happy to provide you with some insight. Hopefully it helps you to better understand the concepts behind getting this process to work. Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@richardboreiko]

Once the water makes the inner jar float, you may have some issues. Adding some rocks to the inner jar should help to mitigate the buoyancy. Using a solar tea maker with a spigot, for the outer jar you might also have a convenient way to take the condensed liquid out for drinking.

[@Remraf]

I will have to check it out. I have been looking for a suitable outside jar but the spigots are always 3/4 inch from the floor making it hard to produce enough to collect.

[@TheMark-F]

Thanks for a great vid... would be interesting to see if a solar oven could speed up your solar still

[@Remraf]

That’s actually possible. If you can refract the light around the waters surface so that it impacts it more often before dispersing it may create more evaporation. Great suggestion. I would be keen to give it a go!

[@lewistaylor1965]

Would a wick help to bring the salt water up into a place where it has more surface area for evaporation?

[@Remraf]

Yep, this would work well!

[@nickonicifor5638]

Генијално! Тако просто!❤❤❤❤❤

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your kind words! I aimed to keep it as simple as possible! I appreciate the comment! Cheers!

[@madzen112]

How about putting the bottom of jar in water to cool it down? Thinking it should prevent some evaporation of the clean water.

[@Remraf]

It’s possible that would have a cooling effect. I have heard that potentially doing something similar but wrapping the jar in cloth would create a wick effect potentially cooling the jar in a process similar to air conditioning. Thanks for your comment! Appreciate it heaps. Cheers!

[@WilliBond0007]

put the middle jar on a glass cup stand and dig a hole for the larger jar. If it is an inch or two in the ground, the ground should be cooler and the outer water won't as evaporate as much.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the suggestion and sorry for the late reply. This is a great idea. Over the next couple of weeks I will be running this experiment again but this time using perhaps three variations of it as suggested by people like yourself. I will run them side by side to see if there are visible result differences. I can’t wait to get this happening! Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@ninatrabona4629]

Yes, I think you will have more condensation on the clear glass wall of the outer jar and get clean water more quickly. If you knock the smaller jar over while trying to get it out, though, you will have to wash your equipment and start over.

[@mishaisle]

hello nice video, but can i ask how many days did you left the jar outside your house?

[@Remraf]

The newer versions I have left out vary from 3 - 6 days. I have also made different variations of the projects as well. Feel free to check out this video to see the results for yourself. Cheers! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l57YlX13nMx0lacsi=bv-6_jf0CHYl-dxZ

[@rebeccawhite9395]

I wonder if this could be scaled up? Perhaps using windmills to cool giant containers and using reflective domes to concentrate the heat of the sun on the container?

[@Remraf]

Yep. Building massive structures that replicate this process could be an extremely effective way to produce mass quantities of water while using only the initial energy requirements to actually build the structures. The rest would be powered by the sun. It could be the way of the future. I absolutely agree! Thanks for your comment. I would love to see someone spend a bit of coin in building a larger one of these to see what the results could be.

[@josephreynolds7505]

If you could figure out what day summer is in England. I would like to see those results.

[@Remraf]

Sounds like a challenge! I’ve always wanted to go to the UK. Cheers!

[@ethereal369]

Very cool, but if we're waiting this long for drinkable water, we'll have passed long before this point. What about actually heating the water?

[@Remraf]

Absolutely! Heating the water is the most time efficient ways to process and collect the drinking water. The main purpose of this demonstration was to show the most energy efficient way to process it. It is far from perfect. I am currently working on other ways to improve this. Thanks for your comment. Cheers!

[@relaxwiththerain2173]

Thanks for your amazing Video .. I was searching relatively for such Videos because I am Egyptian and We have the largest sand Desert on the Word ( North Africa Desert ) and in the North is there is the Mediterranean - Perfect Sun + sustainable Salt Water Source so how can we turn this experimental a Meagan project With 11MM of water daily ?! Is it achievable ? Is it Commercial ? Why we can't capture that water directly from the Sea Evaporation ? any Ideas ?

[@Remraf]

Hi. Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found the video interesting. I am sure that if enough thought was given to the idea that such a structure could be designed to capture the evaporation directly off the Mediterranean. It would be a mega project for sure but I believe if enough resources were thrown at the problem that a solution could be found! This is one of the most important subjects on the earth and for too long people have pushed the issue to one side in pursuit of other goals. Sometimes the answer is the simplest solution.

[@Sylvanas72]

I seen a moonshine still in a 3 rd world country. With the same concept. But you are doing it in reverse. The small jar catches the liquid. Put there is a funnel to the center jar for drip down.

[@Remraf]

Hi and thanks for your comment. Out of interest. Did they use an external heat source to complete the distillation?

[@Remraf]

Also, I did try something similar. Check out the video link here. It’s another video I posted yesterday. How to extract drinking water from seawater. Failed Attempt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWa6eKyXZ7yCsM0

[@Sylvanas72]

Yeah they used coals. Also the jars were made from pottery. The lid funnel was made from cooper.

