Playa Tested Greywater Evaporator

[JungleJim]

What about making the coil of black tubing around the mesh, or in place of the mesh? Let the hot water drip down over the coils?

[capjbadger]

What about making the coil of black tubing around the mesh, or in place of the mesh? Let the hot water drip down over the coils?

You need the mesh for the surface area. Evap only happens at the surface.

And wrapping the tubing around the mesh means that part of the tubing is always in the shade.

-Badger

[JDCookMS]

These are some really amazing ideas... is an evaporator needed if you only have a small group? Also, are there any other ideas/designs that have come up recently?

[trilobyte]

It's your choice. You can either haul out all your waste water (which could get messy and cumbersome), or you look for ways to reduce the volume that you have to transport off the playa.

[JDCookMS]

It's your choice. You can either haul out all your waste water (which could get messy and cumbersome), or you look for ways to reduce the volume that you have to transport off the playa.

I gotcha...so, in that case, I guess the question is... how can I turn an evaporator into some kind of steampunk? haha (Or is that not exactly feasible? ...I think that grey water could be get of....funky.)

[Elliot]

Steampunk? Well, a couple of years ago I saw an evaporator that looked like a metal chimney. It was attached to the side of his bus for support. The owner said it worked fine.
I don't remember much about it, but I think the concept is that a black metal chimney would absorb a lot of heat, and then you introduce the gray water inside that heat, and the vapor rises out the top.

That said, I've always felt that evaporating waste water might be a great way to spread germs.

[Zhust]

That said, I've always felt that evaporating waste water might be a great way to spread germs.

Atomizing it for sure. Evaporating it, probably not. Unfortunately the fountain-style evaporator is sort-of an atomizer in the wind which is, as you may have noticed, common.

[trilobyte]

@JDCookMS - put on your thinking cap and get creative! There are some awesome ideas on the site for things that work, you just need to figure out what you would like to (and can manage to) do in order to give it the look and feel you like.

[Raymaker]

for two people we just used an inflatable childs paddling pool, it worked for us.

[Canoe]

...
Wicking really seems to be the key word to a succesful evap pond, with out motors and pumps and stuff.
I'm thinking, I'm gonna building a sorta frame that will sit over the evap pond, to hang fabric too. One end of the fabric will sit in the water, while the other end is hung so that wind will blow across it...

Gardening capillary mat will wick water upwards, but is supposedly limited to a 1" lift. I've used it to lift up to 3".
As water evaporates off the mat, it wicks more to replace it. Don't know what rate of flow it will produce. Although not black, it is medium grey in colour.

Some sort of support (wire mesh, wood lattice, plastic rod, etc.) which allows the mat to sit flat 2" above the water such that you have air flow both above and below the mat, may work well. With some ends dangling in the water it will wick water out of the pond and across the mat. This support can float on top of the pond so its function is not dependent on the pond's water level. Should collect a lot of dust in the mat, but you can occasionally wash that off. You could add additional pieces of matting:
> below the flat mat such that it wicks water out of the tray at multiple points, while these are also in the air flow for enhanced evaporation
> sticking up above the flat mat for more surface area and to catch more air for evaporation

I have not built this so I have no idea what would/may be optimal or available for water flow vs. evaporation rate.