Emergency action

This is probably a boring subject to most of you, but the reality is that the drought in the Western Cape, and specifically Cape Town, may cause Cape Town to be the first ever metropolitan to run out of water.  Ever.

https://www.enca.com/south-africa/cape-town-day-zero-moved-forward-by-a-week

There are 5 dams which feed Cape Town:

• Theewaterskloof Dam.
• Wemmershoek Dam.
• Steenbras Dams (Upper and lower)
• Voëlvlei Dam.
• Berg River Dam

The Theewaterskloof Dam is the largest, and it is currently sitting at 16.05% - 10% of which is unusable, so basically that dam has 6.05% water left to give Cape Town.  The combined total of all five dams is 29.1%  When that total hits 13.7% Day Zero has arrived and the only water supplied to the entire city will be by water tanker.  This is predicted to happen on 22 April 2018.  If we have any heatwaves before then, then obviously that date will be brought forward.

So, I have been researching how to "create" water, and this site gave me a few idea's: http://all-about-water-filters.com/awesome-diy-emergency-ways-to-filter-water-in-the-wild/

I tried out # 5, and this was the result.

Empty jar inside muddy water filled glass salad bowl

I took a clear glass salad bowl and added some muddy water to it.  

View from the side

An empty jam jar was placed inside the salad bowl.  

Rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

The salad bowl was then covered in cling wrap, with a stone in the centre. This is so that any condensation which gathers on the cling wrap will fall into the empty jam jar and not back into the muddy water.

A drop of water in the making

Placing the salad bowl in the sun I left it for the day.

Small rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

Condensation is clearly visible on the inside of the plastic wrap.

Water collected in the jam jar via condensation

At the end of the day, this is how much water was collected.

Roughly 25mls of water

Placing it in a measuring jug, roughly 25mm was collected.

Considering I used a clear glass salad bowl (in order to demonstrate the principle / take photo's), that's not bad.  Had I used a black container instead of the glass, I'm sure that more condensation would've taken place and the yield would've been greater.  To produce enough water to drink / stay hydrated would probably require a number of containers, but I am chuffed at the success of the experiment.

A word of caution though.  This does not produce "clean" water.  It produces clear water, which will still contain germs / bacteria.  Therefore, I would recommend that anyone who tries this method, boils the clear water prior to drinking.