# Water distllery 101



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

How you make one that won't kill you.
Aluminum is toxic, when it corrodes even more so.you can get by on using aluminum occasionally but since this is me we're doing it right the first time.Let's go shopping:

At the restaurant supply store we pick up a 2 gallon STAINLESS STEEL pressure cooker, a 4 quart colander or spaghetti strainer,and as many of those huge industrial sized coffee filters as possible.

At the industrial supply you get a pipe fitting that will replace the pressure gauge and accept either 6' of 3/8" copper tubing or high temperature rated 
[400+ degrees]Teflon or plastic tubing make sure it fits securely and once the nipple is screwed on it's NOT coming out! next buy you an 8"X2' piece of PVC pipe and two end caps and some glue get some gasket seal and a 3/8" drill bit
and a 1" spade drill.

Now we get started:
Replace the pressure gauge on the cooker with the fitting and attach the line.this part's done.

Now then, in one of the PVC end caps,drill a 3/8" hole and a 1" hole and feed 4-5 feet of your line through it and using PVC cement, glue it on to the pipe and allow to dry.

Next curl up 3/4ths of the hose inside the pipe and thread the rest out the bottom.be sure to glue the tube to the pipe securely or it will leak.now glue the cap in place.congrats.this is the cooling tower.

Now let's boil some water!

Using the colander and coffee filters pour the suspect water through them and into the "still." fill it about half way up and put the lid on, make sure it locks securely!. next make sure the cooling tower is set where it won't tip over.I'd make a stand for it but I just used a couple of bricks for my test piece.fill the cooling tower full of water through your 1" hole.use a funnel maybe?any water will do but perhaps best to use something already drinkable in case of leaks. and lastly,point the end of the hose into a jug or bucket to collect your distilled water.

*ADDENDUM*
Some people say to add 2" of pea gravel in the bottom of the still to agitate the water but if you filtered it well,I don't see the need other than flavor.


----------



## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

Pictures! Pictures!


----------



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Ought to,but my test rig was aluminum.its a planter on my back porch now.

Oh,to all you alcoholics out there,you can use it to re fortify beer,just fill the cooling stack with ice water.


----------



## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

Distilled water should have no taste.


----------



## md1911 (Feb 9, 2012)

Magus. I have made almost exactly what you described. They work fine. When I set mine up this fall I will post pics (I make brandy). They are almost portable if you have a viechel. The problem I have is they are not fuel efficiant as larger stills. When destilling water.


----------



## mpguy18 (Sep 7, 2011)

Great simple set up for emergencies. Same woudl hold true on a much larger scale - 55 gal steel drum with a ring-lid


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

it also helps to put a small (1/16th") hole in the out let tubing close to the pot to let volatiles escape, the hole should be on the top of a curve so that lighter gasses will escape instead of condenseing. distilled water while pure tends to be flat tasting and slightly acidic too.


----------



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Might be why some suggested the pea gravel to agitate it as it boils? IDK...
I drink distilled all the time anyway due to an allergy to the local chemicals.I'm used to it.


----------



## BillS (May 30, 2011)

A water distillery is good if you have no other source of water but it uses a lot of energy. You'd have to wonder how much wood it would take to distill 5 gallons every day for a year.


----------

