Simple Solar Distiller Made From Trash

There are quite a few of these solar distillers on Instructables, but they are really only helpful to the very poor or in survival situations. So, I thought, it would be best to see if one could be made from trash. Here is what I came up with.

Items needed:

• 2 Liter bottle
• 12 oz bottle
• Short piece of hose
• Black spray paint (or atlernative)
• Cardboard box

If you don't have spray paint, black electrical tape may work as well.

I took a small amount from my pond.

My hose was not a good fit for the bottle but I found some pipe insulation that worked well in connecting the two.

Soda bottles all have the same size lid, so whatever it took to connect the large bottle to the hose should work for the small bottle.

Then shield the smaller bottle from the sun by placing a cardboard box over or around it.

Although this method works to some degree, there are several problems. It takes a long time to distill even the minimum amount of water needed by one person for one day.

Granted, you could always build several of them since they are free. Also, they only work on a warm sunny day. They are useless in the winter. Most third world countries are equitorial, so this is an option year-round for them. But, if you are considering this for survival scenarios in the U.S. or elsewhere, you need an alternative for cold weather.