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Re: Solar Ovens/Water distilation



Horacio Gasquet  <gasquet@fusion.ph.utexas.edu> wrote:

>There is also a need in the third world for water treatment.  There are 
>efforts to use solar to distil water.

There's a need here too. About 90% of the land in Pennsylvania is unsuitable
for a conventional septic system, and sand-mound-compatible sites are scarce 
too. I read about an interesting system for sewage disposal for a group of
26 houses in a new development, that got around regulatory problems by
building a large greenhouse and growing reeds, which _evaporated_ all the
influent from the houses. This "evapotranspiration system" was designed by
a local PE. Since the greenhouse had an impervious rubber floor, the PA
Dept of Env. Resources didn't have much to say about permissible effluent
limits, in the form of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), suspended solids
or nitrogen as ammonia... But it seems to me that this is a great waste
of solar energy, compared to a closed system that is capable of recovering
most of the heat (some 1000 Btu/pound) that is used to evaporate the water,
eg by heating incoming water, and recycling the distilled water. 

Does anyone know of a system for solar water distillation like that?

Nick


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