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How to Convert Salt Water into Freshwater (Drinking water)

How to Convert Salt Water into Freshwater (Drinking water)thumbnail
Mmmm

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink? No worries.

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    Difficulty:
    Easy

    Instructions

    Things You'll Need

    • pot with cover
    • drinking glass
    • heat source (fire, stove)
    • salt water
      • 1

        Place the drinking glass inside the pot pointing up, as if it already had delicious clean water in it. Pour saltwater into the pot to be distilled. Just make sure no saltwater accidentally gets into the glass.

      • 2

        Invert the cover of the pot so that the knob of the pot is directly above the opening of the drinking glass.

      • 3

        Boil the water on the heat source. As the condensation accumulates on the lid of the pot, it will roll down into the glass. Voila! And you thought eighth grade chemistry class was useless...

    Tips & Warnings

    • Even though this technique will probably not save you if you're trapped on an island somewhere, (who gets trapped on an island with all of their Teflon cookware...?) it's a fun experiment to try at home or with kids.

    • Be careful to occasionally release the steam from under the lid by lifting it. Steam pressure is a chemistry lesson you may not want to learn today.

    • Make sure to let the water cool down significantly before you try it!!

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    • Photo Credit Flicker.com

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    Comments

    • Crystal Bolin Feb 20, 2009
      Very cool way to filter water. This type of thing just might come in handy some day.
    • cheapcindy Oct 26, 2008
      Thank you - I was wondering how this was done!
    • Elizabethknows May 28, 2008
      good article great tips:)
    • Samantha Molina Dec 16, 2007
      Great Tips, and definitely a fun project!
    • robertsloan2 Nov 27, 2007
      Nice. It can also work in a desert by digging a hole till you get to the cool sand, covering it with a plastic trash bag or mylar blanket, weighting the center with a rock and waiting for condensation rising from the ground at dawn to drip down into it. So it's not that useless as survival advice if you have salt water and no fresh water, because making nesting containers is something most clever humans could do and sunlight is a source of heat. Sun tea proves that. It just takes a lot longer.

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