solar water distillation

thanks for all the info.

Guys, I think I found my own end to my interest in this exploration. My ideas were that as long as I substitute the lost minerals in my food, then this will be healthy. I couldn't find anything much conclusive. Then I read something more based on findings:

https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutrientschap12.pdf

The part that I am most worried about is that: water without the minerals will be pulling the minerals out of you. I am not 100% sold on how that is explained but there are so many medical conditions related it freaks me out.

The second worrying part is the 'aggresiveness of soft water' on leaching whatever it is in contact with.

It appears that drinking distilled water for 'several weeks' is enough to cause numerous problems.

In conclusion, I have bought a solar kettle and will use it to make coffee :lol:

Hope you enjoyed the ride...
 
All that is bulldust really, really thought you'd already figured it out.

but never mind
 
As long as you are eating food, you can drink distilled water with no mineral-leeching effects to your body or health.

We could construct a scenario where you are adrift at sea in a lifeboat, but you have a solar distiller providing all the fresh water you can possibly drink. Even then it would take quite a while for the lack of electrolytes to hurt you.

I was a machinist mate in the Navy on a submarine, and one of my jobs was the distilled water. The steam turbine engine-system provided us with vacuum and waste-heat, and the steam-turbine generator provided more electricity than we could use.

If you take a gallon of water and boil it away (sending it to a condenser, to change back into a liquid), the pot you boiled it in will still hold the solidified salt and mineral scale. Therefore, we have a lot of "flow through", so almost no scale builds up inside the system.

We pull a vacuum so some of the water will vaporize at a lower temperature. We warm the water a little bit, and direct the vapor to a condensing chamber. The resulting drinking water is very pure. The crew drank this water on a regular basis, and i did this for about three years. Some "at sea" deployments lasted as long as a month.

Of course we also drank coffee, tea, milk, etc. We had salt if you wanted to sprinkle it on your food. If your food and beverage intake is low in vital minerals, I firmly believe your body will tell you long before it is a health problem.
 
There have been extensive scientific studies show the same. Many fulltiming cruisers drink practically nothing but RO water.

If you were deprived of everything else the effects if malnutrition would kick in long before starting to "leach minerals" from your bones.

Pure urban myth IRL
 
Thanks SpinningMagnets for your real-life experience.

---

Do you have a link to an RO study? Is all RO filtered the same? I know filtered water filters various things probably not every mineral...

Did anyone check the link I shared? It's long but if you just read the last 2 paragraphs of P.151 it gives you some ideas of the research:

It has been adequately demonstrated that consuming water of low mineral content has a
negative effect on homeostasis mechanisms, compromising the mineral and water metabolism in
the body. An increase in urine output (i.e., increased diuresis) is associated with an increase in
excretion of major intra- and extracellular ions from the body fluids, their negative balance, and
changes in body water levels and functional activity of some body water management-dependent
hormones.Experiments in animals, primarily rats, for up to one-year periods have repeatedly
shown that the intake of distilled water or water with TDS ≤ 75 mg/L leads to: 1.) increased water
intake, diuresis, extracellular fluid volume, and serum concentrations of sodium (Na) and chloride
(Cl) ions and their increased elimination from the body, resulting in an overall negative balance..,
and 2.) lower volumes of red cells and some other hematocrit changes (3). Although Rakhmanin
et al. (6) did not find mutagenic or gonadotoxic effects of distilled water, they did report
decreased secretion of tri-iodothyronine and aldosterone, increased secretion of cortisol,
morphological changes in the kidneys including a more pronounced atrophy of glomeruli, and
swollen vascular endothelium limiting the blood flow. Reduced skeletal ossification was also
found in rat foetuses whose dams were given distilled water in a one-year study. Apparently the
reduced mineral intake from water was not compensated by their diets, even if the animals were
kept on standardized diet that was physiologically adequate in caloric value, nutrients and salt
composition.
Results of experiments in human volunteers evaluated by researchers for the WHO report
(3) are in agreement with those in animal experiments and suggest the basic mechanism of the
effects of water low in TDS (e.g. < 100 mg/L) on water and mineral homeostasis. Low-mineral
water markedly: 1.) increased diuresis (almost by 20%, on average), body water volume, and
serum sodium concentrations, 2.) decreased serum potassium concentration, and 3.) increased the
elimination of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium ions from the body. It was
thought that low-mineral water acts on osmoreceptors of the gastrointestinal tract, causing an
increased flow of sodium ions into the intestinal lumen and slight reduction in osmotic pressure in
the portal venous system with subsequent enhanced release of sodium into the blood as an
adaptation response. This osmotic change in the blood plasma results in the redistribution of body
water; that is, there is an increase in the total extracellular fluid volume and the transfer of water
from erythrocytes and interstitial fluid into the plasma and between intracellular and interstitial
fluids. In response to the changed plasma volume, baroreceptors and volume receptors in the
bloodstream are activated, inducing a decrease in aldosterone release and thus an increase in
sodium elimination. Reactivity of the volume receptors in the vessels may result in a decrease in
ADH release and an enhanced diuresis. The German Society for Nutrition reached similar
conclusions about the effects of distilled water and warned the public against drinking it (7). The
warning was published in response to the German edition of The Shocking Truth About Water (8),
whose authors recommended drinking distilled water instead of "ordinary" drinking water. The
Society in its position paper (7) explains that water in the human body always contains
Click to expand...

