Water From Waste Part Two
Water From Waste Part Two
Earlier in the summer I created a waste water recycler with sand, gravel, and rocks in a nested three and five gallon bucket. It worked quite well and I was really pleased with it. I wanted to cover the moisture evaporator in this blog called Water to waste part two.
This model was a test idea to see if we could actually create evaporated water from waste water from the hand washing stations at Mezzacello. It worked very well! We used a plastic container and a heavy duty ceramic baking dish with a plexiglass lid.
It was not as efficient as this wood box and water sealed design with the pyrex dish and a real glass lid that will be sealed tight. I will be building this one out now that I know the design principles are solid. The key innovations with this one will be the glass sealed lid and a metal drip edge to capture ALL the evaporate condensate.
Mild Success With Plastic
The original evaporative still was pretty successful. It captured one liter of pure water over two days. I think I can improve upon that with the new design. The real flaws in the original design was the plastic container, and the lack of a drip edge.
We were amazed that it actually worked at all. We painted the interior of the box matte black to absorb as much heat as possible. The plastic was not as efficient an insulator as the wood and watertight paint will be.
We were fascinated that the evaporator was both efficient at collecting pure water AND the solids from the soap. In the ceramic dish, the layer of soap solids and bacteria were left behind. By treating the soap solids with heat and alcohol we could also recycle the soap by adding it to fresh soap and allowing it to continue to aid in saponification.
The water was easily sterilized to 98% by adding a bromine tablet to it. But we decided to use the water to keep the animals hydrated. The rabbits, chickens, ducks, worms, and crickets were very grateful.
Glass and Wood
My main concern with this modified design will be the glass facing. I will have to store it in the greenhouse where it will get the right amount of sun, but be protected from the environment. Then I will innovate the water collection bottle.
The water has a tendency to evaporate out of the bottle if the bottle is not sealed properly. Water wants to return to vapor in heat. So I will insulate the bottle and keep it out of the light and sealed with a one-way valve.
Stay tuned for the results of this experiment. i will post the results of this experiment here after i have the model complete. Come back then!