Any water we harvest in the wild should be purified. But what do we do when the only water available is saltwater? In this video, NightHawkInLight explains how to make a DIY saltwater survival bottle.
This portable desalination kit will make short work of converting saltwater to freshwater by capturing steam. The steam is concentrated through cooled, copper coils and the result is pure, distilled water. Here’s how to make it…
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Equipment
- 1 stainless steel, non-insulated water bottle with metal cap
- 4 feet of flexible ¼” copper tubing
- Right angle brass compression fitting with ¼“ openings
- Plumbing solder (lead free)
- Soldering flux/paste
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Butane torch for soldering
- Drill
- 1/4” drill bit
- 1/16” drill bit
- Pipe cutter
Directions:
- Remove the metal cap and any rubber or plastic gasket on the cap
- Drill a ¼” hole through the top of the cap
- Drill a second hole with the 1/16” bit between the hole in the top and the rim to let heat escape while soldering
- Cut a length of copper tubing that will emerge ½” from the top and bottom of the cap
- Cut 2 small pieces of solder and wrap them around the tubing on the top and bottom of the lid
- Coat the solder with flux and melt to solder to create a weld
- Solder and seal the 1/16” hole
- Reattach the gasket after the cap has cooled and screw the cap back on the bottle
- Attach the right-angle brass compression fitting to the tube at the top of the cap
- You can insert a rubber gasket into the fitting to create a watertight seal to use the bottle as a conventional water bottle
- Take the copper tubing and wrap it tightly around the bottle 8 or 9 times
- Bend the top of the tubing up along the bottle and the other end down along the sides of the bottle
- Remove the coiled tubing and attach one end to the brass fitting and tighten
- Remove the rubber stop gasket from the brass fitting if installed
- Fill the water bottle with saltwater and suspend the bottle of over an open fire or a fire contained in a can or hobo stove
- Set a container at the other end of the tubing protruding away from the water bottle
- As the water begins to steam it will condense in the tubing and begin to drip fresh water into your container
- To better condense the water, immerse half of the coiled tubing in a pan or can of cold water so the bottom is surrounded by water or wrap the coils with a continuously wet rag
- Stop the process before the bottle is empty so you don’t concentrate salt and minerals on the side
- Add a splash of the saltwater to the distilled drinking water to provide electrolytes
- You can also use a solar reflector oven to heat the bottle but paint the bottle black
Watch the video below to see it done.
If you are short of the bottle, boiling water in an open pot with a lattice (or sticks across the top of pot) built over the pot and cloth over it to capture the steam should do the trick. The boiled vapor is salt free – wring out into container or over your mouth (after cooling of course !).
Nice job! One of the most informative and well-produced videos I’ve recently seen. Keep up the good work.
Love it. Common sense highschool chem lab. Cheap, easy, and basic tools. If you’re not comfortable soldering, you can substitute a 1/4″ brass compression fitting . Just drill the hole in the top to the proper size of the threads.