Modern chemical and physical methods of water purification are quite effective, but they are expensive and require constant expenditure.
Various water filters can not only purify water from metal salts and gross contaminants visible to the naked eye, but also from viruses and bacteria.
However, there are more effective and inexpensive methods for obtaining clean water without foreign impurities without the use of expensive and constantly clogged filters.
Where is distilled water used?
- In medicine. Distilled water is most often used in medicine, since water free of impurities is an excellent basis for medicines and cosmetics. Many people drink only distilled water in the hope that they will rid themselves of harmful substances from entering the body. The most interesting thing is that no matter how harmful it is for a person, it is just as useless. Distilled water is devoid of not only harmful, but also beneficial substances. In the old days, it was called dead water because it contains no microorganisms. If you are afraid to drink water from the tap, it is enough to use a filter, or buy water at a pharmacy. After all, drinking only distilled water is too expensive.
- Distilled water at home. This water is great for indoor aquariums by dissolving a neutralizer in it, which can be bought in pet stores. The inhabitants of the aquarium depths are very happy about this, and frolicking behind the glass windows, they express their delight! Distilled water extends the life of your household appliances if you pour it into, for example, an iron or a humidifier. Suitable for watering flowers.
- In cars. The electrolyte in batteries is diluted with distilled water. If this is not done in time, the battery may simply “boil”. Purified water is often used in windshield wipers and in the manufacture of car cosmetics.
We can talk a lot about the uses of distilled water, but let's figure out how water is distilled and can it be done at home?
Quickly distilled water with kits.
For many families who only want to invest once in distillation kits to save electricity and fuel to heat their water source, they settle for distillation equipment. They use it to produce distilled water at home at any time, but the prices for this equipment can run anywhere from less than $100, depending on the brand and model.
If you choose this option, you can connect and compare prices before purchasing. I will tell you that the larger kits used in laboratories and distilleries to distill large volumes of water or to provide a full house are much, much more expensive than regular kits.
Learning how to distill water can be a vital skill and is definitely one of our survival guides you can type into your browser. You can use this complete guide on different distillation methods to make your water safe and potable. Distilled water: in the jungle, on an island, under cracks in rocks or in hard-to-reach places where there is no access to clean water and #8212; This could be his way of surviving another day until he is rescued from an emergency.
Water purification
Distillation of water in the laboratory
The most traditional method of water distillation is considered to be a method based on converting water into steam followed by condensation. However, energy costs are constantly rising and this encourages the search for new methods of water distillation other than evaporation. In modern laboratories, distilled water is obtained using membrane separation. So, in combination with ion exchange, you can increase the quality of distilled water and significantly reduce energy consumption. But laboratory workers need to know all this, and we will figure out how to purify water on our own at home.
Distilling water at home
We have already figured out that distilled water differs from regular tap water only in the absence of impurities; we also found out that distilling water in the laboratory is not a very difficult process, so you can try to purify water at home. We will look at several ways to purify dama water, and we will also try to not only purify the water, but also make it useful.
Water preparation. First you need to let the water intended for distillation settle. To do this, you need to fill the container with water and let it sit for several hours without covering it. During that period, harmful impurities contained in the water, such as chlorine (this is a strong disinfectant, but it can cause poisoning and even severe diseases) and hydrogen sulfide will evaporate, and heavy metals will settle to the bottom. The longer the water sits, the cleaner the result will be.
Method one
Evaporation, or how to make distilled water.
For the first method you need to take:
- water;
- an enameled or stainless steel pan;
- glass bowl;
- pan lid;
- microwave or oven rack.
Pour pre-settled water into the pan to fill about half the pan. Place a wire rack at the bottom of the pan and place a bowl on it. The bowl should be above the water level so that boiling water does not get into the bowl. Next, bring the composition to a boil, then turn the heat to minimum so that the water boils very smoothly and not very intensely. It is important that the lid is convex and not flat; take such a lid and cover the pan with the lid so that the convex side is directed into the pan. Place ice on the lid or place a small container of very cold water. So, when the water boils, the steam will rise and settle on the lid, and, running down the lid into the bowl, distilled water will fall. In this process, you will only need to control the boiling of the water, make sure that there is always ice or very cold water on the lid. When your bowl is filled with distilled water, turn off the heat and allow to cool completely and then pour the distilled water into a sterile container for storage.
How does distillation work?
There are actually several methods of distilling water, but basically it involves boiling water to produce steam, which ultimately leaves behind contaminants. And when the water has completely evaporated, the steam goes directly into a clean container, which then turns the steam (air) into its condensed form (liquid/water). In this case, distillation works differently, simply boiling, which only serves to remove some of the toxins.
Now you may think that rainwater is pure (distilled) water. This is true! Rainwater includes all the processes we mentioned above, falling as pure water onto the earth as a result of precipitation. Then you may ask yourself, “Is rainwater safe to drink?” The answer is NO. Long ago, rainwater was drinkable, but not anymore. You can just imagine the "chemistry" of things and thus simply passing through a polluted atmosphere makes rainwater 100% unsafe .
