Distilled Water Association

Water Education through Science and Engineering

Drinking Distilled Water

Known Health Benefits of Drinking Distilled Water

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A lot of people are usually comparing tap water and distilled water. Some of them believe that the tap water is still the best drinking water because of the helpful chemicals that it contains while some people think that drinking distilled water is beneficial because it is the purest form of water without any chemicals and contaminants. How can you say that distilled water is really beneficial and what are the possible health benefits that you can obtain by drinking it?

 

Distilled water is free from various contaminants that are usually found in the water. It is true that the tap water contains vitamins and minerals, but there are also contaminants that are not easily removed by water treatment.  This is the reason why drinking distilled drinking water has more health benefits than drinking tap water. Though it does not literally provide you with any health benefits, it helps promote a healthy living since it prevents any contaminants from causing damage and problems to your body. You can also add minerals and vitamins in distilled water at a small price, giving distilled water drinkers the best of both worlds: Pure water with Vitamins and Minerals.

 

Distilled water is also free from chlorine. As we all know, water treatment involves the use of chlorine in the drinking water. Chlorine helps prevent the growth of bacteria in the water, but taking excessive amounts of chlorine can cause a lot of negative problems in the body. You have to remember that the amount of chlorine placed on tap water differs depending on the location and some companies put high concentrations of chlorine to their drinking water, which is not a good thing. Distilled water prevents any problems caused by chlorine because it does not have any form of chemicals.

 

Distilled water can also prevent the formation of kidney stones. Tap water and bottled water often have added calcium. It is a very important mineral to the body, but you have to remember that too much calcium can lead to kidney stone formation. Since distilled water doesn’t have any minerals, chemicals or contaminants, you can easily prevent the formation of kidney stone.

 

Aside from chlorine, tap water also contains fluoride. This kind of mineral is not found on distilled water. While fluoride is beneficial to the body, excessive intake of this mineral can cause enamel fluorosis. It can cause mottling and discoloration of the permanent teeth.

 

As you can see, most of the health benefits of distilled water are focused on prevention because it does not have any chemicals, contaminants or minerals. It is the purest form of water so it will not provide any vitamins and minerals to the body, but it can prevent possible problems of excessive consumption of these minerals. Basically, the choice still depends on the person whether they prefer tap water or distilled water. Both have their own set of benefits, so you need to know about this before making a decision.

The Art of Making Ice Cubes: Distilled Water and Its Many Uses

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We can only say so much about distilled water. We can go on and talk about how they can benefit the body, how the distillation process gets rid of foreign matter in drinking water, etc. Although all of those are true, distilled water has many other uses that most people may or may not know of.

For instance, distilled water helps make the best ice cubes that you can ever think of. The process of distillation is primarily responsible for this. Why? As we are already familiar of, distillation involves evaporation and subsequent collection of the water by means of condensation thereby removing impurities. The product– that is distilled water—therefore does not contain any inorganic waste. It also removes the minerals in the water.

So what does it have to do with ice cubes? You might ask.

Sometimes, if you use tap water to make ice cubes, it may carry a number of different substances such as salts, nitrates, chloramines, fluorides, and sometimes some very tiny microorganisms. This will make the ice look cloudy and unclear. Distilled water have none of those and thus, it can help make clearer ice cubes.

But using just distilled water may not be enough to produce perfect, crystal-clear  ice cubes. It only AIDS in making good-looking cubes. The secret lies in how you cool them. If you cool it too quickly, air bubbles in the water gets trapped rather quickly, too, resulting in cloudier ice. When ice freezes slowly, the bubbles cannot get inside so when it freezes, it’s beautifully luscent. That is why it helps boiling the water first because the water’s high temperature will make it freeze slowly.

Interestingly enough, distilled water  is not just for the benefits of the cocktail drinkers and booze-seekers out there. Here’s why:

  • Distilled water is mostly favored in steam irons because it does not make the iron rusty.
  • Widely preferred over tap water for engine cooling systems and auto cooling systems. Even nuclear powered ships use it as a coolant. Distilled water does not contain corrosive minerals most likely present in tap water, which in turn, can damage the engine.
  • Makes excellent glass cleaners. Half part vinegar and half part distilled water will make you want to put them commercial glass cleaners to rest.
  • Beers, colas, and other drinks use distilled water to ensure highest quality of the products
  • In the medical field, surgeons prefer using distilled water to treat wounds or cuts to prevent infection.
  • If used in aquariums, certain fish are observed to thrive better.
  • For everday cooking and drinking, you can do much worse than using distilled water.
  • Lead acid batteries used in cars or trucks require a top-up water. Because tap water contains ions that can cause damage to the battery or significantly reduce its life span. That is why distilled water, which does not contain such ions, is widely preferred.
  • Distilled water is used in chemical and biological laboratories where highly purified water is a must. Sometimes, in cases where an exceedingly high degree of purified water is required, double distilled water is used.

For what it’s worth, if you are rich, you can also try bathing in distilled water. It is believed that distilled water does wonders for the skin too. You never know.

 

The Acidity of Distilled Water – What’s the big deal?

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When you think of distilled water, you will automatically assume that it is one of the healthiest alternatives to drinking tap water. In fact, a lot of individuals swear by drinking distilled water. Naturally, because of the process by which it was made, it is a safe assumption that distilled water is indeed, clean and pure water.

Distilled water is made with the combination of two very basic processes: evaporation and condensation. In its natural state (except rain water), water is filled up with various elements. Some of these include calcium, various minerals and iron. Though not automatically harmful to one’s health, these minerals may have long-term effects on those who ingest it regularly. Some negative effects include kidney problems, and even some that affect your teeth. By distilling water, you are able to clear out these minerals. Since these minerals are usually considered minute but solid particles, boiling water will “seed” them out. When you condense the water vapour from the boiling water, you will be left with liquid that is said to be in its purest form – distilled water.

