A Practical Manual On Sea Water Distillation
With A Description Of The Necessary Machinery For The Process

THE CONDENSING DISTILLER. 149 steam pipe, so that it can be made to pass down the central tube, and thus allow the excess air to escape instead of it accumulating in the upper tubes, which stops their proper action (see Fig. 18, p. 138). (8) Strainers should be fitted to the circulation inlet, and to the feed supply, and these pipes should be of ample size. The strainers are to prevent foreign substances getting in with the circulation water, which might inter- fere with the proper working of the apparatus. In modern ships, more care is taken than used to be the case. The pump used to draw water direct from the sea with no strainer, and the consequence was that all sorts of substances were drawn in with the circulation ; for in- stance, small fish got drawn in, and distillers have been known to become filled with fish bones as the result. General Remarks. 31. Generally, with regard to the construction of the distiller, too much attention cannot be paid to the neces- sity of having all parts made of the best materials and workmanship, and small details carried out, otherwise an apparatus may give trouble by the inefficiency of some detail which may be difficult to locate.