What exactly is distilled water??

Question

is it really THAT different from tap water or bottled water??

Answer 1

Purified water is water from any source that is physically processed to remove impurities. Distilled water and deionized water have been the most common forms of purified water, but water can also be purified by other processes including reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, microporous filtration, ultrafiltration, ultraviolet oxidation, or electrodialysis. In recent decades, a combination of the above processes have come into use to produce water of such high purity that its trace contaminants are measured in parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt). Purified water has many uses, including in science and engineering laboratories and industries, and is produced in a range of purities.

Many beverage manufacturers use distilled water to ensure a drink's purity and taste. Bottled distilled water is sold as well, and can usually be found in supermarkets. Water purification, such as distillation, is especially important in regions where water resources or tap water is not suitable for ingesting without boiling or chemical treatment.

Water filtration devices are becoming increasingly common in households. Most of these devices do not distill water, though there continues to be an increase in consumer-oriented water distillers and reverse osmosis machines being sold and used. Municipal water supplies often add or have trace impurities at levels which are regulated to be safe for consumption. Much of these additional impurities, such as volatile organic compounds, fluoride, and an estimated 75,000+ other chemical compounds[citation needed] are not removed through conventional filtration; however, distillation and reverse osmosis does eliminate nearly all of these impurities.

The drinking of purified water has been both advocated and discouraged for health reasons. Purified water lacks minerals and ions, such as calcium, which are normally found in potable (drinking) water, and which have important biological functions such as in nervous system homeostasis. Some percentage of our daily consumption of these minerals and ions come from our drinking water. The lack of naturally-occurring minerals in distilled water has raised some concerns. The Journal of General Internal Medicine[2] published a study on the mineral contents of different waters available in the US. The study concluded, "drinking water sources available to North Americans may contain high levels of Calcium, Magnesium, and Sodium and may provide clinically important portions of the recommended dietary intake of these minerals," and further encouraged individuals to "check the mineral content of their drinking water, whether tap or bottled, and choose water most appropriate for their needs." Since distilled water is devoid of minerals, supplemental mineral intake through diet is needed to maintain proper health.

It is often observed that consumption of "hard" water, or water that has some minerals, is associated with beneficial cardiovascular effects. As noted in the American Journal of Epidemiology, consumption of hard drinking water is negatively correlated with atherosclerotic heart disease.[3] Since distilled water is free of minerals, it will not have these potential benefits.

It has been suggested that -- because distilled water lacks fluoride ions that are added by a minority of governments (e.g. municipalities in the United States) at water treatment plants using sodium hexafluorosilicate or hexafluorosilicic acid for their supposed effect on the inhibition of cavity formation -- the drinking of distilled water may increase the risk of tooth decay due to a lack of this element.[4] However, there is some controversy concerning water fluoridation.

The costs associated with water distillation have generally been prohibitive. However, distilling water with solar water distillers is becoming increasingly popular around the world; they can be relatively simple to design and build.

Distilled water is water that has had virtually all of its impurities as well as electrolytes removed through distillation (that is, boiling the water and re-condensing the steam into a clean container, thus leaving contaminants behind). It is widely used in chemical and biological laboratories.

Many people drink distilled water for its purity and for its improved taste. Municipal water supplies may have trace contaminants at levels which are scientifically believed to be safe, but some people feel safer drinking distilled water. It also has no minerals, which may make it taste better.

The drinking of distilled water has been both advocated and discouraged for health reasons. The purported effect of drinking water in its pure form is a 'more powerful solvent' that helps cleanse toxins from the body.

Detractors argue that it robs the body of essential minerals in this way and also deprives it of minerals normally acquired from drinking water. While there is no evidence to suggest that drinking distilled water is harmful or leaches minerals from the body, the World Health Organization has assembled considerable research which shows a relationship between drinking water containing naturally-occurring minerals and lower rates of certain diseases.

Many people use distilled water in their irons for pressing clothes to reduce mineral build-up and make the iron last longer. However, many iron manufacturers say that distilled water is no longer necessary in their irons.

Some people use distilled water for household aquariums because it lacks the chemicals found in tap water supplies.

