Construction of a Solar Still Prototype to Reduce Extreme Water Hardness in the Mayan Community Ejido 20 de Noviembre

Available water in natural sources at the Mayan community Ejido 20 de Noviembre presents extreme hardness; it exceeds the maximum limit established by Mexican regulations. Consequentially, the water found in these sources is not suitable for human consumption, a critical use for the villagers in drought seasons when water scarcity is more severe. Therefore, affordable alternatives are required to treat water resources that can be used locally. In this sense, the objective of the research was to develop a solar still prototype in order to test the technology’s performance in water treatment available in the community. The prototype development consisted of 6 stages: still model selection, dimension definition, 3D modeling, material selection, assembly, and prototype testing. The device testing at the community was carried out over a period of 3 days, during which well water with an initial hardness of 3500 mg/l CaCO3 was used. A significant hardness reduction was recorded after the solar distillation process, obtaining values of 119.3 mg/l CaCO3, which indicates that the solar distillation technology serves to reduce the water hardness of the community.