I realise there is a controversy here....

Researching more, This guy attacks the above article. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319406161_Dispelling_myths_about_drinking_distilled_water

quite well on precise points... but the problem I have with all this is that everyone seems to have an agenda. The guy critiquing is invested in passive distillation and his writing style is not academic to get some cred on the topic I was hoping for.

This article https://www.iwapublishing.com/news/...ill generally remove,, and calcium (Binnie et. is the opposite but seems to be invested in pure water.

However, its a weak argument to suggest that we should make up this deficiency through water consumption (WQA, 2011). Tap water presents a variety of inorganic minerals which human body has difficulty absorbing (Misner, 2004). Their presence is suspect in a wide array of degenerative diseases, such as hardening of the arteries, arthritis, kidney stones, gall stones, glaucoma, cataracts, hearing loss, emphysema, diabetes, and obesity. What minerals are available, especially in "hard" tap water, are poorly absorbed, or rejected by cellular tissue sites, and, if not evacuated, their presence may cause arterial obstruction, and internal damage (Dennison, 193; Muehling, 1994; Banik, 1989).
Click to expand...

When you don't know who to believe, best not change what is working in life. I really want an unambiguous academic piece of writing based on studies. He said she said does nothing to give confidence.

The best thing about this project is that I have learnt about an incredibly divided field....
 
A couple of comments. I too grew up on a mixture of town water and rain water, and the rain water never had filters.
So too did many of my friends, until one of them got sick. Really sick. He got a bad dose of Cryptosporidium and/or Giardia - a common parasite in bird shit and occasionally discovered in unfiltered rainwater. It's been 4 years since his bout and he's unable to drink milk as his intestines were more or less wiped clean.

Filter your rainwater before drinking it. I didn't, but I was lucky I guess.

On the passive solar water distillation front, the main problem with it is the evaporation of water actually taking heat energy from the body of water it's leaving, reducing the average kinetic energy of the source container. So the solution is to ensure the volume of water being used as the source of vapour is kept as shallow as practical.

Some clever research into it though:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X15000155
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13762-016-1231-9
 
Thanks Jones, both why not to drink roof water and tips for shallowness make sense.

Every morning I see on the bottles of rainwater that I have horizontal on the ground I see condensation between them and the grass. I guess that means that the grass is warmer than the air.

My kettle arrived today and I got Chinglish instructions. Good I can use 12 or 24v....

s-l1600.jpg


I am running a test on it now on a battery. If it works I am not sad about the $36 AU. Guessing the right click means it will hold the 100C for 5 mins .... just a logic thing if its eggs
 
Distillation is the best. But there is also pasteurization. 140 - 170 degrees. And it needs to be held at temp for a small amount of time.

Someone came up with using a parabolic reflector and a piece of black painted copper pipe. At the discharge end a "valve" that only opens when the water is above a pre-set temperature.

I'm sorry I can't supply link.
 