[@Sylvanas72]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmHIdISNp9Kfr5Ysi=bGx5eAS2A38sasD-

[@Sylvanas72]

Go to 45 min in the video.

[@bethdeason5002]

Can this method be used safely for other types of water, for instance lake or river water?

[@Remraf]

Hi Beth. Hope all is well! This depends. It is very useful for removing minerals, dirt, salts and other unwanted materials from the water. It purifies the water to be exactly that, just plain distilled water. However, if there is ethanol (fermentation) yeast consuming sugars in the water when it is distilled the ethanol (alcohol) could indeed pass over to the water. I believe these are called “volatile organics”. There are a several to watch out for but these occur in such small quantities that they do not pose a threat. However, if this was a long term solution then boiling the collected water and allowing the initial Vapor’s to escape would be an awesome way of cleaning the water of volatile organics. Thanks for your question. I appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

[@noahriding5780]

How much extra bacteria ar eyou producing from it being hot though...? If the heat in the jar is higher than normal you could get some extra bacteria production? Or another idea is... will the water that's desalinized actually have lower bacteria content in it from the process?

[@Remraf]

There will be enough bacteria to share round. Don’t panic!

[@Remraf]

The jar could potentially increase bacteria growth. Therefore treatment of the water before consumption would need to occur. One way would be to boil the water, this could potentially lead to water loss through evaporation. A better way would be to store the water in a plastic coke bottle. The UVA and UVB (UV light spectrums) could then pass through the plastic to kill the bacteria in the bottle. There is a great section written about this process in Lewis Dartnells book The Knowledge! You should definitely check it out!

[@Remraf]

Also, it should be stated that there would be significantly more bacteria in the original seawater than the drinking water due to the fact that the bacteria isn’t carried over in the process. Providing that the jars are clean of course. I hope this helps. I appreciate your comment. Hopefully this helps people to better understand the potential bacteria content of the ocean water and drinking water. Cheers!

[@robwi7369]

You said 22 days to 24 days to empty the jar I paused the video to put my prediction in. I don’t think it’s possible to get the inside jar completely empty. Once the water level on the outside in the inside are the at the same level the water on the outside of the jar will heat up first. Saturating the air, only allowing the water inside of the jar to take over that saturation effect after the sun stops heating the water . Which allowed the jar in the middle to retain its heat longer.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment. There is some truth to what you say. Especially in regard to the saturation level of the air. Removing the moisture every couple of days would be a good way of maintaining the dryness of the air inside the jar. Regarding the water levels it has been discovered that light alone can actually evaporate the water, heat plays a part as well. The limiting factor is once the air becomes saturated. Good point!

[@StarrDust0]

It's a great expt, but a little disappointing with results, IRL one couldn't survive on so little water. I was wondering if the 'jar in a jar' slowed down the evaporation process....perhaps try putting the ocean water jar separately and have a pipe that connects the two...maybe put the second jar in cooler water for condensation (like we'd use cold ocean water in real life).

[@Remraf]

Yep, the output is currently useless but it’s a starting point. And its intention was to demonstrate the idea. Thanks for the comment! I appreciate it heaps! Cheers!

[@StarrDust0]

@@Remraf You're welcome, best of luck with your YT channel, glad to help...hoping one day to start my own too. hehe

[@AlexG___]

Spread the water thin over a black surface, use the greenhouse effect more using a larger glass case

[@Remraf]

This would certainly increase the evaporation speed but how would we collect the condensate? I’m think a vase like glass structure which blooms at the top to allow the evaporation out into a separate chamber and than the condensate needs to be separated so it’s doesn’t drip back onto the black surface.

[@AlexG___]

@@Remraf ya you could just use cling wrap lol, make a pyramid of cling wrap

[@roberttrautwein4156]

I'm thinking that a "parabolic solar mirror" focused on the center jar would produce better results for you. Thanks for the interesting experiment!

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment. I really want to try this at some point. The results would be interesting to say the least! Thanks for the suggestion. I really appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

[@ninatrabona4629]

Elsewhere on KZbin I have seen parabolic solar mirrors made from old cable TV dishes covered in a shiny material

[@Remraf]

@ninatrabona4629 perhaps if I was to dig out a hollow in the ground and lay out aluminium foil or house insulation? Then I would place the setup inside this. It would effectively be an energy switch. During the day the heat would be intense and during the might it would be a significant magnitude cooler. Definitely worth a try that’s for sure!

[@ninatrabona4629]

@@Remraf The sun rays that bounce off the aluminum are called radiant heat, if I am remembering my school science lessons correctly. When they strike something that can absorb them, like a stone or thick piece of metal the stone or metal will get warm and the result is called thermal heat.

