How to make drinking water from sea water on a desert island. How to make fresh water from sea water - options with descriptions How to make fresh water from salt sea water

How to get water desert island, if you suddenly find yourself in this? This question comes and should come first to you in organizing your leisure time in conditions of survival on a desert tropical island. How you ended up on the island is another question, some came specially, some were shipwrecked, etc. Water production remains the most important issue, everything else comes later, the main thing is water!

And this is only in films, people immediately find a life-giving source of water on it, which is shown in the photo on the right. In reality, such cases are extremely rare, so there is no point in relying on such a source!

Such a source can only be found on a volcanic island, and besides, it must have mountains that catch the clouds and give rise to all these streams and rivers. But on a coral or volcanic island, but without large mountains, such a source cannot be found. Therefore, you will have to rack your brains over the question. how to get water on this island...

The very first and simplest option for extracting water is this. If your beach does not have coconut trees, then you should go to another one that does. It’s only in the movies that everyone has a bunch of resources - palm trees and streams all around, but in reality palm trees do not grow everywhere on the islands, and there are islands where there are none at all! I have personally met such people!

If you are lucky with palm trees, and you probably will be, then you have a source of drinking water. Among other things, coconut water contains a wide variety of salts that your body needs (after all, salts come out with sweat), as well as sugars and vitamins. But remember that coconut water weakens you and you shouldn’t drink a lot of it. 2-3 green coconuts per day is enough. There is no need for you to lose excess moisture with diarrhea!

Young coconuts can contain up to 1 liter of water, but you should not risk your life by climbing a coconut tree; you can also consume fallen, ripe coconuts. At the same time, you can use coconut copra and other parts of it.

Young coconuts

In addition to coconuts, you can and should use solar desalination plants. With the help of such a desalinator, you can extract water from almost any other, non-fresh water. For example, from sea water or your own urine, as well as from plant leaves.

Homemade solar desalination machine

The solar desalination plant is simple. Here is one of his examples:

A hole breaks out
A container is placed in the hole in which we will collect fresh water.
Place leaves at the bottom of the hole, on the side of the container. If instead of a hole we use a larger vessel (which is more desirable), for example, a bucket, big jar etc., then any water can be poured into the vessel.
We tightly cover the hole/large vessel with plastic film. Place a weight in the center of the film, directly above our container, so that the condensate rolls down the film and falls into the container.

Water processed through a desalination plant turns out to be practically distilled, so a small part of sea water can be added to it. But if you have an unlimited supply of coconuts, then you should not mix fresh water with sea water.

Solar desalination device

It’s good if it’s the rainy season when you’re on the island. Then all you have to do is collect rainwater! Use all the containers that you have, all the polyethylene, everything that can somehow be filled with water to collect rainwater!

It’s good if you find bamboo on the island - this is an indispensable thing in survival conditions! You can make containers for water from bamboo, you can make a roof for your shelter, with water flowing in the right direction. Bamboo has many uses. You can boil water in it and store water. If you make a hole in a damp bamboo stalk, potable water will flow out.

You can also try digging wells, which may fill with water after a while. This applies to both volcanic islands and coral ones.

Well on a coral atoll, Marshall Islands

During the hot season, such wells may dry up, but the rest of the time there will be water in it constantly, thereby providing you with a constant source of fresh water. You no longer have to think about how to get water, and you can occupy yourself with other important things.

People have long figured out how to desalinate sea water in the absence of access to potable water, because potable moisture is the basis for the existence of a living organism.

Today it is possible to obtain desalinated sea water different ways and in different conditions - industrial, domestic and even extreme. Such skills will allow you to quench the pangs of thirst when fresh drinking water is unattainable for some reason.

Existing water desalination methods

In some regions of the planet, the shortage of fresh water is most noticeable - usually in arid landscapes. In such areas, industrial desalination is used.

