solar water distillation

[jimisbell]

I may have been looking at a different ad when I quoted the SEER or maybe made the conversion to SEER2 in my head, but thts not important, its modern, not like my 10 yr old SEER 14

 

[jimisbell]

I may have been looking at a different ad when I quoted the SEER or maybe made the conversion to SEER2 in my head, but thts not important, its modern, not like my 10 yr old SEER 14

There are several videos on UTube that show how to install one. The putty is to seal up the hole in the wall where the two refrigerant pipes and control cable go thru.

 

[jimisbell]

OH, since you are new to this, I need to warn you that those tubes are easy to bend but when they do, if you aree not careful they can kink and then you are in trouble. If you need to bend one, dont go too sharp and maybe practice on some spare tubing to get the hang of bending copper tubing while avoiding kinks. Kinks are BAD news.

 

[jimisbell]

How much UV Light. I see "kits" that contain 2 small leds and a power supply and cant help wonder how much good that would do. Does anyone know how many watts per gallon per sec is required

 

[offGridDownUnder]

if you aree not careful they can kink and then you are in trouble

Seconded. And adding that my own approach is to always have a smooth mandrel (form) to bend the tube around to help avoid this.

 

[jimisbell]

I didnt mention a mandrel because in my experience it takes even more care to keep the tube from flattening out across the mandrel. The best way is to fill it with sand (which you cant do in this case) or put a coiled spring the exact size over the tube and again, you cant do that with this tube. Just be patient and dont get in a hurry.
offGridDownUnder You get up early!

 

[offGridDownUnder]

How much UV Light.

Not a quantitative answer, but look up SODIS.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

The best way is to fill it with sand (which you cant do in this case)

I question this, but don't know. I have thought of it, but not tried it.

I have the idea that if the sand is pure enough - this it, it's just sand - that it can be dried if necessary, and then vibration plus gravity and some gymnastics with the tube's form could iteratively lead to the exit of all the sand. It might be inconvenient in some configurations, but adding a break and a joint could allow dividing the problem into several smaller problems that are easier to solve.

I have already demonstrated a water distillation kit that fits entirely into a (my) Vargo BOT. I may have more ideas that require bending copper tubing to try the sand trick with.

I looked back over the earlier replies to try to work out what your "this case" referred to and did not find a concrete answer, but I infer it's something to do with fitting together the installation you find yourself with.

I did however notice that I think that you and I are attempting to solve the same problem mostly - living without hassle partly by eliminating dependencies. I'm solving the problem without a fixed home (I rent - this is not a story of tragedy) so my requirements are actually quite small, and I'm also focusing on making my solutions easily pack-able.

My username points to this. I am currently using my electric trike as my expected power source as well as my transport solution. Being able to live off-grid expands my living options on the periphery of some functioning community (farmer's market, library, pitchforks-and-torches if necessary in response to any idiot's 'Mad Max' fantasies) - my rent could also be reduced by selecting a "undesirable" rental or purchase (and I get the free wildlife, wind, stars, etc.).

I reach my pension age at the end of this year. I will be able to do more experiments then.

Cold can kill me, but heat will kill all of us. I've solved enough of the other aspects that I'm beginning to think about heat. An air conditioner is out of the question, but I've read of small electric ice-makers and now I'm keeping my eyes and ears open on that idea. Perhaps later.

 

[jimisbell]

my referral to "in this case" was about bending an air conditioner refrigerant line. Even the smallest virtually invisible grain of sand could stop an AC from working stuck in the expansion valve. I would not want to take the chance on a new air conditioner.

I am of the opposite opinion of the cold VS heat thing. Cold will kill us and is difficult to compensate for except with copious energy. But heat we can handle, just look at the Bushmen in central Africa. But solar air conditioners exist even though they are expensive. So unless the unit wears out, and it will, you have comfort. Solar heating is of course available but if the cold is severe enough...i.e Antarctic, then you are SOL.

