Not a solar still, but a fabric that gathers nighttime dew and drains it to a catchbasin: story, video, homepage.

What are the implications for personal survival? I'm not suggesting that a person carry 50 pounds of plastic mesh in case they need to build one of these. But a thought experiment:

- Could this idea scale down to be leveraged by a survivor? If you could collect just 1/2 to 1 liter per day with little effort, it would be worthwhile and potentially lifesaving.

- How could the fabric's action be approximated with improvised or scavenged materials: bug netting? Fabric from the plane/auto? Drape a patchwork of spare clothing on a frame of saplings? How effective would this approximation be? What's the yield-to-work ratio?

I think it would be kinda cool to experiment with this.

On the Channel Islands (USA),small scale experiments with window screening yielded water.The situation was ideal,with abundant fog. On Santa Rosa island, there is a large oak I have dubbed "the car wash tree" because it is always dripping noticeable abundant water on a typically foggy morning....

Good stuff! I wonder what it would cost to make one?

I'm always fascinated with survival techniques that yield surprising value from (sometimes) unexpected resources, like dew collection and Super Shelters. That's why the Warka Water project caught my eye.

There's a YouTube user who goes by "Colhane" who has spent a lot of time in the wilds of Brazil, and his channel has a huge amount of great info. In this video he demonstrates dew collection while on an overnight in a dry grassland area of Brazil. You can see that in those conditions, tying 2 or 3 rags on a stick can gather a surprising amount of water but you need to be able to treat it.

What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.

Interesting- why would you have to treat water gathered from condensation? I wouldn't think bugs in the water could travel along with it in vapor form.

One of the items in my survival kit (larger than pocket size kit) is a clear plastic bag. It can be wrapped around some vegetation and will produce condensation inside the bag. Not large quantities, but it does produce some water. This is something taught by the late Ron Hood of Hood's Woods.

The water is pure at the point it condenses, but then it is in contact with the vegetation & such from which you gather it. That vegetation has plenty of contamination on it from soil-based microbes and bird crap. Of course there's many variables, though I think it's a case where you purify the water if at all possible but if you don't have the means, you just take your chances.

I can't quantify it but I would expect that in a dusty environment with herd animals there would be an enhanced risk of the dust on vegetation having a degree of fecal contamination.



Yep, gather dew when the sun is down then run transpiration bags when the sun is up. Together these 2 methods could make a huge difference in your hydration.

Gene Ward's widow still operates his online store, where they sell plastic bags that are excellent for transpiration. They come flat-packed and are just the right size and thickness. I have some in my kits.

As you may know, Californians are urged to conserve water. Among other practices, I have taken to wiping down my vehicle with a clean paper towel early in the morning, rather than a conventional car wash. I'll et I could collect a liter of water every morning....

would that work using a baking bag? I have got in the habit of always adding a baking bag (and 6 water purification tablets) to my kits, if the baking bag would work in this manner I could see it as just another reason to add them to my kits

I have never tried a baking bag. I know it needs to be a clear bag, and the more vegetation you can cover, the better. I would try it if I were you. Just put the bag over the vegetation and seal the opening around the branch as tightly as possible (I use a rubber band or tape). To retrieve the water you can either penetrate the bag with a small hole, and then cover it with tape, or open the bag and take it down. I have heard of using surgical tubing as a straw as well, like in the sketches of a solar still. Essentially this is a solar still, extracting the moisture from the vegetation.

Does anybody have any actual numbers on how much water a meter of fabric can yield?

I would guess it would depend on many other variables, not just the size of the material.