Distilled Water Association

Water Education through Science and Engineering

Distilled Water

Cheap and Not-so-cheap Ways of Making Distilled Water

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We talked about the different ways distilled water is made but we really haven’t touched on costs. We know the cost of a water distiller and its operation it’s cheaper than anything else out there, include water battles (which are NOT made from distilled water), but we haven’t shown you any number. If you need a refresher please read our article on How to Make Distilled Water Easy.

Water Distiller Costs

Water Distillers range in sizes, efficiency, speed of distillation, whether they are fully automatic (i.e. automatic refills). So, it’s difficult to put a hard number to it. But, let’s just say you want a basic Counter top water distiller, that produces one Gallon of water. Prices for such distiller go anywhere between $130 and $200. Some come in shiny metal look with a glass bottle to collect the distilled water while others come in boring white with a BPA-free plastic container. Let’s settle with middle of the road and say $150.

Now we have to consider operating costs. A middle of the road water distiller will distill 1 gallon of water in 5 hours and consume up to 0.6 kwh of energy. At 10 cents per kwh, that means you spend about $0.30 (30 cents) to make a gallon. One gallon contains 128 floating ounces which means you can fill out 10.67 plastic bottles at 12 fl. Oz each. That means each plastic bottle that you make at home is costing you $0.0281 (less than 3 pennies). If you make 2 gallons a day for a year, and say your distiller breaks down after 3 yrs so you’ll have to replace it, that means each bottle of water is costing you $0.035 per bottle (that’s just over 3 pennies!) of distilled water you make at home.

Bottled Water Costs

Now, let’s be clear on something, we have yet to find a water bottle company that sells distilled water inside their water bottles so, you’re getting water that’s not nearly as good as distilled water. But, let’s run the calculations and see how much money you’re spending on this inferior quality product.

Now here we’ll also have many different choices because we have many water brands and we have many different sizes. Not only that, but we also have many different stores that may sell the same exact product at different prices. So, we tried to place nice and found the least expensive store selling Aquafina bottled water and they were selling a 12-oz 8-pack for $2.98 each. That means each water bottle is costing you $0.37 (37 cents!). That’s really expensive when you compare to your cost of making distilled water, in fact, it’s over 10 times cheaper for you to make distilled water than it is for you to buy bottled water (and we remind you, the water quality of bottled water in general is not as good as distilled water).

Would you prefer to pay a lot less for a much better quality product? Get yourself a water distiller, you’ll be glad you did.

The Easy, Not-So-Easy, and Very Hard Ways of Making Distilled Water

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In this article, we wanted to make a follow up on our article How to Make Distilled Water Easy and explain some of the cons and pros of various methods available to make distilled water.

The easiest way to make distilled water is through a water distiller. Water distillers are designed to make nothing but distilled water so they function smoothly and efficiently. They are made up of two parts. One is the pot, which heats up the water and converts it into steam. The other is the condensing Unit, which takes the steam and cools it back down to water and then releases this water outside the Unit, where a big gallon jar is usually collecting the water, drop-by-drop.

A much more difficult way of making distilled water, although still considered on the easy, is by using a pressure cooker. The pressure cooker heats water and turns it into steam, which eventually escapes from the pressure release valve. So, effectively, the pressure cooker mimics the behavior of the heating pot in a traditional water distiller. The difficult part is taking that steam and transforming it back into water form. Capturing that steam is not that easy. Some ideas on how to condense the steam include attaching a very long narrow pipe to the pressure release valve or releasing the steam into another container that is itself immersed in ice.

Using a pressure cooker and Gerry-rigging the pressure release valve requires a lot of preparation and lots of trial and error. It also takes a lot of resources, including time. It’s certainly a lot more expensive. If you have already the pressure cooker, then you’re saving money on that, but you’re spending money on the connections, fixing leaks, and let’s not mention the highly inefficient way you’re turning water into steam and back into water.

Finally, another less effective way of creating distilled water and that also includes the two basic things needed to create distilled water: 1) Turning Water into steam and 2) Turning Steam back into water. And with that, we have the “a Pot within a Pot” strategy. It involves having a small pot filled with ice and a bowl on top of this ice and putting the entire system inside a larger pot with water and cover the whole thing. The theory is that you heat up the water in the big bot, which creates water vapor and eventually turns into water inside the bowl that was placed on top of the ice, which theoretically is cooler than the water in the big pot and therefore condenses the water vapor easily.

In practice, this is really difficult to achieve. For one, you don’t know how much to heat up the big pot. If you do too much, not only the water in the big pot will evaporate but also the ice in the smaller pot, and well, the steam might just escape the second you take off the lid because the vapor didn’t have the opportunity to cool into the bowl.

How to Make Distilled Water the Easy Way

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The easiest way to make distilled water is by using an electric water distiller. Just fill it with water, plug it in, and, depending on the model, 4 hours later you’ll have a gallon of distilled water in the bucket. That’s it. Simple and Easy. Of course, you’ll pay for the distiller and electricity, both of which shouldn’t cost too much, but if you’re interested in a simple and fast solution, then this is it. Now, we have an article that explores lot of ways (including not so easy ones) on How to Make Distilled Water Easy but in this article we’ll concentrate on the easiest (and cheapest) way of accomplishing the same end result.

