Solar still - Sea made drinkable

Solar still makes fresh water from salt water. Used in Liferafts for survival at sea and emergency situations. Sun heats up the salt water which than evaporates and condensates. It is part of emergency equipment on many ocean going sailboats and vessels.

[timhohmann]

I recently read a book by a guy who stayed alive in a life raft for 76 days drifting across the Atlantic. He had two of these as his main source of fresh water.

[Race]

Since I taught this in the military I can assure you the instructions say to have it set up before sunrise and DON'T play with it until after sunset.
If you play around with it the action slows down the production. Just Leave It T.F. Alone until after sunset. Great demonstration

[terciops]

That is a Fitzgerald still. I was fortunate enough to be helping Dr Fitzgerald with another project in the last '60's when he was developing this still design at RAE Farnborough. The principle feature is that conical, pointed top that allows condensed water to flow down the sides for collection, rather than drip from the top surface (of a ball) back to the black salt water collector.
The fact that these are still being used points to the genius of the original specs and design. It was taken up by NATO for military survival and then by Aquamate for civilian use. Makes up to 2 litres per day in good sun.

[potterj]

If Kevin Kostner had 20 of these in Water World he would have lived like a king.

[trisper]

I learned this method as a science project in middle school. We put dye in water and used a burner to imitate evaporation and then put saran wrap on a slant above it to catch the evaporating water. It collected on the top and when the droplets got big enough they rolled down into a separate dish as clean fresh water. Im currently 31 and that's the main survival tactic that has stuck with me my entire life lol.

[alfreddaniels]

“It’s basically almost nothing, but it’s something.” 👍👍👍👍😀

[surfcello]

I’m pretty sure you want it in the water to keep help condense the evaporated water inside. Otherwise it will reach an equilibrium state where the rate of condensation is cancelled by the rate of re-evaporation.

[kimandreebrustad]

Every liferaft should have that as the top of the roof.

[someoneelse]

You went through all of the work to make this video but don’t actually drink any to confirm to viewers that it tastes ok?!?

[sparkeyjames]

The on dry land equivalent is a clear plastic bag around a branch of a non toxic bush with a lot of green leaves. Tied tight at top and let hang down to collect water. Needs to be in direct sunlight to work effectively.

[georgesheffield]

These have been around for about 35 years . Good product .

[Thelavendel]

I didn't know they worked this well. Absolutely something to put in a grab bag.

[rodlappin]

How long before the "Salt" remaining after the condensation becomes a problem?

[discombubulate]

these are great to have in reserve in case your main water source in compromised. i'd recommend 3 per person plus decent sized water bladders to go with them. if you're down to a solar still there will be overcast days where you don't produce as much. use the bladders for excess.
having said that, if you're fixing to do some serious sailing make sure you have multiple ways to produce water.

[ozawashere]

I saw a YouTube documentary of a guy that was stranded in a life raft for a few months. He survived by using 2 of these and eating raw fish.

[Chanselleur]

You know, I always wondered about this as a kid living in the southeastern United States during the summer. Any piece of plastic would have water on the back of it tarps buckets bottles…

It always made me think if you were to end up deserted or in a position to have to get fresh water, it would be a good idea to put your water source in a little tent made of plastic, and it would evaporate and condense. It might still stink like the source, but I never was quite sure if that was enough for it to evaporate and condense that way to drink. I swear I thought of this by myself. It’s so funny that it turns out that’s exactly what you do. I wonder why it is people think commonly like this with materials that we’ve not had but just for a few generations

[SprocketGames]

You should taste the water and let us know how it tastes. Thanks for the video!

[drxym]

These things are incredibly expensive considering the manufacturing is not much different than making an inflatable beach toy.

[TheStarlitfuse]

You need to add a vacuum hand pump to the unit to create a lower vapour pressure inside the unit, which will lower the temperature boiling point of the water and accelerate evaporation.

[BoingotheClown]

Wow. This is only the second time I have seen one of these. The first time I saw one was on a science show (Science International, a.k.a. What Will They Think of Next?) back in the late 1970s when I was still a kid. At that time, it was something new that was still under development. I guess it must have worked because the one in this video looks almost identical to the one I saw on that show over four decades ago.