Solar Powered Water Desalination Kit

This solar desalination kit from Science Buddies is based on an award-winning state science fair project. With it, students can use build a DIY desalinator that transforms saltwater into fresh drinking water!

What is Desalination?

Ocean water is too salty to drink. But a process called desalination can turn seawater into fresh water that people can drink. In other words, desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater, amazingly making it drinkable water. There are several different desalination systems that can be used to do this! 

With this water desalination kit, you will make a solar desalination device that uses a power source that is free—the sun!

While this isn't quite a survival kit for the filtration of contaminants in a survival situation, this kit is an excellent educational resource for teaching students about water needs a multitude of scientific concepts! 

This high-quality water desalination kit contains all the materials you need to build a working desalination chamber without making trips to multiple stores. We've gathered all the hard-to find pieces, like plastic boxes and funnels that are just the right size, the right weight washers, a beaker, and a graduated cylinder, in one simple kit. We've even pre-drilled the holes in the rectangular boxes and cups so you will spend less time setting up the experiment and more time enjoying the results!

The desalination process requires some tinkering to correctly set up the experiment. Please read the FAQ page before starting your desalination experiment to understand common challenges and recommended solutions. Additional supplies, which can be found on this Materials and Equipment page, are required.

How much desalinated water can the device produce, and is the water still salty at all? Will the color of the bottom of the chamber affect its performance? Use this desalination water purification kit to answer these questions and more! As they explore and experiments, students can learn about concepts related to evaporation, condensation, and so much more.

Instructions for this kit are available online. See below for links to the instructions and more.

You will also need from home:

• Water 
• Table salt, 50 g

Instructions are NOT included with the kit, but are available online from Science Buddies.

This kit is based on an award-winning state science fair project. It’s recommended for students in grades 7+. Additional supplies, which can be found on this Materials and Equipment, are required.

Please review the FAQ page before starting this project. For problems not addressed on the FAQ page, you can Ask an Expert or contact customer service. 

Each Solar-Powered Water Desalination kit contains:

• 2 Clear Plastic Rectangular Containers with pre-drilled holes
• 2 Plastic Cups with pre-drilled holes
• 1 Graduated Cylinder, 25 mL
• 1 Beaker, 500 mL
• 1 Stick of Modeling Clay
• 1 Thermometer, 6", C scale
• 2 Funnels, small
• 2 Straws, flexible
• 2 Washers, flat, steel, 7/16
• 2 Rubber Bands
• 3 Pieces of Construction Paper, black, 8 1/2" x 11"
• 3 Pieces of Construction Paper, white, 8 1/2" x 11"