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"Rain water"

Does anyone (besides me) know how to get fresh drinking water from urine using a sand pit, plastic wrap, and a cup? And if so could this be used for water for CPs if enough is produced?
 
Does anyone (besides me) know how to get fresh drinking water from urine using a sand pit, plastic wrap, and a cup? ?

sure! its a basic condenser, a "solar still"..learned how to make one in Boy Scouts..
its taught as way to get water in the desert..put cut cactus pieces under the plastic, (or if really desperate, urine I suppose works!) let the water evaporate, water condenses on the plastic and drips down into a container.

And if so could this be used for water for CPs if enough is produced?

in theory, sure...but it depends on how many plants you have, and how much urine you can produce! ;)

my question is..why would you possibly want to bother??:confused:
If your tap water is too hard for CPs..just put the tap water in the still!
that will also condense and yeild pure water..

Scot
 
I imagine you're talking about evaporating the urine, collecting it on the plastic wrap, and having it drip into the cup? The plastic would of course make a cone inside the sand pit (This is known as a simple Solar Still). While evaporated water is not 100% pure (just as distilled water is not 100% pure), this is a good way of making suitable water for CPs, so long as your solar still is big enough. You can even do this with salt water, as some people in other countries are forced to do. In fact, this is a great survival technique and there are different variations on methods. Of course, for sanitary purposes, I would not recommend using your urine lol. You can however, use hard tap water, or any other water available. I do remember reading somewhere however, that some particulates (and microbes) can be carried by the evaporated water and can still pose a health risk. Most other sources however, cite solar stills as a good method of producing fresh clean drinkable water. To be on the safe side though, I would just buy a commercial mini solar still and use tap water. You can also boil the water afterward if you are in a survival situation and don't want to take any risks.

Edit: I just saw ScottyChaos' post (posted minutes before mine) and I wanted to point out that the cactus method (or other vegetation) is one of the variations I was talking about. You can also wrap a plastic bag around certain large leaves and the transpiration of the leaves should yield water that collects in the bag. Anywho hope this helps.

P.S. I definitely agree with the no urine rule lol. Might as well use tap water (unless of course you're stuck in a survival situation with one of your CP's and you would rather give it your urine water than drink it to survive lol).
 
For anyone who isnt sure, this is what we are talking about:

pitmethod_0.gif



dig a pit in the ground, put things in the pit that have moisture..cut pieces of cactus..or urine! ;)

put a container in the middle of the pit, to catch the water.
lay clear plastic over the pit, seal the edges with rocks or dirt.
place a rock in the center of the plastic so that the condensing water drips to the center and into the container. A solar still.

Scot
 
That will take FOREVER to get enough water. Just buy some distilled water or get an RO unit if you can afford it.

We have a drought here in Georgia but this is just ridiculous :-))
 
That will take FOREVER to get enough water. Just buy some distilled water or get an RO unit if you can afford it.

We have a drought here in Georgia but this is just ridiculous :-))

lol just askin...
How can i get safe water from tap? let it sit out for 24 hours? Boil? I really need to know cause i have no other choice....
 
If you get a decent enough mini-solar-still you can yield up to a liter a day of fresh water. This should be more than enough for your plants (according to your grow list). You can even save the leftover water for future use, so you don't have to tend to the still daily (removing the fresh water, replacing the tap water, etc.). BTW, letting water sit out for 24 hours will only allow some of the chlorine to evaporate. Boiling it will only kill off the microorganisms in the water. The real issues with using tap water are the particulates dissolved in the water. The chlorine is a problem as well, but even after that has evaporated you will still need to get rid of the minerals from hard tap water. Anywho, hope this helps. Good Luck.

Oh yeah JLAP, it really doesn't take forever to get enough water, as this is what some people must do to survive, and we drink much more water than a few CPs need. If he had a greenhouse full of plants, I would say this would be infeasible as well, but a liter of water a day should be enough for a good amount of plants.
 
Yes it is useful. So i need distilled water (right?) What is reverse osmosis? How do i obtain it? Any ideas on how to make a still. I looked on the net and i reappy cant dig a hole in pops yard nor construct a box. A bottle or jar some how?
If you get a decent enough mini-solar-still you can yield up to a liter a day of fresh water. This should be more than enough for your plants (according to your grow list). You can even save the leftover water for future use, so you don't have to tend to the still daily (removing the fresh water, replacing the tap water, etc.). BTW, letting water sit out for 24 hours will only allow some of the chlorine to evaporate. Boiling it will only kill off the microorganisms in the water. The real issues with using tap water are the particulates dissolved in the water. The chlorine is a problem as well, but even after that has evaporated you will still need to get rid of the minerals from hard tap water. Anywho, hope this helps. Good Luck.

