I.m wondering if you could construct a modified solar still where you heat water with a small fire inside of a solar still. The steam would condense on the bag as it would from the normmal drop in temperature and run down to a collecting container. I think the collecting coontainer could be in the center and one or more fires on the side.

Another way might be to feed the tube from the top of a covered container into a solar still where it could condense.

I would love it if someone can figure out a way to set it up.

For the still to work you don't need to attain a rapid boil. A rapid boil presents it's own problems (melting your straw, soot on your condenser etc.) depending upon how much foil you have wrapped around your PSK you could form a smallish parabolic solar reflector box to heat the source water. Stretch clear plastic "garbage" bag over the top to trap heat and provide condensing surface and drain the condensate off from the bottom. This is a low pressure "augmented" solar still approach. Depends upon good sun and abundant water and a lot of foil.

None of these options has the potential for great amounts of production without much larger apparatus than we are likely to construct from the materials in a PSK. The solar approaches have the advantage that they don't require as much tending. you don't need to keep the fire going or prevent it from damaging the equipment. The disadvantage is that you don't work as fast.


A simple variant of this can be made by digging two troughs - one wide and the other narrow running east-west. Place a clear plastic bag length wise accross both trenches such that the southern edge of the bag just covers the southern trench. Use expedient props to hold up the northern edge of the bag so that it forms a triangle facing south with the open end either east or west. Fill the wider - northern trench with source water inside the bag seal the open end. As the sun shines into the bag it will warm the water and the entire interior of the bag. Some of the water will be evaporated and condense on the top of the bag where it will flow downhill into the southern trench. If you remove water from the southern trench and fil the northern trench you will get water. This is essentially the way some commercial solar desalination plants work

Is their anyway you could supply a diagram or picture of both methods?

How much gear would I need to carry a distillation kit and what would you recommend?

go here and checkout the simple cookers. Add a solar still type plastic enclosure around the entire thing in clear plastic for any of these simple solar ovens and the water will condense on the inside of the plastic enclosure and flow downhill for removal.

The two trench method is simpler but less effective. I am still looking for an image for you.

Given enough available fuel for a fire and some fist sized rocks, I’d build a modified solar still. By digging the hole deeper and setting the collecting container up on a stand, you could put rocks heated in a fire under the stand and pour the contaminated water onto the hot rocks. I think that would be a lot more efficient than trying to rig a PSK tin as a distillery and since the fire doesn’t have any contact with the still, no worries about melting equipment.

Once I am back home (i'm in Holland right now) I'll go and try a couple of ideas. I'll even see if i can get hold of a digital camera so I am able to post the pics.

But while experimenting this is what i keep in mind:
1. I am trying to create a model only with the tools I probably will have on me in a survival situation

2. keep it light. I could carry a whole seperate distillation kit on me but not only would that take away the effectivenes but also the fun in experimenting.

I can't wait.

Ryan

Last night I checked the Lofty Wiseman SAS survival handbook and he wrote some interesting info about distilling water. Basically that in theory my idea does work. So for those of you who have it check it out!

Reinhardt