My water maker

Oldprepper - March 9, 2021

AdviceGearSkills

In the event of a SHTF event I keep this for my water supply……… and distillation needs.

All it is …..is a 3/4″ pipe running to a 12v submersible pump that goes in a bucket and back to bucket and sealed at ends…. Inside that pipe is a 1/4 inch  going from a pressure cooker to drinkable water.

Produces far more water than a couple of people would ever drink each day…………………It has many uses….. distillation for alcohol……… and distilled water for battery top ups too.

This uses LPG for the burner but could just as easily use wood or charcoal, or even wood-gas….. But trying to stay away from filters. Because with this volume of water they would need replacing often.

4  

Very cool!. 

1) How long does it take to empty the pressure cooker? 

2) How full do you load the pressure cooker? 

3) How long will a battery run the pump?   

4) You have a way to recharge your battery?

5) After one use, how warm has the water in the bucket gotten?  Does it need changing?

 

Now they are good questions………….

1. Typically you can do close to a US gall in an hour or so….

2.  I only ever have used about half  a gal at a time but the fuller you keep it the higher the pressure so the faster you can distill…..

3. To be honest I have never used anything other than my truck attached to it…..when I tested it………. buts its only 500 gph bilge pump and the absolute smallest is good.

4. I have several solar panels  (250 Watt), 3 generators, and about 4 trickle chargers…. we get lots of sun down here in the Caribbean so the actual charging is very easy really.

5. After say …………distilling a gallon it feels very warm if you put your hand in the water using a standard 5 gal bucket….

Now ……………..I have distilled spirits before (you guessed) and the water used to get very hot very quickly …………….. the reason that happened to me is that the steam did not condense very quickly but since using this system it remains so much cooler. (I bet you have tried ice and things like that? they dont work good.) You can put your hand on the 3/4 pipe without it burning you!

If I were to distill for a lot of people I would take it by my dock attach a solar panel and pump straight from the river….and just let it go……

Thanks for the interest.

 

Been thinking about buying or making a distiller after going through The Prepared’s water course. I have filters and such, but some things can only be treated with a distiller, and would be great to have it all set up and functioning before an emergency happened. 

I like the idea of running it off of solar panels because using a generator or propane would be very energy demanding to constantly be boiling water.

Some kind of solar distiller (like a transpiration bag) would be cool, but probably make much less than boiling water.

 

The problem I found with using every single method was that I could not produce enough water……to survive as a couple ………for 1 ?…just possibly!

With this method I can put the cooker over a camp fire after cooking and by the time you finish your meal you have enough water to wash it down for a couple of people…..

For me thats truly efficient!

Thank you for the Interest