Solar Distillation Experiment

I have experienced “hot” in several different climate zones, an assortment of States, and in three different countries. What I can tell you about “hot” is that hot is hot. It’s just that plain and simple. Right now it is simply vulgar hot here on the lower coast where today, with the effects of humidity factored in, it felt like 103 degrees at 10:30 this morning.

Hot, cold, or in between … all of us have hydration requirements.

On a good normal day men are supposed to intake 3 liters of water. Women (for what reason I do not know) require a little less than 3 liters. Children, depending upon their age and body weight, require varying intake measurements. The more we sweat (either from increased ambient temperature, increased physical activity, or a combination of these) the more we need to increase our intake.

I do not know it for certain but have heard it said numerous times that most of us, on a good normal day, are already mildly dehydrated. This mild state of dehydration is why folks can so quickly develop heat related problems when the mercury rises or life demands a lot of physical exertion.

I’ve known about solar distillation for quite a long time. It’s one of the recommendations that you run across in survival manuals and handbooks. I’ve never tried it though until recently and went about it as an experiment to see if solar distillation was a viable means to collect water for the purpose of hydration in a genuine survival situation.

I dug the hole about 3’ in diameter and about 18” deep in an area that gets full sun all day.

Bear in mind that our soil here is quite wet from all the summer rains we’ve been having.

A stainless steel bowl was placed in the center of the hole.

3.5 mil clear plastic was placed over the hole … the edges of the plastic covered with soil to effectively make things air tight.

A suitable rock was placed in the middle of the plastic to create the necessary cone shape so water condensing on the underside of the plastic would gravitate and drop into the bowl.

All this like the survival manuals and handbooks suggest.

The bowl was in place to collect water at 3:00 in the afternoon and was left undisturbed for 27 hours.

It was definitely a successful experiment in that the solar still distilled water from the earth and deposited it into the collection bowl.

All 6 ounces of it!

6 ounces of something toward the need of a 100 ounce requirement on a good normal day. Up that requirement another 50 or 60 ounces if I am pouring sweat.

6 ounces.

Not nearly enough to stave off the deadly effects of dehydration.

Summation.

1.     The output of a single solar still is not adequate to sustain physical life.

2.     It would take around 17 of these stills to produce the minimum daily requirement for 1 adult.

3.     Solar distillation may, in a short-term situation, wet your dry tongue and throat while you wait for rescue or effect your own self-rescue (if you have a full day to wait while the sun “almost” fills your cup).

4.     This is purely not something that I would want to stake my life on. Not short-term. Most definitely not long-term.