[@ninatrabona4629]

@@Remraf You might want to remove the inner jar at twilight and replace it the next morning, as well as pouring the liquid water

[@laylamahamed1461]

This could save people from the rising sea levels and end drought in some places thanks

[@Remraf]

It certainly is a good demonstration of what can be achieved. Even though it is in a very small scale. Thanks for your comment!

[@L-Dog-G]

That's amazing 👏 🎉

[@mariusneumayer4419]

What if reverse the jars ? Put sea water in the outside jar, painted black, a cone shape on the lid to drip in the center jar. I believe the wider the jars the more surface to condensate and drip off of it. That's why the sea desalinator of safe/escape/surviving boats are wider. And yes with the help of the reflective surviving blankets would increase the speed as well

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your suggestion. I am currently editing a video on this very method. I hope to publish it in the next hour! Keep an eye out for it! Cheers!

[@Remraf]

How to extract drinking water from seawater. Failed Attempt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWa6eKyXZ7yCsM0

[@robpolaris7272]

You don’t need electricity or natural gas. Any heat source will work. If you boil the water it is much faster but this works if that isn’t an option like if you are on a boat. Also salt is SO useful without technology. With salt you can preserve meat, create a cooler, use it to brush your teeth as a toothpaste substitute,, remove oils and grease and obviously flavor food.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your input! Sea water is full of useful compounds. I have also made a video discussing the process you have mentioned. How to extract drinking water and salt from sea water! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGrMYmWjZZVpmNE This video shows and explains the process of using a still to produce drinking water and salt. And like you say both the water extracted and the salt obtained are extremely useful! The answer to many of civilisations current issues lay in the ocean. Time has done the work for use and all we need to do is take the time to extract it. For example, sea water can also be processed using electrolysis. And doing this will give you sodium hydroxide, chlorine, oxygen, sodium carbonate, a battery and a way to complete more electrolysis. It is a deep rabbit hole that’s for sure!

[@Sylvanas72]

Maybe try using a metal bowl for a lid filled with water. I'm not sure trying to help. This might be good for dirty water as well.

[@Remraf]

This is a great idea! I watched a video yesterday, that a commenter recommended, about a lady in the Himalayas who used a bowl filled with water to condense evaporation against! It worked well for her! This is definitely possible and worth a try! It would make an interesting variation. Thanks for your feedback and the suggestion. Cheers!

[@basketball78838]

May be you heard there is The Basilica Cistern in İstanbul. May be your country make the same under a mountain it can collect rain water. Basillica cistern is 140 meters vs 70meters rectangle and it can collect 100.000 tones rain water. Making the same under some little hills would be nice. There is some photgrapy in 1875 people going in it with wood boat.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the comment! I have not heard of the Basilica Cistern but it sounds fascinating! I will be sure to check it out to see how it works.

[@OxybroCone]

The Byzantines used to keep fish in that cistern to pre warn them if the drinking water supply was poisoned

[@robmthe1st]

Would this filter dirty fresh water making it safe to drink?

[@Remraf]

Hi and thanks for your comment! Yep. It would effectively remove all the heavy particulates purifying the water. The process evaporates only the purest water and condenses it into its distilled form. As many comments have suggested there are ways to add some of the minerals back (drinking it from a clay pot), suggestions have also mentioned that adding a pinch of salt back to the water helps to add electrolytes. If this was used for a long term water option (many vessels, or one huge vessel) you might consider giving the collected liquid a boil to ensure the collect water is free of bacteria. Another option that is recommend by the WHO is to add the extracted water to clear plastic bottles and leave it in the sun for at least six hours. The UVA and UVB light spectrums from our sun will kill off the offending bacteria. This method is called Sodis.

[@gfunkehauser502]

This dude looks like he's wanted for bank robbery

[@E-BikingAdventures]

'Dew' you know there's a better way? Squeegy glass panels every morning or run a towel over your lawn then ring it out. Ice can be used to produce lots of condensation.

[@lostpony4885]

Surround it with some mirror panels to get more sun! Emergency blanket over cardboard or something?

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your suggestion. I have started working on another set of experimentations in regards to this extraction process. At some point in the near future I may take your suggestion to the field to test it. It will be interesting to see what the results would be like! Cheers and thanks!

[@lostpony4885]

Tabletop fusion right there. I mean the fusions safely far away but its stable and theres positive energy out. Write the science papers

[@Remraf]

One of these days I might get around to writing this stuff down! For the time being a video log with have to suffice. Cheers!

[@anandg4221]

Use a vacuum pump and start with a very low pressure outer jar. Also keep its base cool, say by placing it on a wet cloth. Then water boils at lower temperature, speeding up the process. As condensation proceeds pressure drops again and the process continues. Also you need to find a way to remove the condensation away from the heat else it also boils reducing your yield. Very tall jar with its bottom in the shade may be.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate the feedback. I agree on removing the liquid in the large jar each day as it would save this being re-evaporated and saturating the atmosphere. A dry atmosphere works best for evaporation yield. The pressure side of the things is also very interesting. The biggest issue is the fact that both jars share the same atmosphere pressure. Changing one would lead to a change in the other.