Distill water in a stainless steel pan.
Here you don't need to learn how to make a water distiller , but you only need a 3-5 gallon stainless steel pot. Next, prepare tap water, a baking sheet, ice, and a heat-resistant glass container. Let's start.
Place a baking tray in the bottom of the pan and then fill it halfway with tap water. Place the glass container in the pan so that it floats on the surface of the water. Remember that your baking sheet should hold the glass container so that it does not touch the bottom of the pan. Get the pan lid and place it upside down before placing it on the stainless steel pan. Fill this cap upside down with some ice. Let the water boil for about 45 minutes and add more ice as needed as ice turns to steam when boiled.
The steam then enters the cold pan lid and cools to condense, turning back into water. Drops of water in a glass container making distilled water.
Turn off the stove, remove the lid of the pan, and carefully remove the glass container using a pair of gloves. Allow the distilled water to cool and transfer it into water bottles, preferably using only sterilized containers. Otherwise, he immersed the bottles in boiling water for a couple of minutes before storing the distilled water he prepared. Make sure that water containers are designed to last for a long time, as some containers are not safe to store because they contain bacteria that will build up in them over time.
Distilled water on the stove/grill
This works similar to the first method, except that the water is collected in an outer container. Well, you can get creative when making distilled water and this is one such way. Make sure you collect distilled water and not a pot.
To do this, use a funnel attached to the aquarium test tube, but in order for the funnel to work by pouring the water into a collection bottle, you can empty the test tube located at a lower level than the funnel. The good thing about this method is that you don't have to wait for the pot to cool (especially when it's outside) and that this method can reduce the risk of contamination from the source.
Well, contamination isn't a big problem when you're using tap water or rainwater, but it might be if you're going to use non-potable water for distillation.
Distill water from snow/rain.
Interestingly, you can make distilled water using snow or rain. They have two options when they are outdoors and you don't have access to clean drinking water. Water that evaporates from the earth's lakes, oceans and rivers then condenses in the atmosphere and finally falls as rain (precipitation).
Collect snow or rainwater in a clean container and then allow the sediment to settle during the day. In many cases, you can drink clean water by boiling it or using a coffee filter. Although distilled water is best refrigerated in most cases, you can still keep it safe by storing it in a clean, covered container.
Distillation of water from plants.
When you are outdoors and facing an emergency and are not near sources of drinking water, you can still distill any water source by understanding all possible configurations. What you need are green plants, a coffee can (or any clean container), a small rock and plastic wrap.
First, dig a hole in the ground large enough to place your container in the center. Place moist plants in the hole and around the container. Cover this hole with plastic wrap and secure it with rocks. Make sure no moisture escapes. Place the stone in the middle of the plastic wrap to make a small indentation.
When the water begins to evaporate, the vapors escaping from it condense in the shell, falling into a recess and then into the jar. Although it is time consuming, it may be your only option when you are stuck in places without drinking water sources.
But to speed up the process, perhaps you can dig a hole where the sun shines directly, causing heat to be trapped inside due to the greenhouse effect that occurs inside the plastic, accelerating the evaporation of water. To continue the process, you can add some cooler plants, including cacti and ferns, other than the poisonous ones that are loaded with volatile toxins.
Distilled sea water
Drinking salty seawater may not be a good idea, especially if you exceed it and drink too much, as it will cause immediate dehydration due to the high salt content in the water. Apart from thirst, this will eventually lead to dehydration of your body, something deadly that you should avoid.
A great way to remove salt from seawater is through distillation, which is heating the water until it boils, turning it into steam, which is then stored in another container. When this vapor cools and returns to liquid form, it becomes pure/distilled H2O.
What you need to do is fill the pan and place a clean, empty glass in the center. Pour in salt water and stop when you reach the mouth of the glass. Make sure no seawater gets into your glass. Place the lid of the pan upside down so that the highest point can be placed slightly higher, facing towards the container. Light your fire and start boiling water. The water boils and turns into steam, condenses again on the surface of the pan lid, and then falls directly into the container.
As the water boils, only pure steam will collect in the container, leaving all contaminants and salt behind. Wait a few minutes for the water to cool before drinking. And to speed up recondensation, you can start cooling the tray lid while the water is still boiling.
Distillation of urine
Wait. Did we say urine? Yes, you can distill and purify your urine and make it drinkable, especially when you are stuck in an isolated or remote place where access to clean water is next to impossible. Now you don't have a potty? It's not a problem! You can just dig a hole and pee on it.
Place the container/glass in the middle of the hole and cover it with something (like plastic). If you are in the desert, condensation may be faster because the natural heat of the sand will evaporate the clean water in the vessel/container. Alternatively, you can tie this cup to the lid of a pot to collect water, or use a drinking tube that extends from the cup to the surface where you need to drink from to avoid removing the lid and container.
Distill water in glass bottles.
