Investigation of Stepwise Basin Solar Still

Industrialization, development in agriculture, urbanization and the growth of population, have increased the demand for fresh water. Lack of potable water is an increasing concern in many parts of the world. For instance, in North Cyprus, as a result of intrusion of sea water into the land’s aquifers, there is a considerable lack of edible water. The main reason is over withdrawing of underground water from aquifers. There are different methods for extracting fresh water from salty, brackish or contaminated water and distillation is one of them. Energy is required for distillation, and solar radiation can be utilized for this process. As solar radiation is high in North Cyprus, solar desalination technology would be a reliable option in order to extract fresh water from brackish water. In this study an effort has been made to increase the freshwater yield in a stepwise basin solar still by using a special design to make chimney effect in order to boost the evaporation. The modified solar still consists of two main separable parts which can be easily separated, a base and steps. Four different configurations i.e., base type (traditional still), base with steps, and a sponge liner with base and steps were studied. Experiments were conducted for 6 months period (September - May) and solar still with base, steps and sponge liner produced the maximum amount of water per day in all months, which is 5.37 liter/day.m2. The present study showed that the amount of distilled water increased by each modification. Keywords: Solar Still, Modified Solar Still, Fresh Water Distillation