[@thomasparker7305]

​@@Remraf it wouldn't matter that the pressure in both jars are effected. By lowering the pressure you are lowering the boiling point of water increasing rate of evaporation.

[@Michealfarmer]

@@thomasparker7305 that maybe true but in the end it’s the light from the sun that removes the moisture not the heat. The fact that we are lowering its boiling point is obsolete.

[@williamhogge5549]

​@@Michealfarmerit was explained well in another comment why photons are not the direct cause of evaporation. Also the example of a glass of water in a dark closet that evaporates is proof enough that local humidity is a much larger factor. Air pressure changes cooking times so id bet its a larger factor as well.

[@PetraKann]

You can get water to boil at room temperature if you decrease the pressure. Vacuum distillation is used in industry.

[@marcelb.7224]

If you use brown glass on the inside, i think it would be more efficient. Or/and if you use mirrors

[@xylliann]

Will this work on freshwater to remove bacteria or diseases?

[@Remraf]

Yep, the recovered water is fully distilled. Any microbial life will remain in the seawater and will not pass into the distilled water vessel. Providing the container is cleaned correctly before hand. In saying that it should be noted that distilled water itself is not a good home for bacteria ad there is little to no food available. Any bacteria would starve and than could in theory be consumed by necrobacteria but these would also eventually consume themselves out due to loss of heat.

[@Bundalaba]

There's this Guy Melting Metal and even made Molten Rock with the big Plastic solar Lens I kept pondering How to use that Energy to design an Effective Water still.

[@Remraf]

This video demonstrates the very basics of what is possible. It is certainly possible to expand on the ideas! The sky is the limits!

[@hildebertocarreiro9232]

U should have put metal in the water to heat faster

[@lostpony4885]

Looks good for purification from organisms etc too?

[@Remraf]

Yep, clear glass or plastic bottles in the sun, full of water is treated by the UV light from the sun. Spot on!

[@Thegoodspothomenvibes]

Thank you for sharing

[@Remraf]

No worries at all! Hopefully it gives everyone a better understanding of the process! Cheers!

[@JamesAlgure]

Se fosse aqui no Brasil em Cuiabá com meia hora já tinha água quente pra fazer um café!

[@Remraf]

That’s hilarious! Australia is like that in summer, at the moment we are finally getting to escape the heat! I could only imagine the humidity of Brazil! I would love to travel there one day! Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@diytwoincollege7079]

So with 60 or 70 of these setups, we wouldn’t die of dehydration on a desert island?

[@Remraf]

Yep. That’s right. With 100 kg of glass jars you would be good to go!

[@seannolan1833]

You could put a reflective material around it that would decrease the time to clean the water

[@Remraf]

Absolutely. This is more than possible. I aim to introduce this into a variation in an upcoming video. Thanks for the suggestion. Cheers!

[@vvalasek]

This is a great idea

[@Remraf]

Thanks! I appreciate your kind words! It’s a work in progress! I aim to improve it over the next few months. Small steps in the right direction!

[@timmyn7753]

This was great! I am planning to use this method for a research project at school, and I was wondering if you know what models or brands the jars used were. If not, would you have any suggestion for what kinds of jars to use?

[@Remraf]

I found these jars at a local K-Mart. I have seen similar jars at Targets and wall marts etc. the brand doesn’t matter, only that they fit one inside the other. Fermentation jars would be suitable as well. Pickle jars, jam jars would work as well!

[@Remraf]

For the big jar you could perhaps get a glass drink dispenser. You will find these at Targets etc as well. Hope this helps!

[@rogaldornthefortified6404]

if you had less of a heat load by using less water in jar 1 you can get faster distillation, though you'll have to refill your salt water reservoir more often

[@Remraf]

Yep. My thoughts exactly! You’re all over it! I was thinking along the same lines as last night. I am thinking of filling a jar with charcoal and then adding only a little salt water to soak into the charcoal. Then see what the results are! Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate the comment cheers!

[@dreggmancurien]

I love the background music songs do you have a link to them?

[@Remraf]

For a lot of these videos I have used an app called Splice. I have had a subscription for nearly a decade now I think. The app allows you to select different tracks for the types of movie you’re hoping to produce. They have an awesome range! I will see if I can track down the title of the song. Perhaps this would make a good video as well. Demonstrating how to use the app to put together the videos. Cheers!

[@drinodebeer9174]

Using the same concept, wouldn't it work faster if you can boil the sea water and gather whatever water condensate into a separate container? It could take less than an hour, instead of weeks.