Yes, we are working on the same problem, comfortable survival without reliance on anyone else for product or labor. IOW, can I survive in a vacuum of modern innovation.

 

[riding_on]

my referral to "in this case" was about bending an air conditioner refrigerant line. Even the smallest virtually invisible grain of sand could stop an AC from working stuck in the expansion valve. I would not want to take the chance on a new air conditioner.

I am of the opposite opinion of the cold VS heat thing. Cold will kill us and is difficult to compensate for except with copious energy. But heat we can handle, just look at the Bushmen in central Africa. But solar air conditioners exist even though they are expensive. So unless the unit wears out, and it will, you have comfort. Solar heating is of course available but if the cold is severe enough...i.e Antarctic, then you are SOL.

Yes, we are working on the same problem, comfortable survival without reliance on anyone else for product or labor. IOW, can I survive in a vacuum of modern innovation.

I'm not sure whether I should be commenting or not, but here's my understanding of how a cooling A/C unit works: the refrigerant is a substance which lends itself easily to being compressed into a liquid, and expanding into a gas. When it changes phase to a gas, it sucks energy (heat) out of the surrounding area to accomplish this. When it's compressed back into a liquid, it releases energy into the surrounding area. Household air conditioning takes advantage of this, and an A/C unit ends up being little more than a heat pump: it pumps heat out of the house and into the surrounding environment.

Comfortable survival without reliance on anyone else for product or labor is... well, far be it from me to tell somebody that their goal is "malformed," but without reviewing the entire thread, I don't think it's possible. For example, even if you achieve it in the future, you depended on information from your past to accomplish it. Logically it contradicts itself. Personally it just strikes me as a malformed concept, but I'd be hard pressed to explain any better than I have in this post.

 

[jimisbell]

So what do you do in the case of SHTF? You have NO choice but to seek Comfortable survival without reliance on anyone else for product or labor. Maybe you SHOULD "review the entire thread" I think relying on alliances with other people that did not prepare themselves for the disaster would be a "malformed concept". I dont want to rely on people that have demonstrated their inability to plan for the future..

 

[jimisbell]

Rock, gravel, charcoal. sand and UV in that order. If it is rain water that is all that is needed. The rocks in order of fineness Large to Small with the charcoal...no it doesnt need to be activated charcoal....before the sand so that small particles of charcoal will be filtered out of the final water is all that is needed for rainwater or AC distillate. (Rainwater IS distilled water) The charcoal filter helps with the taste, removes chemicals and odors. If you have well water or sea water you should have either RO or a still to get rid of salt or other impurities. UV light is available without infrastructure from solar powered UV lights or just put the water in a clear bottle in the open sun for 5 minutes Or simply running it thru a clear glass pipe in the sunlight. Using UV on distilled water or rainwater may not be necessary, but it wont hurt and it is easy, anyway, if you have sunshine.
A final filter of crushed limestone or, well washed, crushed, sea shells will greatly improve the taste.

 

[riding_on]

Rock, gravel, charcoal. sand and UV in that order. If it is rain water that is all that is needed. The rocks in order of fineness Large to Small with the charcoal...no it doesnt need to be activated charcoal....before the sand so that small particles of charcoal will be filtered out of the final water is all that is needed for rainwater or AC distillate. (Rainwater IS distilled water) The charcoal filter helps with the taste, removes chemicals and odors. If you have well water or sea water you should have either RO or a still to get rid of salt or other impurities. UV light is available without infrastructure from solar powered UV lights or just put the water in a clear bottle in the open sun for 5 minutes Or simply running it thru a clear glass pipe in the sunlight. Using UV on distilled water or rainwater may not be necessary, but it wont hurt and it is easy, anyway, if you have sunshine.
A final filter of crushed limestone or, well washed, crushed, sea shells will greatly improve the taste.

I don't understand everything you're saying, but I meant no offense. I was just being honest and blunt; feel free to ignore my input, particularly since I was mistaken about what you were getting at to begin with. You're right, it isn't a self contradicting goal at all. The error was mine.