How to Purify Salt Water

Pure, clean water to drink is essential to life. More than 72 percent of the earth's surface is water, but roughly 70 percent of that is salt water. Humans cannot drink salt water as it leads to sickness and dehydration, so in order to consume this water, it must be purified. There are a number of purification techniques used to desalinate water, including distillation.

Things You'll Need

• Distillation filtration system

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Instructions

• 1

  Invest in a good distillation water filtration system. There are a number of companies and products on the market designed to specifically filter salt water so you can tap into the source and draw pure water (see Resources). Meet with a water filtration specialist to determine the best product for your household needs.

• 2

  Install a water distiller by connecting it to your hot water heater. If you are not comfortable installing the distiller yourself, hire a professional to do the work for you. This will also ensure that it is installed properly, and prevent unwanted accidents.

• 3

  Boil salt water through the hot water heater to create steam, which separates impurities like salt from the water and deposits them in a filter, to be disposed of.

• 4

  Filter the steam byproduct through the baffle system of the distiller. The baffle system releases unwanted gases that may still be contained within the steam, purifying the salt water completely.

• 5

  Pass the purified water through a series of metal condensing coils, which cools the steam, returning it to its liquid form for a second pass through filtration.

• 6

  Send the water through a charcoal filter during the final stage of purification, and allow it to rest in the holding tank until you need to use it.

• 7

  Pump clean water from the holding tank into your household for cooking, cleaning, showers, laundry and all your other daily household needs.