Holy crap!!

Okay, a little bit of an overreaction, but still! *

Remember my post about desalination? Oh, come now, you must. Anyway, I sort of did some more investigative work and found this:

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/memss.html

Apparently, these are not always as efficient as the product manufacturer claims (naturally) but the principle is absolutely scientifically sound, it being: the clear vinyl dome sits suspended above the seawater. The sun shining down on the dome causes the seawater beneath to evaporate. In the evaporation process the salt from the seawater, which is too heavy to rise with the evaporating water droplets, is left behind and the fresh water begins to collect on the inside of the dome. The shape of the dome then encourages the desalinated condensation to run down its sides and into a collection tray around its perimeter, and splosh! Fresh water! Although I can't help wondering to what degree the water is actually "salt-free", and whether very small salt particles could carried with the evaporating water...

So, how, now, to make this happen using only objects that might conceivably have survived a shipwreck, or plane crash?

Ow, my mind.


* A desalination in-joke there, especially for the desalination crowd.