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Solar Stills @ UA |
Think about it:
How does water evaporate?
Why distill water:
- to make clear, healthy water
- to seperate/remove excess salts
- to seperate/remove harmful bacteria
- to seperate/remove poisonous minerals - like arsenic
- to simulate part of the water cycle
Why study evaporation?
As a hydrologist and advocate of hydrologic literacy, evaporation is a very basic and important concept. I have found it can be fun to study through the construction of solar stills that use the sun's energy to distill pure water from whatever you are starting with. Not only can you learn something about the water cycle and solar energy, but there are many practical applications of these principals. Although other technologies like reverse osmosis water filtration may become more widely used, the fresh water drinking supply in many parts of the world may soon be tied to this simple idea of removing salt from water.
Contents:
How evaporation works - Introductory design activities - prototype designs
- MESA Solar still competition - table-top designs
- EPA P3 project - household-scale designs and data
- Other UA projects - Biosphere 2 and Solar Decathalon
- More information on solar energy and distillation
Every size |
 Foil
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 Warm-up
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 Tabletop
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 Household
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 Industrial
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