Tap Water

creepy wrote:If there is the smallest amount of mold in the water, do you want it pounded into your lungs all night?
If the brain eating amoeba is in the tap water, and in some places it is, (yes inside the US as well) while the manufacturer promises that bacteria and viruses can not be carried over from the tank, do you really want to risk it. I mean, a drop or two of water may get into the hose somewhere from the machine being tipped around.

Several years ago a fellow came on the board and wanted to do a nasal rinse, others advised him that tap water was surely good enough. A few days later the news reported a man died of doing a Neti Pot rinse with tap water, from brain eating a amoeba.

In my case, the amoeba would find no brain and starve to death.

I am posting from McDs and so a lot of others show a similar IP address.

Re: Brain eating amoeba - Naegleria fowleri

Since N. fowleri was discovered in 1965, there have been something like 3 reported cases in the USA of people catching Naegleriasis from tap water. That's 50+ years. There have only been something like 300 reported cases worldwide of Naegleriasis deaths from water of any source, not just from tap water, and not just from neti.

It is VERY rare in the USA to find N. fowleri in treated tap water. It's more common in ponds, rivers, etc.

It's doubtful that you will catch Naegleriasis from humidifier tap water. You usually only catch Naegleriasis when you rinse the inside of the nose with contaminated water, for instance, while swimming, or from neti. If your tap water humidifier vapor was that dangerous, you'd get Naegleriasis from breathing the air when you shower, or from drinking the tap water.

However, I advise using distilled water unless you have a particular problem getting distilled.

xxyzx wrote: ======

let it sit for a few days in a bowl
the problem should be gone

the chlorine would kill the fish
and the pet store had a sign saying to let the chlorine go away naturally

I do NOT recommend using tap water that has sat for a while in your humidifier. Once the chlorine evaporates, stuff can grow in the water. That's especially true if you let it sit in an open bowl, where germs from the air can fall in. I've seen tap water put into a clean water bottle grow green stuff after a while.

Distilled water is low in nutrients for germs to feed on. Even if germs fall into it, they can't grow much because they need many chemicals to grow, and the chemicals they need are too scarce in distilled water for the germs to grow well.

archangle wrote:That's especially true if you let it sit in an open bowl, where germs from the air can fall in.

The same thing is true when you leave things to air dry in your room or worse yet the bathroom. Yet there are folks who do that, some daily then wonder why they have to clean so often. IMO using tap water to clean things (mask, hose, water chamber, etc) then leaving to air dry is not the best choice.

archangle wrote:Since N. fowleri was discovered in 1965, there have been something like 3 reported cases in the USA of people catching Naegleriasis from tap water. That's 50+ years. There have only been something like 300 reported cases worldwide of Naegleriasis deaths from water of any source,

A google search will reveal there are quite a few more cases than that. And it is always advised not to netti pot using tap water regardless of where you are. You will get just one chance this time around.

creepy wrote:If there is the smallest amount of mold in the water, do you want it pounded into your lungs all night?
If the brain eating amoeba is in the tap water, and in some places it is, (yes inside the US as well) while the manufacturer promises that bacteria and viruses can not be carried over from the tank, do you really want to risk it. I mean, a drop or two of water may get into the hose somewhere from the machine being tipped around.

Several years ago a fellow came on the board and wanted to do a nasal rinse, others advised him that tap water was surely good enough. A few days later the news reported a man died of doing a Neti Pot rinse with tap water, from brain eating a amoeba.

In my case, the amoeba would find no brain and starve to death.

Well, that does put the scare tactics of your post into perspective, doesn't it?

And of course the xPAP manufacturers clearly state that bacteria and viruses can not come over from the humidifier to our lungs. AND I really trust them.

Guest wrote:

archangle wrote:Since N. fowleri was discovered in 1965, there have been something like 3 reported cases in the USA of people catching Naegleriasis from tap water. That's 50+ years. There have only been something like 300 reported cases worldwide of Naegleriasis deaths from water of any source,

A google search will reveal there are quite a few more cases than that. And it is always advised not to netti pot using tap water regardless of where you are. You will get just one chance this time around.

