The Water Cone (makes water)

And you can totally step on it and it's OK. Read all about it here.

More like this

I'm surprised it took this long to market. I was taught how to do that in my very short stint in the BSA, although the arrangement was a bit different (the clean water dripped from the center).

I've been thinking about that sort of thing but with rippled copper panels and on a much larger scale - solar panels operate low-volume water pumps to dribble water down blackened copper panels and an overlying polycarbonate sheet (with some attachments) catches the water.

Well, at least this one beats setting up the clingwrap, cup, and rock used by the scouts - it is bulkier though.

By MadScientist (not verified) on 29 Jul 2009 #permalink

Looks fantastic as a way to get clean drinking water from even the filthiest of sources. Also looks all vacuum formed, which means very very cheap production. I imagine total cost of product (manufacturer) is on the order of 50-80 cents.

Might put off the water wars just a little longer. It looks easy to use and ship. I will be tracking their production cycle.

Amazingly, it'll also turn Urine into potable water! This can also be done with:
1. A whole in the sand
2. Some Plastic wrap
3. A can (or other receiving vessel)
4. A weight (small Rock).

How to:
1.Dig Whole
2.Add water based solution to whole
3.Place reciveing vessel in center of whole
4. Cover w/ palstic wrap
5. Place weight on top of plastic wrap, directly above receiving vessel.

I saw something very similar to this for liferafts, some years back. It was an inflatable model, and it just floated on the ocean surface, tied to your raft with a piece of cord. The sun would do the rest! Condensed water would run down into these receiving vessels.

The idea was that if your ship went down, you might get a few extra days if you had drinkable water. Could mean the difference between being rescued, or "recovered".

The concerns I have seen about the traditional systems like that is that not enough water is produced to allow survival. This looks a bit more developed. I have thought a similar larger scale system for desalting sea water might be practical. It is clear that amount of sea water desalted in the world is going to increase right along as other sources become less economical. Be good to do it with passive solar rather than fossil fuel.

By Jim Thomerson (not verified) on 30 Jul 2009 #permalink

The concerns I have seen about the traditional systems like that is that not enough water is produced to allow survival.

Yup, I know quite a few people who have actually constructed the sorts of solar stills you see in survival handbooks, and the universal conclusion is that you lose more in sweat digging the hole than you get back.

Now, a transiration still, on the other hand, actually works.