Oh yeah JLAP, it really doesn't take forever to get enough water, as this is what some people must do to survive, and we drink much more water than a few CPs need. If he had a greenhouse full of plants, I would say this would be infeasible as well, but a liter of water a day should be enough for a good amount of plants.
 
Reverse Osmosis refers to a process whereby water is forced through a medium (membrane) forcing the particulates to separate from the water. Think of a coffee filter. If you place murky water on top of a coffee filter, clearer water will drip out from the bottom. Distillation refers to a process whereby water is boiled off, and the steam is collected. The purity of the water in both processes is measured in PPM (parts per million). Distilled water is more pure (less PPM) than reverse osmosis water, and thus better suited for CP's. It is also very similar to rain water (water from the earth evaporates, collects in the atmosphere, and rains down akin to distilled water). Either type of water however, has a very low PPM rating and are both very good for CP's. A solar still could best be described as producing distilled water, and therefore would be suitable. I suggest looking around the internet for an inexpensive plastic solar still which you can just place somewhere in the yard to get some sun. Make sure the solar still that you buy collects water as soon as it condenses to dripping point. This way you don't have to flip the plastic dome over to collect the water.

Edit: Oh yeah, about Reverse Osmosis (RO) water: You can buy a commercial unit for a little over 100$ I believe. It should be capable of producing more than enough water for your needs. This is a good route to follow, as it is capable of producing large amounts of water quickly. The only drawback is that you occasionally will have to replace the filters. You can also buy an add-on distiller for some units, to further purify the water.
 
  • #10
lol just askin...
How can i get safe water from tap? let it sit out for 24 hours? Boil? I really need to know cause i have no other choice....

sitting for 24 hours is no good..all that does is let the chlorine evaporate..all the minerals that make the water "hard" are still there..they dont go away.

boiling makes it WORSE! ;)

the problem with tap water for CPs is "mineral hardness"..minerals in the water..virtually all tap water has minerals..the only water that does not have minerals is rain water, distilled water, or reverse-osmosis water.

boiling water boils off all the pure water (as steam) leaving the remaining water harder than it was before boiling! because now you still have all the same minerals as before (they dont boil off) and LESS pure water than before, because some went away as steam.
so the overall hardness actually increases.

The best way to gets tons of good pure water for FREE is to collect rain water.
I made a new rainwater collector this spring..im just about to put it away for the winter..
I will take some photos this afternoon and post them tonight.

some people do have "soft" enough tap water that they can use it for CPs! but its very rare..if you get those white "water spots" or calcium build up on your shower curtain, your tap water is too hard.


Scot
 
  • #11
It takes 4 hours to get 5 gallons of water? If not I need to start selling RO units to those damned boy scouts!

There are kitchen-top units that can distill water for you. But compared to buying an RO unit it just seems inefficient. On the plus side, you could probably make some nice moonshine when you're not making water.
 
  • #12
It takes 4 hours to get 5 gallons of water? If not I need to start selling RO units to those damned boy scouts!

Eh? Where are you getting those numbers? Is that how quickly an RO unit takes or something? ???
 
  • #14
Takes my unit 4 hours to make 5 gallons. Low water pressure I guess since it's rated 100 GPD but at that rate only makes 30 GPD.

Ehh, good enough for me. I get 3 ppm RO water :)
 
  • #15
Takes my unit 4 hours to make 5 gallons. Low water pressure I guess since it's rated 100 GPD but at that rate only makes 30 GPD.

Ehh, good enough for me. I get 3 ppm RO water :)
Thats damned good mate! lol i have to buy mine for $1.40 a gal :-))
 
  • #16
  • #17
I had an RO filter long before I started growing cp's it also has a uv filter and it says
to wear eye protection when in use.
I also live in oregon,plenty of rainwater here!:-))
My RO unit fills a gallon in about 3 minutes.
it cost about 450 dollars.
 
  • #18
Here in Corvallis, we use tap water, and it works so well!!! The plants even seem to grow better, and cuttings sprout bettter in our tap water rather than RO water.
 
  • #19
Here in Corvallis, we use tap water, and it works so well!!! The plants even seem to grow better, and cuttings sprout bettter in our tap water rather than RO water.

Yay for hardened, chlorinated, soon to be fluoridated, San Diego Municipal Water! I need an RO unit like my life depends on it... wait a minute...
 
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