Evaporator Watermaker?

[DomesticPirate]

Has anyone seen or heard of a small evaporator type watermaker instead of an RO system? I've looked around but not found any small enough to be practical for private use. I'd rather find one than have to build my own.

[mydauphin]

I always thought of making one driven by engine heat... Cool engine or generator, make hot water, make water....Should not be to hard to make if you have the space.

[marshmat]

It makes sense, it would probably work just fine, and it would probably be a fair bit cheaper than an RO unit.

I've never seen a small one for sale, though. Just stuff that's meant to desalinate for a small town or something.

As mydauphin suggests, running a small still off engine heat should be pretty straightforward.

There is a slight legal problem- in many jurisdictions, stills are heavily regulated. The intent being to prevent the production of cheap moonshine with (highly toxic) methanol in it. But where these restrictions exist, they often apply to stills in general, whatever they be used for.

[Landlubber]

Yes, someone in NSW (Australia) made one that was specifically for Gardner engines, I remember seeing it at a boat show only a few years back, came from Tamworth I think if anyone can enlighten me further.