For those of you who need distilled water but can’t get to the store to get some (thank you Coronavirus), here is a quick and easy way to distill your own water with a steam juicer. Just fill the bottom pan of your clean steam juicer with tap water, stack the rest of the components up, and turn the heat on. The water will boil and the distilled water will rise as steam while the impurities and minerals are left behind. The steam will then condense on the inside of the pan and drip down into your collection pan and, through your drain tube, and into a clean jar or other reservoir. Note that steam is very hot. I recommend letting the whole system cool down to room temperature before touching it or trying to harvest your distilled water.
If you don’t have a steam juicer, you can use the same principle to distill water using a stock pot, a glass bowl, a stainless steel trivet, some ice cubes and some foil. Simply put the trivet in the bottom of your stock pot, fill with a few inches of water, and place your bowl on the trivet (the bowl should not touch the bottom or sides of pot). Then cover the stock pot with foil, making an effort to create a low point in the middle for the condensed steam to drip down into your bowl. Fill your foil cover with ice to help in the condensation (You can add more ice when this melts, but do not attempt to pour the melted ice out until the whole system has cooled to room temperature. Steam will build up under that foil and will rush out and burn you the moment you make any attempt to move it). Finally, turn the stove top on and let it boil. When it’s finished, your glass bowl will contain distilled water. Please remember, the steam building up under your foil is hot and can rise quickly to burn your fingers or face! When you have boiled for awhile, turn off the heat and let the whole system cool to room temperature before attempting to remove the foil with the melted ice puddle. When removing the foil, be careful not to spill the melted ice water into your glass bowl of delightfully distilled water.
One last note…if you ever find yourself in a situation where there is no water, you can collect water with this same basic idea in a water still. Just dig a hole and place a reservoir in the center. Cover your hole with plastic (a cut-open garbage bag does the trick). Use rocks to hold it in pace. Make a dime-sized hole in the center of the plastic and put a rock or two in the center of the bag. Do not plug the hole up with your rocks. During the day, the warm sun will cause the water to collect on the underside of the bag. During the night, the heat of the earth will cause water to collect on the upper side of your bag. The water will run down the bag and drip into your reservoir.