At home, the production of desalinated water from salt water is forced by difficult living conditions, temporary or permanent, when the population experiences an acute shortage of potable moisture.

The skills of how to make drinking water, having only sea water, have more than once saved lives in conditions of natural disasters, fishermen lost at sea, as well as extreme travelers.

Methods of industrial desalination - chemical using reagents, industrial distillation in a distiller, ionic using an installation and an ion exchanger, reverse osmosis through membrane filters, electrodialysis and industrial freezing;
Home desalination methods are distillation and partial freezing;
Extreme desalination methods include collecting condensate using fire or the sun, as well as melting fresh ice.

Methods of desalination on an industrial scale are not our topic, but we will describe in more detail the options for obtaining moisture that is quite drinkable at home or in nature - they may prove useful.

Desalination of water at home

At home there is always a source of fire or heat, dishes and devices that are useful for turning sea water into desalinated distillate; in extreme cases, there is a freezer.

Best for distilling seawater into household distillate alcohol mashine, if there is a source of fire, but even one made on a quick fix its analogue. The task is:

cause sea water to evaporate abundantly from heating;
remove collected condensate;
Cooling the steam drops, collect them in a separate container.

Any utensil that can be placed on fire is suitable as a substitute for a moonshine coil. Sea liquid is poured into it, then the vessel is covered with a lid with a hole into which a steam outlet tube is inserted. All that remains is to put a plastic hose on the tube, lower its tip into the container where fresh water will accumulate, and cover it with a wet rag so that the steam cools faster.

Sometimes during a disaster, the surviving housing has no water, no gas, no electricity, but there is some water that is undrinkable. In this case, there are 2 options not to die of thirst.

Option #1.

The starting liquid is poured into a plastic bottle.
Its level should be such that it does not reach the neck of the bottle if it is laid flat.
The neck of the bottle with the original liquid is connected to the neck of the empty bottle using tape.
The structure is placed flat in the warmest place found in the house - for example, a radiator or a sun-filled window sill.
Place any object under the empty bottle so that it is slightly higher than the bottle with liquid.
Soon drops of evaporated condensate will accumulate at the top of the empty bottle and flow down.
All you have to do is cut the tape and separate the containers - the empty one will contain drinkable water.

Option #2.

We will need a small basin with high walls.
Place a small container in the center (a simple glass will do).
Water for desalination is poured into the basin; its level should be below the level of the glass.
Polyethylene or cellophane film is stretched over the top of the pelvis.
A small weight is placed on the film, directly above the glass.
The structure moves closer to the heat source.
Soon drops of evaporated condensate will accumulate on the film and flow down.

All that remains is to remove the cellophane from the basin - the glass will contain drinkable water.

Note! These methods work great in natural conditions.

The third option for obtaining drinking water is partial freezing in the freezer.

Pour sea water into a wide container.
Place in the freezer.
Monitor the freezing process periodically.
As soon as a thin layer of ice appears, carefully collect it, this will be fresh water.
Remove only a small layer of ice each time - its crystals contain almost no salt.

Note! Completely frozen seawater will produce salty ice.

Desalination of water in extreme conditions

Getting hold of drinking water, having plenty of sea water, in extreme conditions, when there are kilometers to a natural fresh source, is a matter of survival.

Most quick option- this is to build a primitive distiller on a fire.

To do this, place a container filled with sea water on the fire and cover it with a lid.
It is advisable to make a hole in the lid and insert a steam outlet tube there.
If there is no hole and there is nothing to pierce it with, then the tube is simply clamped by the lid.
The other end of the tube, through which drops of condensate will flow, must be lowered into a clean container.
To speed up the release of steam, the tube is covered with a wet cloth or constantly watered with cold sea water.
In the absence of a lid, a metal “roof” is constructed at an angle from the vessel; a clean vessel is placed at the lowest edge, into which the distillate will drain.

