An Experimental Study of a Single Surface Solar Water Distiller

The availability of fresh water resources and their quality is essential to improve human health in rural areas of numerous developing countries worldwide. In this paper, an experimental single slope solar water distiller with an active surface area of 0.192m2 was evaluated. The data used was obtained from daily recording of temperature, average volume of water evaporated and energy of irradiation hourly in 8 days in the month of November 2011(16th – 23rd). Result showed that the average volume of water distilled per day is approximately 0.58513liters and 0.84625liters on non - incorporating and incorporating a reflector respectively. The solar still consist of an air-tight basin, in which saline or contaminated water is evaporated and condensed on the top cover for collection. The solar water distiller has shown to be a viable alternative for distilled water production. The energy source is renewable and environmentally friendly.