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Homemade distiller/rain collector

  • Thread starter Redtail
  • Start date
Hey, I'm looking for some ideas on how to go about making a distiller for home use...also for collecting rain water. If any one has any suggestions, could they also include a place to get the needed supplies

Thanks
 
For rain water just use a big clean jug (milk carton cut in half) and stick it outside when it rains.
 
Yeah, that could work.....I was actually thinking of something a little bit bigger...maybe a 55 gallon plastic barrell...something that is large that can collect alot of rain overtime so it can be stored for the drier months of summer....
 
I use a 30 gallon tup that sits under the eave of my roof. It catches plenty of rain. It really is only good with regular rainfall. If it doesn't rain for long periods lots of unknown crap settles on the roof and gets rinsed off into the tub.
 
I was thinking the same thing, only putting a screen over it to keep the darn squirrels out too.  The only thing is, the amount of water i'd have after a normal shower would probably end up evaporating in the next day or two.  Especially in the summer.
 
All of those are some good suggestions and things to consider..I was thinking to put a sealed lid on the container to prevent evaporation and having things fall into it...only opening the lid during a rain storm....
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Redtail @ Mar. 26 2003,1:01)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">All of those are some good suggestions and things to consider..I was thinking to put a sealed lid on the container to prevent evaporation and having things fall into it...only opening the lid during a rain storm....[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I would still put something in it...at least an air stone...to keep the water from going to stagnant. It'll become a breeding ground for insects as well as other things in the container. But a lid would definately help.
 
I don't think it would go stagnant...if done properly with a sealed lid there would not be any isect problem...I know farmers who have very large setups for collecting rainwater to be used in the summer and there is no problem of stagnation....essentially if you use a food grade plastic container and kept it closed and cool it would be just like a container of water bought at the store....
 
Here's an idea for those interested...I spoke to a friend of mine and he suggested a solar still...it's a pretty easy set up....alll it takes is some copper tubing, some glass and buckets. It utilizes the heat of the sun to evaporate the water and one end of the copper tubing is place in some cool shade so the water then condenses and is collected in a bucket...the collected water can then be placed in another container for storage...
 
  • #10
Redtail,

Now THAT sounds like a good idea.
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  • #11
I to am going to use 55 gal containers and collect water as it runs off the roof. They now sell a screen that goes into the drown drain on the roof. It collects that garbage and is easily emptied. I will have another at the bottom.
 
  • #12
Last year I was buying distilled water when I ran out of rain water. In the summer I use over 10 gallons a week. I had to find a cheaper way. I use three 55 gallon plastic barrels. I attacthed a sheet of plastic to my greenhouse to so that all the rain from the roof drains into the barrels. I then pump the water into 5 gallon water jugs. I started this system at the end of the summer last year, and so far I haven't ran out of water yet.
 
  • #13
Yes!!! I love it...I too am setting up a greenhouse this spring and could collect of off that...Now for those interested in putting together a solar distiller I could tell you how to do it....By using only a small two gallon bucket you can collect about 1 gallon a day. For me that would be plenty and then some.
 
  • #14
The distiller sounds like a great idea, but you'd have to test the collected water to be sure it is ok to use on the rest of your collection.

As for water my greenhouse is living off of one 32 gallon garbage pail...at the moment it's full...but if I don't keep filling it I run out in about 1 or 2 weeks. I hope to have 1 or 2 55 plastic gallon tanks in there with a rain thingie funneling the water in the greenhouse form the roof, I have acess to free gutters so..inventing a collecting system may be at hand.
 
  • #15
Dustin, why would you need to test the collected water....Its my understanding that distilled water would be pure, due to the nature of the process...the only contamination I could see would be from the copper pipes or from the buckets
 
  • #16
I may not explain this right, if not somebody please correct me.

Pure water (rain, distilled), is alot like a sponge. Since it has no minerals or impurities it will soak up these alot fastest when it comes in contact with them. So When your distilled water runs through the copper pipes, it's going to soak up the minerals from the pipe. It's kind of like osmosis.

That's why I wouldn't use water that has drained off an asphalt roof or ran through a metal gutter.
 
  • #17
Redtail, that was my intention, but also, even if the copper tubing had no effect you want to be 100% sure the water is OK, even if it is supposedly distilled.

Ozzy, good point, but I use rainwater that runs off my metal roof and runs through a metal gutter. No ill effects have been observed for 2 years now.
 
  • #20
I use our gutters
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, they bring in alot of water (2 gallons an hour in a heavy rain) I live in Washington, and its been raining alot lately, soooooo, i have alot of rain water.
Kevin
 
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