Solar stills are ingenious but painfully slow, especially if you’re relying on them for more than a cup or two a day. I’ve tried burying a wide container with leafy greens inside (for extra moisture), then stretching clear plastic over the top and weighting the center—gets a few extra drops, but not nearly enough for daily use unless you set up several at once. For larger volumes, I’d lean toward slow sand/charcoal filters like folks mentioned above—those are surprisingly effective, and you can jury-rig them from buckets, barrels, or even old clay flowerpots if you’re short on supplies. Crushed charcoal between sand layers helps with taste and some toxins, just make sure the charcoal’s not from treated wood.
Clay pots do filter, but they’re slow and mostly good for reducing particulates—not pathogens. One old trick for questionable water:
