Here is my current setup:


The tub is a 16-gallon pre-formed water pond container from Home Depot ($16), the plastic sheet on top is just some clear vinyl from Walmart ($6), hanging inside to collect the purified water is a funnel from Walmart ($1.98) with tubing attached ($0.99). the tubing comes out the side of the container and is currently plugged with a golf tee.

The water puddled on top is from a recent rain. I've found it doesn't affect the production rate any so I left it there. On a cloudy, cool day it'll only produce 125mL of water. On a sunny, hot day it'll pump out a quart or more. Luckily here in Houston we have plenty of sunny, hot days! Individually this may not seem like much, but several together can produce enough water to get by. The raw materials are cheap and have many uses around the home, so it's not wasted money. When needed, I could have eight ready to go in under an hour. It does work better when set directly on the concrete patio as the absorbed heat keeps it running long into the night, but draining it was harder so i stuck it up on the table as shown.

I have tested it with salt water and it worked fine. There are no metal parts to corrode. I prefer to use water from my three 55-gallon plastic pickle drums that collect rain water. There are also several ponds (and swimming pools) within easy water-hualing range. Raw water sources are not a problem. I just dump 8-10 gallons in the solar-still, seal the vinyl top with bungie cords and forget about it until the next morning.

-Mark