If this happens in the summer heat, there is a very simple option to desalinate water, but in terms of time it will not be as fast as using fire. To do this, you only need one container, film and a dug hole.

You need to dig a hole a little deeper than the height of your container.
The bottom of the pit is abundantly watered with sea water.
An empty container is placed in the center of the recess.
The pit is completely covered with film, and its edges are tightly fixed with sand, pebbles, and earth.
A weight is placed on the center of the film, directly above the vessel - a pebble, stick, lump of soil or a handful of sand so that the coating becomes concave.
The water, evaporating, will begin to settle on the film roof and flow down an inclined path straight into the placed container.
In the heat, in a couple of hours the vessel will collect enough water to drink.

Note! The condensate is absolutely devoid of salts, so to quickly quench your thirst, experienced extreme sports enthusiasts advise adding a little sea water.

Another method of desalination is freezing, suitable for harsh winter conditions. Its algorithm is similar to home freezing, only the street frost will act as a freezer here. You need to scoop up sea water and wait for ice crystals to appear on the surface - they will taste fresh, and you can easily drink such water.

Sailors and shipbuilders were the first to think about how to desalinate the water of the seas and oceans. After all, for seafarers, fresh water is the most valuable cargo on board. You can survive a storm, endure the severe heat of the tropics, survive separation from the land, eat corned beef and crackers for months. But how can you live without water? And hundreds of barrels of ordinary fresh water were loaded into the holds. Paradox! After all, there is an abyss of water overboard. Yes, water, but salty, and to such an extent that it is 50-70 times saltier than potable water. It is natural, therefore, that the idea of desalination is as old as the world.

Even the ancient Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) wrote: “By evaporating, salt water forms fresh water...” The first experience of artificial desalination of water recorded in written sources dates back to the 4th century BC.
Legend says that Saint Basil, castaway and left without water, he understood how to save himself and his comrades. He boiled sea water, soaked sea sponges in it with steam, squeezed them out and got fresh water... Centuries have passed since then and people have learned to create desalination plants. The history of water desalination in Russia began in 1881. Then, in a fortress on the shores of the Caspian Sea, near present-day Krasnovodsk, a desalination plant was built to supply the garrison with fresh water. It produced 30 square meters of fresh water per day. This is very little! And already in 1967, an installation was created there that provided 1,200 square meters of water per day. Currently, there are more than 30 desalination plants operating in Russia, their total capacity is 300,000 square meters of fresh water per day.

The first large plants for producing fresh water from sea water appeared, of course, in desert areas of the world. More precisely, in Kuwait, on the shores of the Persian Gulf. One of the largest oil and gas fields in the world is located here. Since the early 1950s, several seawater desalination plants have been built in Kuwait. Powerful distillation plant operates in conjunction with a thermal power plant on the island of Aruba in the Caribbean Sea. Now desalinated water is already used in Algeria, Libya, Bermuda and the Bahamas, and in some areas of the United States. There is a seawater desalination plant in Kazakhstan on the Mangyshlak Peninsula. Here, in the desert, in 1967, a man-made oasis grew up - the city of Shevchenko. Among its main attractions are not only the world-famous powerful nuclear power plant, a large seawater desalination plant, but also a carefully thought-out water supply system. There are three water supply lines in the city. One carries high-quality fresh drinking water, the second carries slightly brackish water, which can be used for washing and watering plants, and the third carries ordinary sea water, used for technical needs, including sewage.

Water desalination plant at the nuclear power plant in the city of Shevchenko (1982).

More than 120 thousand people live in the city, and each person has no less water than Muscovites or Kiev residents. Enough water for plants too. But giving them water is not such a simple matter: an adult tree drinks 5-10 liters per hour. But nevertheless, for each resident there is 45 square meters of area occupied by green spaces. This is almost 1.5 times more than in Moscow, 2 times more than in Vienna, famous for its parks, about 5 times more than in New York and London, 8 times more than in Paris.