More cases of Naegleriasis in the USA from tap water, or more than 300 cases of Naegleriasis worldwide? I'd be interested in what Google produce for you that I didn't see.

The CDC says 3 people were infected after performing nasal irrigation using contaminated tap water in the time period from 2007 to 2016. Different time period than I said, but I haven't seen reports from before 2007.

CDC also says " and 1 person was infected by contaminated tap water used on a backyard slip-n-slide."

They also say "Only 4 people out of 143 known infected individuals in the United States from 1962 to 2016 have survived," So 143 people in the USA in 54 years, from all causes, not just from neti, and only 4 from tap water.

UCSD reports "Until 2012, about 310 cases have been reported globally." Note that that is from ALL causes, not necessarily from tap water, and not necessarily from neti.

Yes, there probably were some cases that weren't diagnosed, but Naegleriasis is very rare.

I have been using my CPAP Resmed Airsense 10 and Dreamwear Nasal Gear for about 4 months. I travel a lot for my job and buying a full gallon of distilled water was a pain. At home I use my Reverse Osmosis water for my CPAP machine with no residue seen. So investigated bottle water for travel - not all the same. Looked for 'purified' water that was done throught a RO method and NO minerals re-added for 'taste'. Aquafina fits this description. I am sure there are other out there.

I also empty my reservoir EVERY DAY and leave to dry upside down. Bacteria cannot grow and multiply in a dry enviroment (or makes it a lot harder to do). As a nurse I am not going to re-breath the water that has been sitting all day to save a few cents. Wash everything once a week to 10 days and leave to dry. Have had no problems. And actually, with the humidification - wake up with less sinus issues.
Hope this helps.

I stopped using spring water because I noticed the dry residue in the tank smelled a bit. The residue builds up between tub cleanings and can create a smell when using the cpap even after drying out the tank during the day and refilling it at night.

Now I just use RO and filtered water down to zero PPM.

The spring water had about 110 PPM. My local tap water has about 230 PPM.

I use tap water when I have to when traveling, but bottled water if I have some handy.

I have always used tap water (20 yrs) and ever had any problems. Every several months I clean some slight scale from the tank which is easy to do. But tap water has worked for me just fine.

Our water is pretty soft, but it turns hard at 32 degrees F, don't really like the idea of adding salt to it. Jim

Like other cities, we use the bays and gulf as a toilet to reduce infrastructure costs, and sometimes we have to close our beaches due to fecal bacteria, the bacteria leaks into the acquifer, and it bubbles up as spring water, and to help things along we have animal beaches.....

...and that's the way it is and that's the way it always was....

And we like it that way....according to SNL grumpy old man...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/ ... 9887?snl=1

Got to have that Bottled Water for those educated folds to drink, fresh from that spring, good riddance. They can drink my share. Jim

bucko wrote:I have always used tap water (20 yrs) and ever had any problems. Every several months I clean some slight scale from the tank which is easy to do. But tap water has worked for me just fine.

Something no one here ever mentions is that tap water (or bottled water) varies from place to place the world over. So what works for one may not work for the other and certainly does not work for everyone.

If you want a constant it is distilled water if you can get it but there should be no variations with distilled water, none.

Pap-Daddy wrote:

bucko wrote:I have always used tap water (20 yrs) and ever had any problems. Every several months I clean some slight scale from the tank which is easy to do. But tap water has worked for me just fine.

Something no one here ever mentions is that tap water (or bottled water) varies from place to place the world over. So what works for one may not work for the other and certainly does not work for everyone.

If you want a constant it is distilled water if you can get it but there should be no variations with distilled water, none.

Other than storage, that's what we tell them but there a just too many stupid people out there. You can't fix stupid! Jim