You’re probably already thinking, “well, I don’t want to spend on a distiller, is there something else I can do to get distilled Water?” Yes, you can. You can get a pressure cooker, which is standard in most kitchens, and use the steam of the release pressure valve as your distilled water. After all, that’s what distilled water is, steam or water vapor that has been cooled down (i.e. condensed) back into water.

You could also fill a big pot with water, and then inside this pot, put a smaller pot without any water but with a ton of ice and on top of the ice, a bowl. Make sure you cover the big pot and leave the small pot and the bowl on top of it uncovered (i.e. only covered by the lid of the big pot). When you heat up the big pot, the water in it will slowly turn to vapor faster than the ice inside the small pot. Turn it off after a few minutes and you’ll eventually see distilled water on the bowl. Does that sound simple? Of course not.

In fact, even the idea of using a pressure cooker is not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of trigger work and moving parts, which is the perfect recipe for not very good results. Not to mention, it requires the person doing all this work to be constantly monitoring the situation.

Things with an electric water distiller couldn’t be any simpler. Counter top water distillers for residential use are made up mainly of two components. One is the heating unit and the other is the condenser.

The heating unit you simply fill it with water -Any kind of water- and plug it in to any household plug, literally sitting on top of your kitchen counter top or tables. The pot will eventually get really hot inside and create water vapor (outside, it will get hot to the touch too, so be careful not to touch it, but it’s not burning hot like a regular cooking pot).

All this steam moves up into the condensing chamber which is a narrow pipe with a fan that tries to cool that steam back down to water form, without all the impurities of course. Once the heating unit is void of water (and the container outside is filled), the distiller turns off and you’re done. Unplug it and clean it just like you would a regular pot (without immersing it!).

Detox Distilled Water Diet

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Sometimes you just need a detox. You want to get rid of all the bad from your body and focus on a healthier lifestyle. The detox distilled water diet could be something worth considering. It is highly effective, and drinking this water is healthy for you on a long term basis. Here are some of the ways you will benefit from detoxing with distilled water.

All Impurities Removed

Distilled water already has the impurities removed. That means you’re just putting pure water through your system. It is easier for your blood stream to absorb, and better for your organs. You will flush out all the toxins in your body, without adding anything extra due to the water.

Plain tap or bottled water still has a number of minerals and chemicals. These leave a residue in your body, and you’re left with some bacteria and minerals in your system, even though you are trying to detox. It doesn’t really work out that well.

Distilled Water Grabs Toxins

Scientists have found that distilled water is more likely to grab the toxins that are in your body. That’s because all the toxins and chemicals have already been removed. It wants those that are currently affecting your health. That will help to flush them out of your system sooner and easier.

However, it is also important to cover the fact that it can remove the healthy minerals too. When detoxing with distilled water, you should also eat a healthy and balanced diet. This will help to add the good minerals in that the water is removing.

No Need for Flavorings

Distilled water tastes great, because all you have is the pure water. There are no chemicals and harmful materials clouding the liquid. That means there is no need for adding flavors to your water. You can focus on drinking pure water, which is much better for detoxing.

It is worth following the detox distilled water diet, even just for a short period of time. Distilled water will remove the toxins from your body much quicker as it is already void of the impurities.

For more please visit our Water Diet Page

Chlorine in Tap and Bottled Water, Not in Distilled Water

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Chlorine is commonly found in swimming pools. It is used to clean the water, and is known for stinging the eyes. However, did you know that it can also be found in regular drinking water? This is especially the case for bottled or tap water. It is possible to enjoy pure water through the distilling process.

Chlorine in Tap and Bottled Water

Chemicals and bacteria are found in water that is not fully purified. Chlorine is one of those chemicals that is actually used as part of the purification process. It is usually trace, and to the point where you can’t really taste it. However, that does not mean it is not dangerous or will not cause health problems. This is why you need to focus on pure, healthy water to drink.

No Chlorine in Distilled Water

Distilled water is the best purified water. The chemicals like chlorine are removed. This happens through the process of boiling the water and turning it into a vapor and with the resulting water passing through a carbon filter. The temperatures are high enough to boil the water, but not to vaporize the other elements. The impure elements, and others found in water, will remain in solid or liquid form at the bottom, while the water becomes a gas.

The water is then sent through a cooling chamber to become a liquid again. The chemicals that are not removed by the first step of distillation (i.e. evaporation) are removed via the charcoal filter.

Why Remove the Chlorine?

You may think that the process of distilling water is too time consuming. Is it really that important to remove the trace elements of chlorine and other chemicals and impurities? The truth is you have no idea how much of these are actually found in your tap or bottled water. You also have no idea what else is in there. Plus, if you buy a water distiller, the process is simple and automatic.

Removing the chlorine will mean you get water that will not harm your body as a whole. The water will also taste better.

It is time to make a switch to distilled water. It is pure water, so you get a better taste and will find it is better for your health.