A New British Invention — For the Benefit of Those Lost at Sea

British scientists have lately invented a new apparatus capable of overcoming one of the greatest dangers to which travelers at sea are exposed — namely, the exhaustion of their drinking water. This apparatus can turn salt water into water fit for drinking in a short space of time. It was originally devised by the chemists of the Permutit company in London, with the help of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, for the use of the men of the Royal Air Force.

More than twenty thousand of these devices have been sent to the South-East Asia Command for the use of the forces under it. The apparatus is simple in itself, yet it bespeaks a singular genius. It measures no more than a few cubic inches and takes the form of a box made of transparent plastic, which can also be used as a drinking vessel. Its user has only to fill a collapsible bag inside the box with seawater and then place in it a few cube-shaped pieces. After a few minutes he can draw pure water from the bag through a valve at the bottom of the apparatus. When the bag is empty, it can be washed out with seawater and filled again to produce another quantity of fresh water, amounting in volume to four times the volume of the apparatus itself. Britain has given the particulars of the apparatus to the United States, and the Americans have been able to manufacture devices on its model.