[@Remraf]

Yep. Absolutely. The idea of this experiment is to do the process with the sun only. I have done the process you’re talking about in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGrMYmWjZZVpmNEsi=qrseLj1x5Z2h3Yg2

[@shivkumarbhatia1327]

If you want minerals to be added in water then drink water from clay pots which is stored atleast 24 hrs. In India in villages, earthen pots, Surahi, clay pots are commonly used for storing water for drinking.

[@Remraf]

Fantastic! Thanks for the information. I have a massive interest in pottery as well. Especially creating the pottery and brick clay from scratch. Clay works are an under appreciated technology that is one of the lynch pins of civilisation. Thanks for the information. I appreciate it heaps! Cheers!

[@chrisgann8986]

So it takes around 3 months ish to get one liter of purified water using that method on that scale. You can set up many of those or use much bigger containers.

[@Remraf]

Exactly! You’re all over it! It may be small and yields very little but the idea is there! Now to improve on the results! Thanks for your comment. Cheers!

[@GrayHand-jz6ie]

If you paint the lid black and put it in a pan of water you'll increase the yield. Even better would be to color the jar in the middle with the water black. If say you had a black coffee cup or metal would be better but you want to heat the salt water while cooling the jar's glass.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the suggestion. Keep an eye out for an out coming video using some of these suggestions. The idea of adding black to the inner jar has been suggested in a few posts but in different variations! Metal would be a little harder to get away with considering the possibility of rust. I really appreciate the feedback! Cheers!

[@phylbeeme2476]

Maybe if you look at the process as though the purpose was to separate the salt for use and the water as byproduct, you would have a much faster process. Build a table with a steel pan to hold the sea water & collect salt. Make a box around it a couple of inches larger than the pan. Get a plexi or real glass panel for the top and slant it so water slides to a collection trough in the extra space, fitted with a hose running down into a container. You can use a heat source under the pan to speed the process. At least, that's my plan: a sort of hanging shelf welded to the underside of the pan to hold tea candle(s) or charcoal. Neat part, you can do it ant time. And inside if needed.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your interesting comment. I have designed something similar to your idea. See my webpage michealfarmer.com for some drawings of it. However, I do not use an external heat source as it is the light that does the evaporation and not the heat itself. At first I believed it was the heat that caused the evaporation but with further research I soon discovered that it is the light the causes the water to evaporate. Take a look if your interested. Cheers!

[@Remraf]

www.michealfarmer.com/home/upcoming-and-continuing-projects

[@williamhogge5549]

​@@Remrafthis sounds completely wrong to me.

[@Michealfarmer]

@@williamhogge5549 yep. That’s what I thought. If you get a chance do some research into the subject. You will be surprised!

[@thesheepstationcook8266]

If you use a Black cup or bowl to hold the seawater that will speed it up as it absorbs heat more than clear glass - and yes remove the water every night so it doesn't get reevaporated over and over

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the suggestion. It sounds like the absorption of heat is the best way to improve the system. One day I will get around to making these changes that have been suggested in the comments! Thanks for the feedback! Cheers!

[@BelieverJohn72]

This works best in places like Florida where sun is direct and it's hot all day. Can get this condensed within 3 days

[@Remraf]

That’s epic. I would love to see that! We are in winter here at the moment, Queensland Australia. Things have cooled off significantly. Summer time is hot and very humid. Much better results then! Thanks for your comment!

[@gsestream]

what is a larger solar target than a small jar. a large hot air balloon that collects sun heat.

[@Remraf]

Yes. That would be awesome to try! Maybe place the jar inside it and then use hot air to fill the ballon. Condensation than perhaps runs down the inside of the ballon to be collected at the base. Obviously it would be a technical challenge to pull off but definitely worth considering. Cheers!

[@MRInuzaki]

Im curious as to how long the seal will last before the sun degrades it

[@Remraf]

This is a great question. And I am unsure of the answer at the moment. But the fact that it would degrade over time is enough of an insight to consider removing it from the design all together. I need to find a better way to seal it up. I think I will remove it completely and perhaps run the experiment without the seal to see what the results are. Thanks for the question. I will see what I can find.

[@shivkumarbhatia1327]

Is distilled water good for health? Distilled water is safe to drink. However, it does not contain the same minerals as tap water.

[@Remraf]

You are absolutely correct. In fact it is void of minerals, these remain in the brine (sea water), which becomes more dense as more fluid is evaporated. Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@shivkumarbhatia1327]

@@Remraf Another method is to catch the dew water in air condensing on nylon or plastic sheets and drinking it.

[@Remraf]

@shivkumarbhatia1327 I imagine this could be manipulated and directed into a vessel for collection. Awesome.

[@TrolloLogics]

Interesting experiment, would it not be much faster to boil a good 10-20 liters of seawater in a cleaned oildrum over a fire (closed off obviously) and collecting it in a secondary containing unit? It might take literally a full day of adding fuel in form of wood or spirit and burn quite some amount, still, you would have a massive reservoir of water in less than a day of „work“, if one might call it so.

