160 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



With the exception of the seven-man raft, all rafts were to depend 

 for their drinking water on the particular type of water-making device 

 delegated to each raft, e. g., one raft contained four Delano solar 

 stills. The seven-man raft was to depend on the Safety fuel still for 

 its water supply; other water-making devices were supplied to this 

 raft for test purposes only. When the water produced was below 

 500 milliliters per day per man, the deficient quantity was supplied 

 to the individual from the water supply of the escort vessel. 



Water volumes produced by the various methods tested were meas- 

 ured and logged by the raft captain. He noted also whether the other 

 occupants of the raft were able to carry out their assigned methods 

 from printed directions, and what difficulties were encountered, 

 if any. No assistance was rendered by the raft captain unless the 

 subject could proceed no further. 



On the early morning of the first day all subjects went over the 

 side of the escort vessel and into their designated rafts. Water- 

 making devices were broken out whenever the time rose for producing 

 water, except for the solar stills which were in operation as soon 

 as the individuals could get their appliances together. 



Of the original 21 individuals starting as subjects, 3 had to be 

 removed on the second and third days, owing to seasickness. All but 

 3 of the remainder also suffered from seasickness but became adapted 

 by the end of the second day. 



The following requisites relative to water-making devices were 

 noted : 



1. A method for field use must be made extremely simple since the effects of 

 exposure to cold, water, heat, sun, hunger, and thirst, plus the added factors 

 of lack of sleep and seasickness leave men in a poor mental and physical condition. 



2. The method employed should require little time for its operation or manipula- 

 tion and few directions. It was found that the individuals tended to employ 

 the warm daylight hours for catching up on lost sleep. 



3. The device employed should have a minimum of parts and all parts should 

 be well secured to the person or to the raft. 



4. The device employed should be of rugged construction and resistant to 

 corrosion. 



5. The complete kit should occupy very little space in the raft since space was 

 at a premium. 



As expected, the method of first choice was found to be the Permutit 

 method as modified by the Naval Medical Research Institute. It 

 required fewer directions and less time, attention, and manipulation 

 than any of the others. Several minor faults were found that were 

 corrected later. 



1. The closure on the plastic bags was made more secure. 



2. The filter was bonded into the bag to prevent leaks caused by sharp particles 

 of chemical being trapped in between the filter and bag which, upon kneading, 

 caused pinhole breaks in the bag. 



