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Re: Solar Desalinization



In article <3le88q$grs@shore.shore.net>, wbw@shore.net (William B. Warren) says:
>
>Has anyone here experimented w/ Solar Desalinization of sea water? I 
Lots of folks have.  There should be a fair amount of literature available.
I remember one in Pureto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico about 30 years ago
that was operated by the University of Arizona.  I seem to remember that
there was a major one on Malta, or some other island in the Medeterranian
which has no supply of fresh water.  Mobil has installed one which is PV
powered on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.  The foregoing is all from 
memory - may not be too acccurate, but you get the idea.

I once built a small solar still out of a box lined with styrofoam and black 
plastic with a fibreglass cover -  about 2 by 3 feet.  It produced about 
1/2 gallon per day  not very exciting, but the concept worked.

I think the reall problem with solar stills is the maintenance.  They need
it, and also take up a lot of area.  The stills I've seen condense the water
vapor on the bottom side of the window, and then it runs down that side
until it is caught in a trough.  In mine lots of water never made it to the 
trough, but instead dripped back into the original pool, losing efficiency.

Ray Bahm