[@Remraf]

Yep, definitely! I wanted to see what the results would be by using just the power of the sun! Thanks for your comment!

[@phylthamendment]

Put the water in the big jar put the collection jar in the middle flip the lid so it becomes a drip point put a black piece of cardboard to insulate the lid to allow faster conversation I'm sure you would quadruple the amount of water you get out of that. Having the outside of the jar exposed to the sun will warm the water faster having the collection jar in the middle will allow better conversation and cooler environment.

[@amelliamendel2227]

My suggestions are bury the whole thing about 2 in into the ground then put a 2-in spacer in the jar paint the inner jar black then retry

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your suggestion. I appreciate the feedback. This is without doubt something I want to try. I believe that this will be my next variation. I have experienced some issues with the last variation. I am currently editing the video and hope to have it released this evening. I may have to re run the last version again to get conclusive results. Thanks heaps again for your suggestion. Cheers!

[@Julian_Wang-pai]

How about elevating the smaller jar with a stand?

[@Remraf]

It couldn’t hurt! No harm in removing it from the distilled water reservoir. Thanks for the suggestion! Cheers!

[@serggreg3947]

If you manage to take out clean water, it will make process quicker. Because staying inside it vaporizers too.

[@Remraf]

Yes. I couldn’t agree more. The air becomes saturated, therefore removing the clean water is a fantastic way to ensure that only sea water is evaporated, not both. Thanks for your comment! I am currently searching for an easy method to do this. All the drink dispensers I have found contain the tap one inch from the bottom of the jar, therefore making removal of the fluid impossible at such small quantities. Unless I dismantle the setup. I am thinking that perhaps I will need to use a resin to raise the floor of the drinking container. Cheers!

[@victoroneschuck4139]

Thanks for taking the time to perform this experiment. Heat makes water boil for evaporation. How about using a black outer container on a black steel table to increase heat inside? Saudi Arabia is building a large scale desalination plant using mirrors focused on a evaporation tank. Interesting experiment. Thanks.

[@Remraf]

Thanks Victor. I appreciate the suggestion. At first I believed that water evaporates from boiling off molecules as well. When boiling a kettle this is the case. However, experiments completed by others have revealed something different completely. If you have two set ups. One is left in the open sunlight and the other is placed inside a box so that the light isn’t getting in. The one in the open sun light is the set up that will evaporate the most water because it is not the heat that creates the evaporation, it is in fact that light that bounces off the surface of the water that is creating the evaporation. A larger surface area in a larger container would help to improve results. It it would need to be a sealed container as to retain the atmosphere as it was being created.

[@victoroneschuck4139]

@@Remraf that's interesting! Thanks

[@aurasensor]

​@@Remrafif you put the two jars in a box you create insulation, thus it is colder inside the box (the air insulates). For a real comparison you would need a outer jar painted black. This you can compare then. Same size of setup of course. I will try that this summer. I never believed that black stuff absorbs much light though....

[@yogirecords4726]

Thanks. Great idea.

[@JulioCesarNatividade-j2m]

Simples, direto e objetivo.

[@Remraf]

That’s fantastic to hear! My type of comment! Thanks for your input. I appreciate it heaps!!

[@ibbergie]

Would this method also purify dirty water please ?

[@Remraf]

Hi and thanks for your question! This process can remove all particulates from the water, all solid material will be left behind in the sea water jar along with the salt etc... This includes most of the harmful material that could potentially pollute the water source. Providing there are no “organic volatiles” then you should be good. Ethanol is an example of a volatile organic that could possibly be distilled over into the drinking water. Benzene is another. If the water you are distilling is known to be heavily polluted I would be testing it before distilling. Bacteria is another nasty that can be removed using this distillation process. It is not without its benefits that’s for sure and goes a long way to purifying it. But nothing can be 100% unless tests are performed to confirm this. Heavily polluted waters might include places that have oil spills or contamination. These types of Organics can be distilled over into the water source and are therefore a potential issue. Fractional distillation (industrial process) is how oil is broken into its fractions such as diesel and gasoline. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them. Cheers!

[@feliciasmith7993]

it is also good to install a rainwater tank and collect the rain water

[@ricklulu3572]

Maybe using solar reflectors or mirrors to get more sun lights to increase the process .

[@Remraf]

This is definitely worth a try. It will be a variation that I want to try soon. Before that, I have a couple of other variations that I want to try, purely due to their similarity with the variations I am currently working on. I believe that small steps are important because any significant successful results will be easily pinpointed to a single improvement in the build. I appreciate your feedback! Thanks for the comment! Cheers!

[@roland9532]

My suggestion to speed up the process to couple of hours . 1 add sand to large pot 2 add glass jar to large pot with sand . 3 place pot on camp fire My thoughts.

