Using water absorbers

There is a simple strategy that a person can use to get water in a survival situation with minimal effort. Take the example of calcium chloride or salt which absorb water from the atmosphere. These can be put in an open space overnight. Calcium chloride is hygroscopic while salt is delicquescent. A little heating in a container and then directing the steam to condense into a container using a pipe to direct the steam is all it takes to recover the water.

 

Moisture absorbers are very useful in homes also, especially because they inhibit the growth of mold and mildew. Mold usually grows in damp areas, the kitchen, and the bathroom. To solve the problem of mold, moisture absorbers placed in packets or buckets can help remove the moisture in a room or enclosed space.

Perhaps the best absorber is calcium chloride, a mixture of chlorine and calcium. It has a very strong moisture absorbent property that makes it an ideal candidate for high humidity moisture absorption and thus collect water with it. Calcium chloride is usually used in shipping goods and does a good job in keeping these goods dry during the whole duration of a trip. For very humid basements, kitchens, cabinets, closets, and other spaces, calcium chloride does provide effective moisture absorption. Sometimes, an electric fan can make the dehumidifying effect of the compound a lot faster and more widespread. Place the fan over a bucket of calcium chloride, and the motion of air will allow the moisture to circulate around.As an alternative, rock salt can also be used in place of calcium chloride. Although rock salt is not as powerful, it does provide an effective alternative that is both cheap and easy to access.

 

That heating reminded me of an elementary experiment in our science class. Some pebbles were placed in a beaker (not sure if that is what it is called - a glass that is unbreakable). The beaker is placed over a stove (actually a bunsen burner) and after some minutes of heat, it was removed to show us some trickle of water. That is a demo to prove that there is water inside the stone or pebbles.

When fire is available, you can get water from the available vegetation particularly the small trees that don't have wood in their branches. I don't know how those small trees are called. You can cut up the soft branches to see that it is wet. You can put it in a container that you can heat up so the water will be extracted. But the container has to have a cover where the drops of water will inhabit.