A water question

[quakerboy]

I dunno if this is the right spot, but does anyone know how hard it is to make distilled water? Idle curiosity, if anyone can help me here

Three scenarios, just to spark ideas if anyone cares to jump in...

Ocean water, home on a deserted island with no fresh water, but plenty of solar power.
Contaminated stream water below a mountaintop removal area, well went dry.
Collected Rainwater or greywater reuse.


I dunno. I started reading about Puerto Rico, which lead to reading about the unorganized us territories. Lots of little uninhabited islands, mainly with the drawback of no fresh water. But I hate the heat and dont eat fish so much, so then I started thinking about where one might shack up in a more temperate place. But then I realized is unlikely to ever happen, but I might just be able to go off/lower grid if I ever get lucky in jobs/money/resources. Or maybe this is easier to do than I would think.

Plus I want to clean my monitor screen, and they say to use distilled water for this, or you will get mineral streaks. And its too late to go to the grocery store.

So how hard is it to make drinkable water out of salt/contaminated water?

[Denninmi]

1. Well, with the proper equipment, nothing to it.

FWIW, I always wipe off my monitors with rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth -- that removes oil and grease film from cooking, etc. that plain water won't take.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. I don't know about distilled, but I have a Berkey

filter that is designed to make safe drinking water out of ponds/pools/etc.

You can google Berkey Filters to see a host of YouTubes on how they work. The dirt and food coloring tests have the best visuals.

[Melissa G]

3. Love my Big Berkey!

I have one at home and work and sometimes sell them.
They Rock!

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Well - then get yerself busy and tell OP why we are in

in love with these things. LOL!

A friend thought I was nuts for investing in one, even though 3 drops of rain will issue boil water warnings here in our 'burg. I took my sport Berkey to his house and filled it with tap water, yard dirt and red food coloring. Had him drink a glass of cold tap and a glass of post filtered water side by side.

Guess who then asked for help picking out a model.



There are a gazillion videos on these. The ones I kept were on stream water and the dirt/coloring test, but may not be the best. Do you have video(s) bookmarked that do a good job in explaining Berkeys?

[Melissa G]

7. I would not put dye and crud in my Berkey 'cuz then I'd have to scrub the ceramic filter.

It would work, but the filters ain't that cheap that I would want to shorten filter life.

Sorry, swamped at work. I don't have links handy. If folks drink the water from the shiny Big Berkey, the filter sells itself so I don't have much effort towards internet back up.

Berkey filters normally last a reallly long time. At my rate of work usage- about 5 years.

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. The one I have has those big black filters, and I agree

That is NOT the venue for proving by visuals. I used my little plastic sport Berkey for the gotcha.

[quakerboy]

9. It sounds like a neat filter

But it specifically wont work for salt water. Might work for my contaminated stream, but not my uninhabited island that almost disappears at high tide scenario.

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. Ah. Misunderstood.

I did a quick google on home desalination, and there are a host of options out there from what looks like mini processing plants to well water solutions and even one site that is promoting some kind of portable option? Guessing you already looked into those.

You may also want to cross post this thread in the DIY & Home Improvement group in the offchance some of the off-grid/solar peeps have come across this?

[quakerboy]

11. Thanks

I hadn't. Was being lazy and not using the Google. But now that its in my face, I may have to do so. Heh.

Not that I actually expect to ever be in a position to need the info, but idle thoughts lead to research for me.

I thought about DIY, and I also considered posting to the lounge. Lots of smart people there mixed in with the rest of us smart asses.

I do appreciate the Berkey thing. I had never heard of them. I started watching the videos, and was quickly pulled up short and informed that I was not allowed to purchase one unless/untill I wore out my current water filter. And seeing as that is still new in the box, an unused relic of the past when we had disposable income(or any income), it seems unlikely I can justify, or afford even if I could justify, that kinda purchase.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. My understanding of distilled water

is that it is just the evaporate when water is boiled. It takes a lot of energy, since you have to have the water boiling to produce the steam. You then collect the steam by cooling and there you have it----water, and the rest is left behind. I remember doing this in a chemistry class with a few tubes, but like I said---lots of energy used.

I also do not know if it will work if the original water has volatile chemicals in it. Seems to me that some of those chemicals may evaporate with the steam and be collected.

[Melissa G]

6. I had that same science class memory

There must be a way they get the chemicals out. I guess the heavier minerals stay in the boiling pot. I know we use distilled water in our fountains and steamers to keep the deposit build up out.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. Here you go: How to Distill Water Using a Paint Can & Copper Tubing.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5869637_distill-can-_amp_-copper-tubing.html