Have you ever wondered what people mean when they ask for distilled water? We get that question a lot, so let’s discuss!
2. Distilled Water vs Purified Water
3. Is distilled water good for drinking?
WaterSmart professionals provide the knowledge you need to keep your water soft and safe. Contact the local experts at WaterSmart today to learn more about distilled water.
Distilled Water
1. What is it?
When natural water is boiled and the steam is collected and condensed back into a liquid state, the result is distilled water.
The basic process involves water that is evaporated, leaving any minerals or impurities behind.
The evaporated water (the steam) is collected as it cools and condenses back to liquid. This newly condensed water is now distilled, and incredibly pure.
The resulting liquid is pure H2O.
Here’s how it’s done:
How to make distilled water at home.
Distilled water is the purest type of water, as all of the minerals and contaminants have been removed from it.
Distilled water has a variety of industrial applications:
Cleaning tools in a medical setting
Appropriate for lab experiments as it won’t react with anything
Useful for car cooling systems or automotive maintenance, as distilled water lacks the minerals that would normally corrode metal.
The purity of distilled water also makes it useful for a variety of home applications:
You can put it in your appliances, as it won’t leave any mineral buildup
It can be used to drink or mix with food for people with weak immune systems, like babies
Personal hygiene and washing
And of course, you can drink distilled water. See below for more on that.
2. Distilled Water vs Purified Water
If distilled water is the purest form of H2O, then what’s purified water?
Purified water is water that has been filtered to remove undesirable particles. So, it’s essentially purified, but not 100% pure.
The three most popular ways of purifying water are as follows:
Carbon Filters - Activated carbon pulls contaminants out of your water by bonding to them. The popular Brita Filters use this method to purify your water.
Reverse Osmosis - Reverse Osmosis filters often include a carbon filter, but they also pass the water through a semi-permeable membrane, which filters out any particles larger than a water molecule. The downside of these filters is they produce almost 5 times as much wastewater as they do clean water.
Water Softeners - Water Softeners “replace calcium and magnesium with sodium,” as well as elements like barium, which can help protect your piping.
Purified water is a smart step you can take as a homeowner to protect your plumbing.
Distilled water is made through evaporation to remove unwanted particles.
3. Is distilled water good for drinking?
Distilled water is safe to drink. As we said, it’s essentially the purest water.
However, because it’s so pure, it lacks beneficial minerals that are often found in natural water.
Even though it is completely safe for you to drink, drinking distilled water may cause you to lack sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium.
Your body and, especially your teeth, require these minerals.
Drinking distilled water is a short-term option if you are in an area where the tap water is contaminated and there are no other forms of safe water to drink.
So next time you’re going camping off the grid, be prepared to distill.
We have the water you want
WaterSmart is your local expert for all your water needs in the Kitchener Waterloo Region. We sell high-quality water coolers and bottled water and have been servicing the area for almost 30 years.
We can deliver bottled water right to your home for you at a reasonable rate.
You can choose from spring, distilled or purified water and you can even order online!
Or if you prefer, you can come to our store and fill up your own bottles for the incredibly low price of 20 cents per litre.
We also offer prepaid water plans and you can wash your bottles on-site!
Contact us today to learn more.
“I get my bottled water here and have never had a problem. Always greeted with a smile and lent a hand carrying out the water.”
