On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:43:37 -0700, Keith Hughes
wrote:


Also, there are some BS consumer-level stills out there that are not
very effective at all, because of mist and condensate carryover into the
distillate, so you need to be cognizant that there are 'bad' stills out
there, and blind faith in them is not justified. Especially not the
belief that you can basically dump sewage in them and get nice clean
water out. People need to be aware that all purification/sanitization
process results are statistical in nature, and that means being smart
about the feed water as well as the purification method you use.

Good advice. Having worked on the steam generating end only, where
the "cool" steam was +600 F, I hadn't given much thought on the
potential distillers have for biological type carryover.
A good boiling of the water, perhaps under pressure, before any
steam/vapor is allowed to process further, and close care with the
carryover and condensing elements of the distiller should solve that,
but the cost and complexity grows greater.
Larry had me a bit concerned about RO quality, and his take on
"toxins" created by RO hydraulic pressure on bacteria, and mass cruise
boat illness is interesting, but I'm not sold on either.
You have raised red flags about distiller feed, design and operation.
Very educational discussion.
Put me down on the RO side.
But I admit I've never been a big drinker of plain water.

--Vic