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

TYPES OF DISTILLING APPARATUS. I I water for the use of passing steam ships, either for drink- ing purposes or for storage for feeding the boilers on board, and for this latter purpose the fresh water has to be absolutely pure to meet the exigencies of the water- tube boilers. (For further uses see p. 5.) Small Apparatus. 12. The need of very pure water is also felt at elec- trical generating stations, as the ordinary town water is very unsatisfactory for use in connection with accumu- lators or storage batteries. The quantity of absolutely pure water required is, however, so small that the dis- tilling machinery suitable for the purpose has to be reduced to the proportions capable of yielding as little as 20 to 30 gallons daily. This is, however, met by having a small double distiller, worked off the steam of any boiler that is available. If there is no ordinary boiler available, then the distilling apparatus has to make its own steam by means of a miniature boiler, or steam generator, working with a distilling condenser, the former being worked by the heat obtained from an ordinary gas stove of suitable size to generate the quantity of steam required. 13. The above type of small distiller can also be worked, by a gas or oil stove for producing pure cold drinking water from water that is not considered sufficiently pure for such purpose. Automatic Working. 14. These very small distilling plants, whether worked with the steam from a boiler, or adapted to working with a gas or oil stove, are generally made to work automati- cally, as the necessity of having someone deputed to give