Find content
Male
Hi guys
In all the posts, and newsclips, I have not anywhere seen any comments about how to turn all the dirty flood water into something drinkable. Warnings about bottled water running out, or storing tap water, are all very well, but some basic advice to people suffering might be a bit more useful.
In that vein, here are my suggestions as to how people can help themselves. Grateful to anyone who can help get the message out, and please feel free to add your own suggestions!
Rainwater collection
Rainwater can be drunk, although it is wise to boil it first. This is because it will have picked up pollutants as it passes through the air. Use as large a catchment area as possible.
Condensation
Distillation
Pass a tube into the top of a water filled container, placed over a fire, and the other end into a sealed collecting tin. This second tin should preferably be set inside another container providing a jacket of cold water to cool the vapour as it passes out of the tube. To avoid wasting water vapour, seal around the joins with mud. This method can also be also be used to distil urine (which should never be drunk), although it may be too concentrated to yield much.
It should be clear that if you heat the floodwater in a roof based collector/reflector using a setup similar to the above, the water will evaporate and the condensate is then drinkable. This method will yield better water than boiling and a simple filter.
Some ingenuity in terms of the kit used may be required, for example if the family in question is stuck on a roof. For this reason, working together in community would yield better results than a go-it alone approach.
Solar still
Set up a container approx 90 cm across and 45 cm deep. Place a collecting can in the centre, then cover with a sheet of plastic formed into a cone. Roughen the underside of the sheet with a stone to ensure droplets run down it. Insects and small snakes may also be attracted and become trapped, so support the collecting can so that it cannot be knocked over. The sun's heat raises the temperature of the air, and vapour is produced. As the air becomes saturated, water condenses onto the underside of the plastic, running down into the container. This method can be used to distil pure water from poisonous or contaminated liquids. If possible, use a siphon to a lower level to draw off water without disturbing the sill.
Plants (for those areas that have any)
As plants grow they release water into the air, placing a plastic sheet over a number of plants or trees fashioned into a tunnel leading down wind, the gathered end then be cooled by connecting it to a large pipe taken into and out of a brackish or contaminated pool. This acts as a condenser for the water laden air driven through it by the wind or breeze. The U-shaped pipe can then be carefully emptied into a receptacle from time to time supplying drinking water for many people.
Cut vegetation placed in a large plastic bag will produce condensation as it warms up. Keep the foliage off the bottom, and away from the sides of the bag. Place the bag on a slight slope to encourage the condensation to run down. Keep the bag taut with a stick.
Even polluted plants will only give off water.
Heating
Where no materials, gas or electricity are available to provide heat, use solar concentration. Use reflective materials or tinfoil to focus the sun's rays onto the water to be distilled. Be aware that this produces very high temperatures.
Reducing water usage
Remember to ration your sweat, not your water. If you have gone a long time without water, take it in sips not gulps. Large gulps can cause vomiting. Eat little, as eating consumes water. Don't smoke, don't talk, don't drink alcohol, minimise movement.
Let's keep the politics out of this thread please... The situation is as it is, so it's solutions time.
- Copyright 2002 - 2012 Thai Visa thaivisa.com
- Privacy Policy
- Thailand Forum
- Advertise
- Contact us
- All rights reserved.