Bill Maxwell and I have come up with an idea for a primitive still. It should be easy enough to make using clay pots/bowls or carved stone. We haven’t tested it, so we don’t know if it will work. We designed it so you could artistically make it look like a face. We’re planning on trying to put a few of these together and hiding them in discreet locations around the area we live. I hope you guys can point out possible problems or come up with improvements. I’d like to figure out a way to artistically incorporate a rocket stove instead of a brazier.
Legend:
- Brazier. Make fire here.
- Water bowl. Boil questionable water here.
- Condenser. Catches vapor emanating from the heated water bowl. The condensed water should run down the sides and fall into the catchments. Grooves (not depicted in the image) could be added to the outside of the condenser to channel rainwater into the catchments.
- Catchments. Pool the condensed water and direct it into the channels.
- Channels. Direct water into the water containers at the sides.
Possible problems: The channels may not work unless there is a steady flow of water. It may be possible to use stoppers in the catchments when small amounts of water are dripping from the condenser. Remove the stoppers when it rains so the bowls don’t overflow.