I have come to this discussion late but am working on a SHTF scenario preparation for my home and have been doing a lot of research. My main goal is Comfort and Health for the long term. Assuming the SHTF scenario where it never recovers, I am not interested in solutions that require impossible to replace parts or chemicals. I am working on water, food, and shelter as well as medicine etc. My big projects are food/water and comfort.
Since we are talking about water here I will share and ask for any suggestions, my research.
If you have a problem with free enterprise, IOW wont deal with China, you may as well stop reading. A lot has happened since the last post on this subject (Jan 2021) that includes invention, battery quality, tools, etc. Many prices have come down i.e. Solar panels have come down from $5 a watt to less than $1 a watt and Battery quality has come up while prices plummet. . When this last post was made I was under Wind power with grid as back up. I have learned that wind in my area makes sense and a 2.5kw generator with grid tie paid for itself in 5 years, but wind technology is more expensive now and solar panels are cheaper so I have rermoved the turbine. The turbine, while effective took a lot of management and solar panels do not.
I have a 70 foot well with brackish water. Sea water incursion from the bay 300yds away. It is drinkable but I am sure that, long term, the sodium content would not be good. I have a rainwater collection system for my 2400 sq ft metal roof. It produces about 100 gallons a month on average but it is wasting a lot so could provide three times that much. The environment here is sub tropical so is HOT (100F) today and humid (50%) today.
To get water I have the rain water collection into about 1,000 gallons of storage, unlimited brackish well water...if I have electricioty to pump it and the high humidity that I can extract with a Dehumidifier.
1.) The rain water needs only to be boiled and filtered just to get out the big pieces. Under most scenarios, that will be enough potable water for a famliy of four.. Boiling will be with my 60" fresnel lense salvaged from an old projection TV.
2.) Washing, toilet flushing and general non consumable water can come from the well without treatment, but distilation would make it potable. Speaking of toilet flushing. I live on the highest point in 50 miles, even if the city is not treating it, the sewage will flush SOMEWHERE if I have water to flush it with.
3.) If rain is non existant for a long period of time, a dehumidifier can extract 30 gallons of water a day from the air.
4.) The well water can be distilled for potable water. In a SHTF scenario pumping of ground water by municipalaties will come to a hault allowing the water table to recover to a height and pressure to push the salt water out of my well and back into the bay and it should become a fresh water well again as it was 100 years ago.
5.) With solar panels I will be able to produce about 4 killowats of electricity durring the day and this will allow running of the latest techonology that I have just aquired, a 1 ton Air Conditioner/Dehumidifier/Heater "mini split" from China. Yes, I know that is not replaceable if it fails, but its just icing on the cake. But I had to have it at only $400 delivered. Also from China I got a small, 6gpm, submersible pump ($50) that will run with just two solar panels to extract water from the well if the home power system fails and it will eventually. The current pump is for pre-SHTF and is 60 gpm on 115 volt grid power. When the solar pump fails I will use a bucket.
 
John Bozi said:
Sorry but filters aren't something that I want to rely on, as an ongoing free source of energy. //burning fuel is not going to make anyone happy in my neighbourhood ( I do it for BBQs once a week already for taste though)

The old sock for sure will be a part of the process to filter out leaves and larger items that blow into the soup... Funny!

And NO to putting tablets as I already said. I wanted pure H2O or near it.

I should emphasize I have access to very very very cheap solar panels. My dad changed up to a new system and nobody will buy them at a decent price.

I want to use solar energy because as intensive as it is if you had to pay for it, I won't be. The concept is 'endless-sphere' endless-power, endless-water. // not chlorine tablets and drinking dirt.
Click to expand...

Where can I lodge a formal complaint: I was unaware that something as ambiguous as "endless-sphere" (and my actions, which condone those responsible for this platform) would be taken as meaning anything that anybody can possibly read it (them) to mean.

* Editorial note: the author of this facetious waste of the reader's time doesn't think it means anything important, but wouldn't be surprised if it were a cruel way of saying "science ended up back where we started, do you really think you can do better than SCIENCE Mr. DIY?"
 
I'm ordering parts to try this. I want water distillation as then I can camp by the ocean for as long as I can get food, and if I have water distillation, I can purify just about any water I find.

12V solid state heaters to distill water
 
I have boiled many tens of thousands of gallons of seawater in order to make fresh water, but that was at 164 F and at 20 inches of vacuum.
A solar distiller sounds like a great and timeless thing to do.
An RO unit requires a fair bit of technology to work. Distilling water is just boiling and condensing water. Hot and cold, no high pressure pumps and exotic membranes.
 
jimisbell said:
5.) With solar panels I will be able to produce about 4 killowats of electricity durring the day and this will allow running of the latest techonology that I have just aquired, a 1 ton Air Conditioner/Dehumidifier/Heater "mini split" from China. Yes, I know that is not replaceable if it fails, but its just icing on the cake. But I had to have it at only $400 delivered. Also from China I got a small, 6gpm, submersible pump ($50) that will run with just two solar panels to extract water from the well if the home power system fails and it will eventually. The current pump is for pre-SHTF and is 60 gpm on 115 volt grid power. When the solar pump fails I will use a bucket.
Click to expand...
Can you provide links to items purchased, especially the mini split.
 
gromike said:
I have boiled many tens of thousands of gallons of seawater in order to make fresh water, but that was at 164 F and at 20 inches of vacuum.
A solar distiller sounds like a great and timeless thing to do.
An RO unit requires a fair bit of technology to work. Distilling water is just boiling and condensing water. Hot and cold, no high pressure pumps and exotic membranes.
Click to expand...
Curious why you needed to make fresh water out of seawater. Where do you live? Interesting subject!
 
