Solar Powered Water Purification Cone

thingiverse

This is just what the name says it is. A solar powered water purification cone. This idea was originally derived from "The Water Cone" (http://www.watercones.com/). I wanted to remake this and make it 3D printable. This was designed using a SolidWorks trial, which is now expired. I wanted to make some alterations to it (larger tray, looser fitting cap, a not as steep angle, make them parametric with tubing for easy farming), but to do this i will have to remake it in a free program. This item works by the choice of colors, which make it solar powered. The white, semi transparent plastic allows for light to pass through it without absorbing much of its energy. By making the tray black, it will absorb much more of the suns energy making it heat up. The hotter water in the tray will evaporate and then condense on the cooler white plastic of the cone. Once a droplet forms, it will slide down the cone into the reservoir built into the cone. After a long period of time, enough droplets will form to create some drinking water. My hope is that this design and any future derivatives of this design will provide a cheap and effective way to provide relief to those who do not have access to clean fresh water. This is a proven way to desalinate and purify water. Instructions Printing this with PLA is the best thing to print it with because PLA does not give off chemicals like ABS does. For the Cone and Cap portion of this, I recommend as transparent plastic as can be used. I happened to use natural PLA which seemed to work pretty well. The cone portion of this design has a small reservoir which collects the condensed water. The Tray should be printed with Black PLA(I didn't have black so I lined it with black tape). Once the parts are printed, fill the tray with the dirty or salty water, put the cone with the cap on it on the tray, and let it stand in the sun for a long period. When I tested this in a sunny area, I got about 3oz of clean water after about 8.5 hours. The temperature outside was around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.