# Salt water desalination - drinking sea water



## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

So one of my major prep issue is water. As a main issue we face by living so close to the ocean is major hurricanes and lack of running water. As a family of four it's hard to store long term water supplies and idea of most water barrels would be contaminated if flooded. 

Saltwater desalination is the process of converting saltwater to fresh water. Blue water boats have desalination filters to help maintain long sea travel possible. This got me thinking into investing into a home use desalination system as the ocean and ocean access is few houses over. Has anyone seen any of these kits? Anything operate independent of a power system (saw solar). Could one be made or set up when needed? Obviously desalination is not. We and has been occurring since Ancient Greece and is funny it's not more relevant in today's needs. 

Share your thoughts and suggestions.


A great example is this opensource project called Eliodomestico. Free design that can make 5 liters a day. Apparently this process cam even remove bacteria and radiation isotopes at certain levels. Would be nice to build one of these if not bigger. Could be a great little barter item to have fresh water source along an ocean.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

If I lived near an Ocean I would certainly look into such a system. It makes perfect sense to me.


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## Oddcaliber (Feb 17, 2014)

You can check Katadyn's website,they have desalination filters. Might be a bit pricey but what is clean water worth?


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

If you have sealed barrels of water that water isn't going to get contaminated.

If you are talking about treating salt water on land to make drinking water its simple. Rig up a still & fire under it. You will get clean, distilled water. KISS


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## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

HuntingHawk said:


> If you have sealed barrels of water that water isn't going to get contaminated.
> 
> If you are talking about treating salt water on land to make drinking water its simple. Rig up a still & fire under it. You will get clean, distilled water. KISS


 A still using fire is a KISS standard but for long term survivial having to fire up the still each time you need water doesn't seem practical.... But is a good idea for a shirt term solution.

Sealed barrels yes.. But if utilizing "sealed" rain barrels they would easily be contaminated by salt water... Where as true sealed barrels would be stolen or float away if stored anywhere besides 2nd floor with coastal flooding as would happen with any decent hurricane at my location.

I personally like the idea of having a sola ran system but would also like to see if it could be made to hook up to the sound to pump water directly.... Invention thinking I guess for when I get home.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Long term SHTF most will have a permanent fire going due to all the things it will be needed for. My simple still for boiling water is a tube of copper that fits over the tube os an AA canner that the weight/jiggler goes on. Tube is about 4ft long allowing distance from the fire to probably plastic container like a bucket. Bucket far enough from the fire heat won't get to it & enough length of tube for the steam to cool off before going into the container. I've one set up as a backup for purifying water.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)




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## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

Nice. Saw your from Florida so I figured you would have something rigged up. I think it's a good setup but how much drinkable water do you get out of it? And if you could would you make it bigger? Such as a bigger canner to allow for more water to filter and able to not just make drinking water but also to stock up or have clean water to trade?


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

That is a 15qt canner but also have a 18.5qt. My experiment I got almost 3 gallons out of the small canner before output became intermittent. With two canners I can run one & when done just swap them out over the heat. No modifications to the canners so they can still be used as canners or cookers. Doing the experiment the hot water was fed into a large enameled steel pot. Canning gauge constantly read 3-4lbs so plenty of pressure to force it out threw the tube. And first about half cup you want to go on the ground as a "clean out" of the copper tube.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Ceramic filters with activated charcoal are my mains for purifying water. I think both are rated at 20,000 galons. This still system is one of my backups. All I need is water & wood & the system should work for years. Another backup system I have is a solar still. Just can't have too many sources of water & means to purify them.


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## Dalarast (May 16, 2014)

HuntingHawk said:


> Ceramic filters with activated charcoal are my mains for purifying water. I think both are rated at 20,000 galons. This still system is one of my backups. All I need is water & wood & the system should work for years. Another backup system I have is a solar still. Just can't have too many sources of water & means to purify them.


I think water is the weakest item we have prepared; but also perhaps the most vital. Lack of storage area really hinders this and when building up supplies for four it creates an even bigger headache. Easy access to water is my number one fall back; but as you have done it comes down to having multiple filteration means. Life Staws only go so far in providing ability to ge some water.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

You can build your own RO system for between $2,500 and $3,500. The most expensive component is usually the high pressure pump. They can run on 12v easy enough. They are very popular on cruising boats and depending on the size, can produce a good quantity of water. Of course, any solution takes power of some sort... Even a fire. 

The "still" seems to be the easiest route along with rain water and other methods. 

Filters used to "clean" the water will not remove the salt so don't go that route.


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