Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

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jbn3boys
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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by jbn3boys » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:09 pm

Wulfman... wrote:Has all your snow melted? If not, scoop up a bunch of snow and melt it......then filter it through a cloth or coffee filter or something like that to remove the particulates.
About a year ago, we had problems with out water pump, and of course it happened on a Friday night of a holiday weekend (I think). Anyway, it was a long weekend with no water at home. We took bucket-loads of snow and put it in our bathtub to melt, so we would have water. After that experience, I will NEVER melt snow to use in my xpap machine, unless the snow is freshly fallen into a clean container that I have just set out. Let's just say the melted snow in our clean tub was far from clear. Ewww. I would think bottled water would be fine for a time. I'd keep looking for the distilled. I'm guessing there was just a shortage. Didn't you just have a couple of big snow storms there recently? Maybe people bought up all the water around, and drinking water would be much quicker to be replenished than the distilled.
sol wrote:I use drinking tap water which is better than the polluted air we breathe into our lungs daily from cars exhaust fumes and the food we eat which been sprayed with pesticide .
I don't use the distilled water because I'm afraid to breathe my tap water, I use the distilled water because the minerals/impurities in the drinking water will leave a residue in my tank. If I used distilled water, I have to clean my humidifier tank much less often, and theoretically, it will last longer.

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GumbyCT
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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by GumbyCT » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:28 pm

davecpap wrote:Maybe now that winter is in full swing (especially in Connecticut) people are purchasing distilled water to mix with antifreeze for their radiators.
While anything is possible, most mechanics I know laugh at me when I tell them I use distilled water in my radiator. Also any winterizing should have been done in the fall months.

For some reason the supply goes in cycles, so I never let my supply go below one gallon any more.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by john_dozer » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:48 pm

I said this before. Anyway, there's a fad that people believe distilled water is more pollution free than any other form of bottled water. So distilled water has become popular for drinking and food prep.

In addition to this fad has been a recognition that you really don't want to drink distilled water because a lot of people can't handle the osmosis effect where the pure water wants to enter the cells of your mouth and throat explode the poor little cells that first meet the distilled water causing irritation. In addition there's also a recognition that we get a lot of our minerals from distilled water. This has led to distilled water 'with mineral added' starting to appear not just for baby water.

Although I'm not afraid of pollution, it is often better for food prep than tap water for taste reasons. Especially since a lot of municipalities use flavor killing carbon to mask unpleasant tastes in their water.

When humidifiers are used with distilled water, they have less of a bacteria and scale build up problem. I suspect that's the other popular use for distilled water and why there may seem to be shortages likely timed with cold snaps that bring dry indoors.

As for use in CPAP, the osmosis effect is a plus though because a lot of bacteria can't handle pure water either. They explode "real good" on a microscopic level. But I think the primary plus to distilled water is the lower amount of contaminants. Bacteria and friends need more than water molecules to prosper. The minerals and organic material in other forms of water help provide that 'stuff' to grow on. The bacteria or what have you can easily land in your humidifier from the air, but if they have nothing to feed on, they can't multiply. These impurities will probably collect in your humidification water from the air as well which is why I make sure to periodically dump or dump & rinse the reservoir of its water ever few days.

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bayourest
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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by bayourest » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:33 pm

I am in western CT and I've not had a problem finding distilled water. Our local pharmacy usually has 2 gal in stock and the IGA supermarlket nearby has Poland Spring distilled too. you do need to be sure you're getting the distilled with P S but they stock it in a different section from the drinking water.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by mbkjad » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:49 pm

Really haven't heard of anyshortage but went to buy another gallon for my humidifier today and noticed that the local Wallyworld only had about 5 gallons of it on the shelf. Went ahead and picked up two. Interesting!

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by chunkyfrog » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:55 pm

Maybe there are a lot of cpappers out there.

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danimal71
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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by danimal71 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:15 pm

Been using Reverse Osmosis water here since September and no issues so far.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by sol » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:47 pm

according to Resmed FAQS on humidification on their web site it says if you have cleanable tub, tap water is fine for every day use and if you have a standard tub it is recommended to use distilled water .
Last edited by sol on Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by GumbyCT » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:12 pm

FWIW - This thread has been about the local availability of distilled water in the state of Connecticut, USA.

Tho we do you thank you kindly for your other thoughts regarding it's use, we have not (YET) digressed to where you want this to go.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by Komodo » Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:46 am

I've run across shortages here on Long Island too.
I spoke with a manager of a local supermarket about it and was told it's not a shortage from the water companies, it was just a simple case of "supply & demand". In my area, distilled water isn't in high demand, so the supermarkets don't go out of their way to make sure they have a large inventory of it on hand.

With that in mind, I now have two gallon jugs of it. One open one that I'm using, the other as a "back-up". When the first jug is empty I start looking for another to take it's place. It's never taken me more than 3 or 4 trips to the supermarket to get the replacement.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by LinkC » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:46 am

Wulfman... wrote:Has all your snow melted?
If not, scoop up a bunch of snow and melt it......then filter it through a cloth or coffee filter or something like that to remove the particulates. That should be fit to use in a humidifier tank......heated or unheated.
We're having a severe shortage of snow here on the East coast...of Florida!

And I see the misconceptions about using distilled water are alive and well. For those who insist, I recommend Perrier. Sure it's pricey, but you'll sleep better not worrying about tap water vapor attacking your lungs.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by Dastardly » Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:39 pm

There is a shortage of Distilled Water in Northern Virginia since December.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by Goofproof » Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:17 pm

There's a shortage of fresh water in california, liberals are drinking it all in kool-aid. Jim
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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by chunkyfrog » Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:39 pm

We distill our own, but I don't like the taste.
Got to be nuts to drink it.

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Re: Shortage of distilled water in NE US (Connecticut)?

Post by Goofproof » Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:43 pm

chunkyfrog wrote:We distill our own, but I don't like the taste.
Got to be nuts to drink it.
Worse than the taste, the fact it's without minerals, it removes (flushes) needed minerals from your body. Jim
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