However, many are asking, is distilled water as pure as it seems to be?

The answer, apparently, is this: almost 100%, but it is the purest from all other types of waters.

You might ask then how the findings of this study came to be. It’s simple; they were able to test the pH level of distilled water. The pH measurement is a common way to measure the acidity of a compound. In general, pHs levels below 7, is considered acidic, while those above 7, is alkaline. The pH range only covers the values 0 to 14.  Distilled water, because it is supposed to be pure, should have a pH measurement of 6; which is the acidic amount. This proves that the water is pure.

Fortunately, the level of acidity in distilled water is not a cause for alarm at all. In fact, you drink more fluids and liquids that have a higher acidity measurement. These include soda and lemon and orange juice. If you are keen on drinking distilled water, then you don’t have to worry because this will not affect your health at all and in fact there are many health benefits to drinking distilled water.

Generally, distilled water is still considered a healthy and clean alternative to drinking water straight from the tap. You may notice that it will taste a bit bland, but that’s the small price you have to pay for drinking something that is clean and safe – most people get used to the clean pure taste of distilled water within a day and the taste of other water types becomes disgusting. In fact, distilled water is so healthy that aside from drinking distilled water, you can use it for watering your plants. Distilled water is perfect for your plants because it has almost zero minerals that could damage them. You can use your distilled water for your car’s engine. The lack of minerals will ensure that your engine will run smoothly, without any fear of accumulated minerals messing up your engine’s performance.

Truly, distilled water is something to be thankful for. Though it may seem a miniscule effort at first, the long-term effects is something that will keep you healthier for a longer time.

Distilled Water vs. Purified Bottled Water

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Blue-Water-BottleWhen you go to the supermarket you can see a variety of different water bottles and brands of water to choose from. There are even distilled water bottles, which means the water contents have already gone through the distillation process. Therefore, it is completely pure water with no contaminants or impurities in it. They also don’t have any vitamins or minerals either, which are essential for the body’s health. However, that is not a big issue because you can get your vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. You can also add minerals to distilled water for less than a  penny a day and create your own super drink.

So, does that mean it is okay to buy distilled water in a bottle instead of another bottle of water that claims to be purified?  There are a lot of arguments for both sides. Some may say all bottled water is bad because the plastic from the bottles will pollute the water. Others say that all bottled water is the same and that purified means distilled. But in fact, there is a difference between bottled water that claims to be purified and bottled water that is distilled. For example, many people mistakenly think that Aquafina is distilled water because it is also purified. Even though Aquafina’s purification process removes some impurities and minerals from its water, it is still  not considered a distilled form of water. The reason being is that distilled water has to be brought to boiling temperature during the distillation process and Aquafina’s purification system doesn’t do that. They use ultraviolet rays to kill organic matter instead. Also, It is a well known fact that a lot of the purified bottled water comes directly from tap water which is known in many places to contain Fecal matter (i.e. poop). Would you drink poop? You can read about it some more in our featured article Bottled water vs Tap Water.

Tap-Water-PoopSo, what kind of water should you drink? Many people like to complicate this question by getting too picky with the filtration processes and what is in the water. But, in the end the simple answer is that while a lot of filtered water is good enough to drink, distilled water will always be the purest water to drink. Whether you want distilled water or purified water then they are both fine except when it comes to more harmful impurities, distilled water will always be better. Your body will still get the minerals it needs from food and both waters will clean your system out like it is supposed to. Besides Distilled water being healthier than purified water (Especially if you add minerals), one of the more common differences is the taste because you will probably notice a taste difference between the different types of water. Some people seem to notice a taste difference more than others. The taste difference simply has to do with the filtration of the water and how many minerals and impurities are left in it. But water should not be about taste. It should be about health, but distilled water does taste great because it is pure; once people get used to the taste of pure distilled water, they no longer like to drink any other kind of water.

Distilled Water or Deionized Water?

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It is so hard to tell these days which water is good to drink and which is not good to drink. You will get people that will tell you natural spring water is what you should drink while others will tell you purified water is better. So, what is the definition of purified water? It is water that has been filtered and wiped clean of all its contaminants. When you go to the supermarket to buy purified water you will have to choose between distilled water and deionized water. Most people don’t even think about the differences between the two. They will look for some word on the label that spells out “purified” and will think nothing more about it. But, it is important that you realize the difference between distilled water and deionized water. You are probably more familiar with distilled water because it is the purest form of water that you can drink. The distillation process totally removes the impurities and the minerals from the water. On the other hand, the deionization process only removes the essential minerals from the water while leaving the contaminants in there.

You may be thinking, “Why would I only want to drink the contaminants and not the minerals?” Well the deionized water that you buy in the store can be used for more than just drinking. Even though drinking it may not hurt you, there really is no point in doing so because you are only putting the impurities into your body. Therefore, you’d be better off drinking distilled water or natural spring water. The deionized water comes in handy for machines and devices that need water to operate. For example, a steam iron and a humidifier work great with deionized water because there won’t be any mineral deposits left inside of it after use. That means the machines will work faster and you won’t have to clean up as much. Also, when you go to a car wash that sprays water onto your windshield, you may notice there won’t be any white spots left afterwards. That is because it uses deionized water and the lack of minerals in it won’t leave any residue on your windshield. So, as you can see each type of water can be used in its own special way. If you decide to drink deionized water, don’t worry because it won’t kill you. Like distilled water, you will still get your essential minerals from the foods you eat and the deionized water will still help process the food in your digestive system.