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Re: Water purification
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Subject: Re: Water purification
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From: Mel Reslor <mel@igc.apc.org>
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Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 17:11:43 -0700 (PDT)
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Article: 13269 of alt.sustainable.agriculture
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Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture
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References: <199606190413.VAA25636@igc2.apc.org>
This is from an e-mail letter responding to a question on solar
distillation for drinking water.
There are advantages to solar distillation.
Many of the benefits of solar distillation are revealed when used
in the long-term.
Maintenance, energy costs, reliability, water quality are the
advantages of solar distillation for drinking water. After
installation, the costs are largely labor. Carrying bottles,
adjustments to the automatic timer, etc.
The disadvantages are initial installation and costs, quantity,
and storage of purified water when production is high.
I've been using solar distillers since 1985. The first unit was
a quart-a-day size which I exchanged for a half-gallon size and
been using it on homes and apartment rooftops.
The unit is currently in San Jacinto, Riverside Co., Southern
Cal. getting about as much sun as much of Arizona.
This unit collects evaporation from sun energy and doesn't
actually boil the water. The water is way below boiling temp. so
other tap materials such as the alcohols are not carried over.
The maintenance costs included glass covers, copper tubing,
compression sleeves and nuts all of which are in hardware stores.
The most fragile piece is the glass and I've broken several-it
puts the distiller out of commission for several days and
requires the purchase of another pane of glass.
It is the quality that makes solar distilled water standout
compared to other filtration methods. Other water- tap, bottled
store-bought, charcoal filtered, taste as if they were from a
diluted Clorox bottle after drinking solar distilled water.
For the conf. readers:
If minerals from drinking water are vital then I have been
missing out. Some refer to minerals in water as rocks and the
value is small at best. Minerals in live foods is a whole
different matter. Could the proportion and quantity of minerals
in tap or other water be in the right amount?
I am an example of drinking non-mineralized water, avoiding tap
and spring water when solar distilled is available, and that is
nearly all of the time. Even more, I do not take vitamin or
mineral supplements (these may help), and I avoid dairy products
(vegan). I have not seen one ill day. No headaches, no flus. I
am not a world-class athlete mainly because I do not exercise
enough and being naturally lame to start with.
The best water is neutral, water itself doesn't create better
health by itself.
Solar distillation seems to be a viable choice in places where
potable water is not available but sunlight is. The distiller
design in places where people could use such a unit would call
for lower cost, easy set up, and higher production.
If you are looking for sources of distiller producers or info.
just send a message my way.
Mel Reslor
e-mail: mel@igc.org