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We live in a unique place - the Earth, which, although it has a lot of land, is still mostly covered with water. We swim in it, move through it and, most importantly, drink from it. Unlike many animals, we are unable to get enough fluids simply from fruits and vegetables - we need to drink fluids regularly to stay hydrated. But only the water space has one more unique property– it’s almost all salty. The percentage of fresh water is surprisingly small. Yes, we are accustomed to it, because this kind of water comes into our homes and is sold in stores. But what if we suddenly don’t have access to fresh water, if we only have sea water? Then it needs to be desalinated. Let's figure out how this can be achieved.

You will need:

This method is also called sublimation. It can be easily done even at home, although it will not provide a large amount of liquid.

Take an ordinary saucepan into which salted water is poured. Next, you need to cover this pan with a lid and put it on fire. Gradually, condensation will accumulate on its lid.

However, even when the lid is removed, most of the unleavened drops will flow back into the pan, so it is necessary to slightly improve this improvised device.

A hole is drilled in the lid of the pan.
A flexible tube is inserted into it, for example, a coil from a moonshine still.
Its other end is lowered into an empty vessel.
Next, you need to cover the tube with a damp cloth so that the steam in it cools.
It will condense and fall into the empty vessel.

As a result, the heated pan will end up with only salt, and the second vessel will only have distilled water.

Keep in mind, however, that there will be no salt in such a liquid at all, and therefore your thirst will be poorly quenched.

It is better to pour a small amount of salt water into it.

This method uses special precipitating reagents. They interact with salts contained in sea water and form compounds that are not soluble. Therefore, they settle and can be easily filtered out without any problems.

This approach has its disadvantages, in particular, the high cost of reagents, the slowness of the reaction, and the large number of necessary reagents.

Therefore, this method is used very rarely, and in everyday life it is almost never used.

This method is predominantly industrial and has been used for a long time. It is based on the use of two semi-permeable membranes made of cellulose acetate or polyamide. Small water molecules can penetrate through them without any restrictions, while larger ions of salt, as well as other impurities, are retained and are not allowed further.

It is difficult to achieve desalination of a large amount of liquid in this way, and this method is difficult to implement in everyday life - it is suitable for industrial enterprises.

This desalination method seems very simple in its idea, but in its implementation it is quite labor- and resource-intensive. The idea is based on the fact that salt does not get into the ice when frozen, because ice formation occurs only from water molecules.

The largest amount of fresh water in nature is contained in all kinds of glaciers.

Usually the Eskimos resort to this method. They expose a container of salt water to the cold, and then wait until ice crystals form there. This ice is collected and melted - and the water can be drunk.

Life can present many surprises. And not always pleasant ones. Hopefully you won't be stuck on a desert island or in the middle of the African desert without access to drinking water. But, nevertheless, we advise you to find out how to desalinate sea water using improvised means. Will it come in handy?

The method described below is very popular among fans of survival hacks. And for good reason: the process is simple, does not require much “inventory” and relatively little time. If you start the distillation process at dawn, the seawater will be drinkable by noon.

To desalinate sea water and make it drinkable, you will need:

1. Bucket, bowl or pan;
2. Dark container (black color attracts solar heat more effectively and heats up);
3. A glass or plastic bottle without a neck;
4. Film, plastic bag or lid;
5. Sunlight

Step 1

IN large bowl or place a dark container in a bucket.

Step 2

Place a glass or plastic bottle with the neck cut off in the middle of the structure.

Step 3

Fill the black container with sea water. Make sure it doesn't fall into the middle of the glass.

Step 4

Cover the entire structure with film or a tight lid. Tightness is everything to us. If you use film, place a stone or other weight in the center, directly above the glass for desalinated water.

Step 5

Leave your distillation apparatus in the sun and wait. In 8-10 hours under the film in artificial “heat” conditions, sea water will evaporate, turn into condensation and fall out in the form of fresh “precipitation” directly into the glass.