[@Remraf]

Thanks Roland. I appreciate your feedback. With a few more steps your process would indeed work. But the goal of this video was to complete this process using the power of the sun. I appreciate your input. Cheers!

[@fanyoktavia1703]

put water in the large jar, let it condense in the top n drop to small jar (turn the lid upside down). burry them in black magnetic sand, it store sun heat (sand battery) alot of longer so it still work when the night come

[@Remraf]

Thanks for your comment and your suggestion. I did think the same thing, in fact, I did make a video on the process. Now to work out why I didn’t get the yields I was hoping! I love the way you’re thinking and I appreciate the feedback. Check out the video in the link to see if you can see where I went wrong. How to extract drinking water from seawater. Failed Attempt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWa6eKyXZ7yCsM0

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

I live in Britain - where do I get the sunshine from?

[@Remraf]

Good point. Would be interesting to do an experiment there to compare the results.

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

@@Remraf I've alread done it: put clean water in the inside and it ends up mud on the outside.

[@hannesrumpel4527]

Das dauert viel zu lange und hilft im Notfall nicht zu überleben. Meine Idee wäre, oben im Glas ein Auslass für den Druck offen lassen und unten in der Mitte ein Teelicht anzünden, dürfte wesentlich effektiver sein, oder ? That takes far too long and won't help you survive in an emergency. My idea would be to leave an outlet for the pressure at the top of the glass and light a tea light in the middle at the bottom. That should be much more effective, right?

[@Remraf]

Yep. This was purely for demonstration purposes only. It was intended to demonstrate how to use the power of the sun to evaporate seawater into two components salt and distilled water. I appreciate your feedback. Cheers!

[@NothingToNoOneInParticular]

What about a reflector to get more light into the jars? I'd rather do an alembic.

[@Remraf]

This would make for an interesting addition to the experiment and is definitely worth pursuing! If I ever get motivated again I will have a crack at it! Thanks for your comment! Cheers!

[@WTF_BBQ]

Line the inside jar with Carbon felt. It'll absorb the heat more efficiently and evaporate it faster.

[@Remraf]

I just had a look online at carbon felt. It’s would be definitely worth a try. There are so many suggestions and this is one that has legs. I hope to set up multiple solar distillers at once, each with a variation as suggested in the comments. Thanks for the suggestion! I appreciate it heaps!

[@WTF_BBQ]

@@Remraf A guy on youtube by the name of Robert Smith is a chemist. He uses all types of carbon for building batteries and capacitors. Based on a research paper, he tried using carbon for solar water distillation and the results were very promising. Turns out that Carbon is an extremely good thermal conductor especially Graphite. It absorbs heat from the sun and transfers it to the water very efficiently.

[@WTF_BBQ]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYSZeHRniayqkM0

[@WTF_BBQ]

@@Remraf kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYWuqoqZdqh_j5Y

[@WTF_BBQ]

@@Remraf kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYWuqoqZdqh_j5Y

[@wearebestofworld]

If ypu add any cloth strips in that water so it will make the process much faster. However the cloth strips suck water and sun start to dry those strips. And use black cloth. The cloth also increase the surface aria.. try it. 👍

[@Michealfarmer]

That sounds interesting and definitely worth a try. I am currently working on a rebuild and may incorporate this into the design. Brilliant! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@wearebestofworld]

@@Michealfarmer yw

[@brizzx32]

272 days to produce 3 liters of water? Im sure you could speed that up with some parabolics and some insulation and some copper pipping running through it. Steam always known to condensate on the copper pipe.

[@Remraf]

Sounds intriguing! Steam punk wizardry! Would love to put some of these ideas to the test. Several people have mentioned the use of mirrors. Over the next few weeks I want to put some of these ideas to the test. The copper pipe is an interesting one as well. I have distilled water the old school way, through an alembic setup, very similar to distilling whiskey. So many options to improve the process! Thanks for the suggestions! Cheers!

[@createch07]

Whats TDS & pH of same ?

[@Remraf]

“Same” as in the water extracted? If so then the Total Dissolved Solids would be virtually non existent. And the PH level should be neutral unless the extracted water is exposed to air where it will absorb carbon dioxide forming a solution of carbonic acid taking the ph to 5.5 - 6. I would need to check though to be sure. Perhaps this is something I can do next time. Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

[@petepete66]

You can take some metal pots instead the glass and heat both up on a grill fire 🔥… maybe it works better … 😜✌️🔥🔥🔥🍀

[@Remraf]

The idea of this was not to use fire. It was intended to be as simple as possible with as few moving parts as possible. Watching to the end would reveal this. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it heaps! Cheers!

[@petepete66]

@@Remraf ok thx 😜✌️🍀🔥🍀🍀🍀🌎🍀🍀🍀

[@bobbylong4443]

❤❤❤ cool

[@Remraf]

Thanks Bobbylong! Appreciate your comment! Cheers!

