How To Make Water In The Desert

The desert is hot and dehydration can set in quickly. If you are stuck or stranded in the desert, you can use the sun to generate a sufficient amount of water for yourself. You will probably, however, lose more water perspiring while building the still than it will generate for you in the end. This article discusses the concept of a "Solar 'still", or distillery. It can be used to collect water from soil in any climate, given enough sunlight and existent soil moisture.

Steps

1. Dig a few curved holes (the more the better) about two feet deep so that the moist subsoil is clearly visible. If you are in dryer conditions, dig the hole a bit deeper, as it is essential that the moist subsoil is clearly visible.
2. Place an open coffee can, mug, cup or canteen in the center of each hole. If you have a length of plastic tubing, you can run it from the bottom of the coffee can out the edge of the hole.
3. Lay a taut piece of clear plastic wrap across the top of the hole. To create a seal, pour sand in a circle around the hole along the outside of the plastic wrap. Pour the sand an inch or two from the edge of the plastic wrap. Ensure that the tubing runs underneath the plastic, and that there are no gaps not sealed by the sand.
4. Place a small to medium sized rock in the center of the plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap dips to a point above the can.
5. Sit back and wait for the sun to evaporate water out of the moist soil. The water will condense on the plastic wrap because it cannot escape the hole and will drip into the can. Given the right soil moisture, this technique can generate an abundance of water! You can use the tubing to suck the water from the can without dismantling the 'still until the hole is depleted.
6. Once the sun dries the subsoil in that hole, start the process all over by digging another hole.
   
   

Alternate Method

1. Collect it from fog. It may seem odd, but fog is usually present where other forms of water are not. This technique only works in high elevations, though.
2. Make a sort of net from nylon or polypropylene.
3. Prop up the net in a double layer supported by two poles.
4. Prop up the net so the wind blows into it.
5. Place a sort of tank underneath the net.
6. Leave your net up overnight.
7. In the morning, check the net. There should be water in the tank. What happened is that as the fog rolled in, the condensed water droplets hit the net. The droplets could not pass through the net and thus they rolled into the tank.

Tips

• In the hole you can add a small amount of vegetation so that more evaporation will occur.
• Do not dig the hole in the shade. The process needs direct sunlight to work correctly.
• This technique can also be used to purify dirty water. Simply replace the hole with a larger container and do everything else the same. Fill the bowl with the muddy and nasty water and seal it over with plastic wrap and weight the sheeting over your cup. Place in the sun and wait. Once the water evaporates, it will be free of contaminants and clean, and safe to drink (so long as there are no microbes that might still be hanging around).
• Urinating in the hole provides extra moisture and is sanitary because only the water evaporates. Urine has Urea Nitrogen in it, which converts to ammonia, which will evaporate more readily than water!!
• If