It is important to supplement distilled water when using it for fishkeeping; it is too pure to sustain proper chemistry to support an aquarium ecosystem.

Despite the perceived benefits, the cost of distilling water (about 0.04 to 0.10 Euro or USD per liter in 2005) prohibits its use by most households worldwide.

Distilled Water  

  

Distillation is one of mankind's earliest forms of water treatment, and it is still a popular treatment solution throughout the world today. In ancient times, the Greeks used this process on their ships to convert sea water into drinking water. In far-eastern cultures, water was distilled for use in "Ranbiki" tea ceremonies. Today, distilled water is still used to convert sea water to drinking water on ships and in arid parts of the world, and to treat water in other areas that is fouled by natural and unnatural contaminants. Distillation is perhaps the one water treatment technology that most completely reduces the widest range of drinking water contaminants.

Not only is distillation one of the most effective forms of treatment, but it is also one of the easiest to understand: untreated water is converted into water vapor, which is then condensed back into liquid form. Most of the contaminants are left behind in the boiling chamber, with the condensed water being virtually contaminant-free. Anyone who has accidentally let a pot of water boil completely out on the stove is familiar with this process, and familiar with the crust of contaminants typically left behind after the water is gone.

In nature, this basic process is responsible for the hydrologic cycle. The sun causes water to evaporate from surface sources such as lakes, oceans, and streams. The water vapor eventually comes in contact with cooler air, where it re-condenses to form dew or rain. This process can be imitated artificially, and more rapidly than in nature, using alternative sources of heating and cooling.

Early distillation equipment was very simple in design: a pot of undrinkable water (or water unfit for a ceremonial, commercial, or medical purpose) would be heated over an open flame until it boiled, forming steam. The steam would then condense on a cool surface suspended above the pot. The condensed water droplets would then run off into a storage container for future use. Alternatively, sponges could be suspended above the pot to collect the treated water. While such systems were relatively inefficient, it tended to be quite adequate for the limited water treatment needs of the time.

The efficiency of the distillation process began to see improvements as distillation was adapted to commercially refine many different liquids such as alcohol, perfume, petroleum, and various solvents. Finally, population demands have strained water resources in the 20th century to the point where efficiently treating otherwise undrinkable sources of water for human consumption is increasingly important.

Distillation is an effective process for producing highly treated drinking water. Distillation can significantly reduce levels of sediment, metals, and biological contaminants, which are unable to travel out of the boiling chamber with the steam. When combined with effective activated carbon filtration, contaminants like VOC's and radon can also be controlled. It is recommended that only units designed and tested for health-contaminant reduction be used for such purposes. These units, when combined with activated carbon filtration, can be used to effectively treat such contaminants as:

Arsenic

Asbestos

Atracine (Herbicide/pesticides)

Benzene

Fluoride

Lead

Mercury

Nitrate

Trichloroethylene (TCE)

Trihalomethanes

Radium

Radon

Biological contaminants ( bacteria, viruses, and water-borne cysts like Cryptosporidium)

A distillation system with activated carbon filtration can also be quite effective for treating aesthetic drinking water contaminants like chlorine or iron bacteria, which lead to unpleasant tastes, odors, or colors.

Answer 2

Distillation purifies the water with respect to the dissolved minerals (because the water boils and the minerals stay behind) but distilled water is only partially purified.  De-ionized water is purified even more by passing it through ion exchange resins.  Reverse osmosis is another purification process.  Most bottled water is purified via reverse osmosis and filtration where the particles caught in the filters is down to the size of bacteria and even down to viruses (although they are even smaller than bacteria).  They also use activated charcoal filters which remove organics from the water.  Distillation is an energy intensive process so, RO and filtration is more cost effective.

Answer 3

Natural water usually contains a number of microscopic contaminants, along with dissolved minerals such as calcium and iron. One way to remove these elements from water is to boil it until it changes to steam, a process known as distillation. When this steam is allowed to cool down and condense into liquid form again, the result is a purified form called distilled water. Distilled water should ideally be nothing but hydrogen and oxygen molecules, with a PH level of 7 and no additional gases, minerals or contaminants.