[@beginnereasy]

A magnifying lens can make solar light reach 1440 while water boils at just over 200.

[@jerimiah_y]

Now if we can find a way to keep the dirty jar from sitting in the clean water.

[@Remraf]

Yep, one of the many changes that needs to occur! Thanks for your comment. Cheers!

[@HangingRockKY]

Wouldn't it be practical to run a coil from a jar in the sun to a jar protected from the sun . Maybe even put a magnified 🔎 glass in the jar in the sun.

[@Remraf]

This would be an awesome idea. I love it! Maybe even run the coil through another bucket of seawater and then back out of the bucket (perhaps through the wall) so it condenses, it could then collect in a seperate vessel. This is awesome! I can’t wait to try this! And the magnifying variation is definitely something I want to do also! These variations will definitely be worth a try!

[@Ben-qm9zq]

A week or two... given how much water we need daily, you would need dozens if not more setups to survive

[@Remraf]

Yep, without a doubt. I need to improve on the process. I am currently working on another video at the moment where I am trying some of the suggestions from the comments. And one of the new setups has definitely helped.

[@TylerZoucha]

Did you boil this before and/or after to kill microbes? If not, that's probably the taste differential.

[@Remraf]

Nope. Never boiled it. I have read in a book that sunlight is actually a decent disinfectant. In fact you can use a clear plastic bottle to disinfect water from an unknown source by laying them in the full sun for a day or two. It certainly could effect the flavour as well! Thanks for your comment. Appreciate it! Cheers!

[@TylerZoucha]

@@Remraf Yeah, that is a valid point. And makes sense since UV light is a great disinfectant - it's even used industrially for this purpose. The clear plastic bottle, I'd imagine, would decompose slightly causing the off-taste to the flavor. Not enough decomposition to affect the structural integrity, but just ever so slightly that the taste is there. Depending on the overall exposure. My hypothesis is the following: Initial microbial life off-gassing and producing acids that dissolve into the water prior to their death. Might be a worthwhile controlled experiment if somebody had the means and tools to produce it! I'd tune into that just out of sheer curiosity. Keep up the solid work!

[@Remraf]

Thanks! I’ve been slack lately, currently working on numerous other unpublished projects. I want to get back to my KZbin channel. I have a list an arms length long of projects I can do for it. Hopefully my motivation to publish comes back! Cheers!

[@JS-jh4cy]

Does pissing make a 5 mm difference?

[@Remraf]

Yes. Yes it does….

[@TinusTegenlicht]

Put the bottom of the container in the sand, so it is cooler at the bottom and that way it will condens better.

[@Remraf]

This is most certainly something I want to do. I believe I will run this experiment out and then perhaps introduce this as a variation for the next set up. I appreciate the suggestion. And I look forward to implementing this idea. It has been suggested before and it is long overdue in its implementation! Cheers! In fact. I have the results of this original experiment. I may create a separate set up and test it against the results of the standard control I have currently running. Might be a job for tonight.

[@TinusTegenlicht]

@@Remraf Thank you for your reply, nice to hear from you! I wanted to do the same experiment in my garden, but burry one glass container and leave the other out in the sun and attach them with a small tube. But I haven't been able to do it yet. I also thought what if I put some aluminum foil on the shadow side or some black paper, will this increase the temperature?

[@Remraf]

This sounds like an interesting design, like having a seperate condenser attached to the system. I wonder how the evaporation would travel through the tube into the buried condenser? I wonder if there would be enough pressure to get the job done? Perhaps have the evaporation vessel in the sun, as you have said and than have a tall column above this where the evaporation could travel, and then condense finally draining into the buried vessel, that way the buried vessel would not re-evaporate. This sounds like a real winner. A good way to seperate the drinking water from the seawater while also stopping re-evaporation. Brilliant! I like it. Now to build the thing. I might have to go shopping.

[@MrSpaz7729]

Great video ! I wonder if the finished product tasted different from the previous distilled water that you tasted, due to the metal cup you drank it from ?

[@Remraf]

It’s possible. I have been thinking of ways to add minerals into the water to alter the taste. I have seen water filters that claim to add minerals to the water, perhaps I could use one of these? That way the distilled water itself is not stripping minerals from your body.

[@MrSpaz7729]

@@Remraf I don't think I previously explained myself properly. ! was not suggesting you alter the taste of the water in anyway. My point was that the metal cup that you used to drink the distilled water from, has unfortunately already altered the taste of the distilled water, (and not in a favorable way). I was suggesting that when you do your taste testing you should use a glass cup or a glass mug when you put it up to your mouth.

[@Remraf]

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a shot!

[@SherrickDuncan]

@@Remraf just break up some dandelion leaves or other wild edibles and grass and put in in a tea bag in the water for a few hours. Plenty of minerals.

[@hanasmith9647]

My thoughts too. I believe the measuring cup might be copper.