Solar still is a simple device that utilizes the evaporation-condensation technique to convert impure saline water into the distilled water by eliminating dissolved salts as well as other dissolved impurities and suspended solids. This study aims to produce fresh drinking water from saline water with solar still in the context of Bangladesh. For this study, a pilot-scale solar still with an effective surface area of 0.214 m 2 is fabricated with mild steel sheet. At first, solar still productivity is evaluated by varying basin water amount by 3 L, 3.5 L, 4 L and 4.5 L synthetic water. Experimental investigations show a decrease in water production with an increase in basin water amount. The optimum basin water amount is found to be 3.5 L at which distillate production is maximized. Then, the effect of salt concentration is assessed by synthetic solutions with 2000 ppm, 5000 ppm and 8000 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS). An inverse relation is found between salt concentration and freshwater production. Lastly, real seawater is fed to the basin and an average freshwater production of 2.38 L/m 2-day is obtained with a removal efficiency of 99.87%, 99.83%, 99.78% and 99.81% for turbidity, chloride, TDS and electrical conductivity respectively.
The chemical characteristics of rainwater in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh were investigated in this study in addition to identifying the potential sources of different precipitation constituents, which have often been unexplored or not well covered in the literature. Rainwater pH, major ions and trace metals were measured in samples collected from five different locations with different land-use patterns of the Chattogram Metropolitan area (CMA) during two rainy seasons. The results of this study showed variability in rainwater quality across the sites signifying site-specific influences. The mean concentration of all measured physicochemical parameters, ions and trace metals in rainwater samples was also found to be significantly lower compared with the drinking water quality standard of Bangladesh and WHO guidelines. The correlation matrix and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that and originated from anthropogenic sources, while the average concentration of trace metals found in rainwater was exhibited in the following order: Zn>Cu>Fe>Cr>Mn>Pb>Cd. The findings of this study could be used as a reference to further investigate the influences of industrial, urban and agricultural emissions that regulate the chemical characteristics of the atmosphere in particular areas of study.
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