I am curious about one comment made that they wouldnt use copper for a distilling coil. Why not? Every house I have lived in since the 1960s has had copper plumbing and all the liquor that I have sopped up was most likely distilled in a copper pot. I made it to 88 (Sept 3rd) with no bad effects yet! Well, maybe some of the fallout from the liquor....LOL
 
jimisbell said:
I am curious about one comment made that they wouldnt use copper for a distilling coil. Why not? Every house I have lived in since the 1960s has had copper plumbing and all the liquor that I have sopped up was most likely distilled in a copper pot.
Click to expand...
Anybody is allowed to comment online about things whether or not they understand the subject.

Copper in the pot or the column is key for good alcohol distilling, because it selectively removes volatile sulfur compounds that smell and taste bad. Folks who use stainless steel stills often use copper scouring pads as packing, because stainless doesn't do that valuable job. Some copper elements should be located before the condenser, so that any resulting copper compounds fall back into the pot and stay. If the very first copper component is a downhill coil, then the compounds will get collected with the distillate.

I think the main issue with copper condenser coils is if you had acidic but volatile components in the vapor (e.g. acetic acid), putting reaction products like copper acetate in your distillate. But most things that could react with copper in the condenser coil, wouldn't ever get there because they don't evaporate at a relevant temperature or at all. Even relatively dirty water isn't likely to contain much that would leach copper out of a condenser.
 
The technology used on a steamship is way overkill on a homestead, but the principle is always the same. Water Heat Steam Water in that order. I have been browsing UTube for ideas and I am always dumbfounded by the one spec that is always left out on the DIY projects. Quantity over time. One video was about how to get water to the crops with no grid and a stream 200 feet away. He bought a pump for $80, a solar panel for $45 some pipe and various fittings. Looking at the output it was pumping about 2gph and he said "its free water" I guess he didnt count the $130 he spent on parts. He also said, "it pumped the water 200 feet" Of course that was horizontally but only 4 feet up. Judging by the stream he was close to maximum head. For that much money he could have done much better....MUCH. A spec that ius not stated in stills is usually how long does it take to get a cup of water. A solar still with a hole in the ground, a rock, and a plastic sheet just wont save your life. Sure it works but you need more than one cup of water a day!!!! The UTubers think that demonstrating the principal is enough and scaling up to a gallon a day will be easy. They never tried the scaling up part.
 
jimisbell said:
The water pump is at. Just arrived two days ago.

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The mini-split hasnt arrived yet but is shipping from a US warehouse.
Click to expand...
$390 is really cheap for a 12,000 btu 22 SEER mini split! I assume it's main use is for cooling/ heating and not for generating water? Let us know how well it works after it's installed.
 
Zambam said:
Looking forward to your results.
Click to expand...
Me too. But I'm winding up my working career and doing other tasks so it may be a while.

But in the meantime, this is where I got the idea. Not so much word about the production volume - I need to know that too:
 
Zambam said:
$390 is really cheap for a 12,000 btu 22 SEER mini split! I assume it's main use is for cooling/ heating and not for generating water? Let us know how well it works after it's installed.
Click to expand...
Yes, for AC and heating, I am replacing the 4 ton central unit with 4 of these, IF the tests on the first one pan out. It will give me the flexibility to use as few or an many of the units as I need reducing my energy load. Also, my old unit is SEER 14 and these are SEER2 20 (equivalent to 21.8 SEER)so even if I run them full blast I should save energy. Most times I will be able to cut off two of them. The kicker that got me going was that they had the dehumidifier function so I could collect water as well. AND with the heat pump heaters in them, we have mild winters, I could save by using them instead of the big NG furnace saving even more. AND with the low power consumption on a single unit the 8Kw Tri Fuel generator (or a solar panel array) could easily handle the house load after a hurricane (when it is hotter than hell!) when we might have 4 weeks of no power while the electric co gets the power lines back up. I will be living in relative luxury, running the generator on NG which is rarely cut off after a hurricane. And, all in all, its a good investment in SHTF....till something breaks.....
Also, the water collection here with our 50% to 90% humidity would be more than enough for just the two of us for drinking. The present 4Ton AC produces more than 30 gallons of water a day!!!
 
Looks like I misread. It's 20 SEER2, not 22 SEER as I wrote. SEER2 being an updated method to measure efficiency.
Are you installing the unit yourself or hiring a pro? Items 3&4 refrigerant lines are copper & aluminum pipe. I wonder which part is aluminum? Our Fujitsu 9RLS3H mini split had pre-made copper lines with brass flare fittings, no aluminum.

What are item 8- putty and item 9 - tape for? I do not recall our installer used it.
 
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