Aquamate Solar Still Emergency Water Purification Inflatable Kit

I'm not going to review the rate of water output as it varies greatly for different situations.Everything else about this device exceeded my expectations. Every little part of the design has been well thought out, down to the straps, strings, and plugs which prevent loss of any separable parts. There are instructions and a quick survival guide printed on it, ENGLISH ONLY, telling you important information like how to conserve energy, how much to drink, and not to inflate the device fully or else it may burst when the sun's heat expands the air inside.You can't really see from the picture, but spread above the 'dirty water' reservoir is a black heat-absorbing fabric layer which has some of its parts dangling down and dipping into the dirty water, so that it sucks the dirty water upwards through capillary action, and then spreads the water over its large solar-heated surface area to accelerate the evaporation of the water. Since the dirty water in the lower reservoir easily loses its heat to the rest of the ocean or ground just below it, this black fabric system is essential for thermally isolating the "currently evaporating hot water" from the rest of the "dirty cold water reserve".This solar still has its practical advantages and disadvantages to a pump-type desalinator, and since these should be apparent to anyone doing moderate research, I won't touch on them. However, when it comes to sustained use beyond the one-off life raft situation which these products seem to be designed for, I can't say if this indefinitely-reusable solar still triumphs over the high-maintenance-limited-capacity (few thousand gallons) filters and RO membranes, because I'm not sure how resistant this solar still is to UV degradation, it being a solar device and all. Only time will tell.

The item does not separate the good water from the bad. If you tilt it the bad water mixes with the good. The small bag that is supposed to collect the good water has no outlet so how are you supposed to get it out of its little tiny bag? It took 2 days of hot desert California sun to generate 1 tablespoon of water. But don’t move it! Or the bad water will mix with it. There is no way of cleaning the unit. It is all completely enclosed except for a tube where you add the bad water. It is draining now with fungus and algae growing inside its little dome. Getting it ready for the garbage collectors. I can’t get a refund because it does not qualify for one. Beware!

arrived on time / worked very well for 3 weeks and then developed a leak and kept deflating - was bugger3d if i could find out where from

Bigger when deflated than I expected.But , It functions 100% as claimed.On average I can get about ~1 Liter of water from a full day of sunlight ... less when cloudy , a bit more on full sunny summer days.You have to have it inflated and sitting there in the sun for the sevral hours ... or a whole day ... in practice this is not practical for camping / hiking ... If I'm hiking I don't stay in one location that long ... sleep at night when it wouldn't work ... If I am camping at a stationary location ... there are other much faster methods of distilling water from a camp fire that I would have anyway.Still ... it is a neat device ... and works as advertised ... and operates autonomously ... set it up in the sun ... come back in a few hours to distilled water.If you are away from a fire source ... this might be invaluable.For the total expected lifetime produced distilled water ... It can't be beat for $Cost or for weight ... but it comes at the cost of increased distillation time for the output.

This thing actually works. All day (10 hours) in full sun it made 2 pints of distilled water. How cool is that?

Too expensive but works very well and I recommend it if you’re Bill Gates

This is an improved version of the unit which saved countless lives since its inception. Over the years, many survival distillation units have come and gone while this little guy hangs around and continues to serve stranded mariners. While Reverse Osmosis units seem to be all the rage with many highbrow reviewers, this would be my choice as a reliable backup to a more complex and costly system. Do not be fooled by its simplicity. It works like a charm and can be counted on when one needs it most.