Get two clean and empty glass bottles to make distilled water anywhere. This method may work better if one of the bottles you have can be twisted out of the neck to prevent steam water from getting into the other bottle.
Take one of the bottles and fill it with tap water, then stop when it reaches 12.7 inches from the top of the bottle. Combine/connect two glass bottles at the neck and then take duct tape to secure them together firmly. And then take a stainless steel pot filled with enough water to cover the bottle you previously filled with tap water. Now tilt the two bottles at about 30 degrees while the empty bottle rests on the inside of the rim of the pan at an appropriate angle to collect the steam water.
Take an ice pack and place it on top of the empty bottle, allowing a cold/thermal barrier to evaporate the water in the bottle filled with tap water, which will then condense in your cooler bottle. Continue the process until enough distilled water has accumulated in the bottle.
Distillation of water through a passive solar solution.
Passive solar distillation, powered by the sun, does not require any fuel or electricity, which is very convenient if you want to collect and store distilled water in your home without spending money on expensive equipment. Solar distillation purifies by removing only water.
The water distillation process takes advantage of the concept that chemical compounds evaporate at certain temperatures, and the greater potential of chemical contaminants in water obviously has higher evaporation requirements than water. But when you use the passive solar method, you can have clean water enter the collection container, leaving behind all the contaminants.
The main action of this solar distiller can be to remove salts, bacteria and heavy metals from water. In fact, according to solar distiller developer Horace McCracken, some lab tests have shown that these distillers can also extract the cleaning chemical trichlorethylene as well as nitrates (both carcinogens) from the water source. And then, a good basic distiller that can be combined with a carbon-based filtration system can eliminate any byproducts, including chlorine, for clean, safe drinking water.
Method two
Laboratory at home, or how to make water from improvised materials. This method is very similar to how water is distilled in laboratories. So, you will need:
- tap water;
- stainless steel pan;
- two bottles with a curved and a straight neck.
The bottles will act as laboratory flasks. If problems arise with a bottle with a curved neck and you cannot get it out, then a garden hose will do just fine. The main thing is that its diameter matches the neck. We sterilize the bottles and begin distilling the water. Fill a bottle with a curved neck with settled water up to half the container. We connect the bottles together, neck to neck, the necks should be closely attached to each other. The pan is also filled with water more than 1/2, so that it is at the same level as the water in the bottle. You need to put the water on the fire and bring it to a boil, then just lower the bottle of water into the pan at an angle of 30 degrees. The hollow bottle is covered with an ice pack on top, which ensures condensation. Water, evaporating from the bottom bottle, condensing, rises to the second bottle, where it accumulates. You cannot interrupt until the full container of purified water is filled. Making water at home is easy.
Distill your water and keep it safe.
Fear for your family's health because tap water is unsafe or because spring water is unsafe, it's time to learn how to distill water in a saucepan with some ice. You don't need a lab or expensive equipment, but you will learn how to distill water without any hassle by spending money or following difficult lessons.
To begin with, learning distillation methods will prevent you from consuming water with lead buildup, impurities (including sewage), and every other contaminant you can imagine (think about plant chemicals and waste that ends up in rivers, lakes). and seas), while distillation at the same time not only removes toxins and harmful waste deposits in the water, but also makes drinking water a real means of SURVIVAL, especially when outdoors.
Many people think that drinking water approved by the Environmental Protection Agency is safe water, but this is not the case. In fact, it is said that tap water is one of the biggest health risks for modern people, because even if it is classified as “safe”, this does not mean that it is “healthy”.
In fact, to give you more information, tap water contains a lot of arsenic, radioactive particles and mercury, as well as lead and every other poison you can imagine. And to give you a better idea, over 75,000 chemical compounds (and more added and unregulated every year) are used in the agricultural, commercial and industrial sectors.
Eighty percent of these chemicals have never been studied to determine chronic toxicity levels, and so it is said that about 20 billion tons of radioactive waste, chemicals and pollutants are released into the environment every year. Without even talking about it, I could imagine these toxic substances reaching our home's water supply.
And since local water treatment plants cannot and do not remove all toxins from tap water, the only option we have is to purify our drinking water through distillation.
Method three. Freezing
This method has been known since ancient times, since in this way it is possible to obtain clean water even from salt water. In chemistry lessons we learned that water with salty impurities takes longer to freeze than pure water. Therefore, we will try to make pure distilled water in a home laboratory. To do this you need:
- water;
- bottle or jar
Take a plastic bottle or glass jar or any vessel and fill it to the top with pre-settled water. Then place the prepared vessel in the freezer. After some time, when most of the water freezes, the remaining liquid must be drained, as it has absorbed all the heavy elements, impurities and salts. The result is a pure residue that, when melted, can be consumed, that is, by freezing we obtain pure distilled water. And in winter, a bottle of water can be placed outside the window, while saving energy. This kind of melt water, so to speak, is very beneficial for the body, so even if you drink this water in the heat you won’t get a cold.
