CVS Distilled Water Smelly?

Vikig Mana wrote:The water is distilled when the bottle is opened. However, it becomes contaminated by the ambient air once the cap has been removed.

All sorts of things are in the ambient air including micro-organisms. If you're using this in your bedroom with the windows opened, whatever is in the air outside comes into your bedroom.

It isn't that the distilled water has gone bad on its own or because something was wrong at the bottling plant.

It's that it is no longer in its pure state because it is not being protected from contamination. Pollen etc. has contaminated it from the bottle being repeatedly uncapped and recapped.

Some of these organisms will replicate on their own and some will be consumed so what is there can proliferate.

By the time a user gets the bottom of the bottle, the organisms have had time to replicate.

I haven't had the 'smelly water' problem with distilled water for CPAP -- but it happens to me with water I pull from the filtered water system in my kitchen after I put it in a pitcher and keep the pitcher in my office for drinking water.

The pitcher is covered, but because the filtering process removes all the chlorine, a musty smell sometimes develops if I don't drink all the water in about a week. I've taken to adding one drop of regular household chlorine bleach in each pitcher (one gallon); that's little enough that there is no chlorine smell or taste, but the musty smell NEVER appears. Sometimes household bleach comes with soap or phosphates added; I avoid that type (you can tell by reading the label). To get just a single drop, I use an eye dropper.

I'm relating this because my CPAP humidifier ends up with an almost slimy coating if I don't wash it constantly. The humidifier container is VERY hard to wash thoroughly because of how it's designed with lots of small internal ribs. So I tried my "add a single drop of bleach per gallon" approach to the distilled water I buy at the grocery store, and the slimy coating has never reappeared in the humidifier. With that little bleach, there is no chlorine smell at all. With two drops per gallon, I can sometimes detect the chlorine, and it doesn't work any better -- one drop is the optimum level -- this is far less chlorine than the federal government requires to be in the tap water that arrives in your home.

Archangle (a.k.a Archangel )

I won't argue with you about much of your post, as it seems correct (though different companies make different claims about what their RO systems can and do remove, and how much of it is actually removed - on average). They even argue which removes more - distillation or RO (but I guess it depends on what you are trying to remove). True, distillation removes many volatiles due to the fact that they, indeed, are volatile and can be separated by the heating process.

As far as what we humans need to drink, both systems work well, and the end results are potable water - minus a lot of other "stuff".

Also true, If I had to justify the cost based on a CPAP humidifier use alone, it might not be worth it versus the "total cost" of distilled water. It's mainly for the convenience that I mentioned it (yes, I did also mention other reasons as well which might be worth considering).

Where it makes economic sense is when one uses one's RO system for drinking and cooking water all year long. With that kind of usage the cost is much less per day.... both are valid, but it really "boils down" (pardon the pun) to economics and perceived convenience....

Thanks for your input.

Paul

First, I wouldn't be using any water that smells (for anything). Some wells may have sulphur which has a rotten egg smell to it.

I am not so sure I would call carrying a gallon of distilled lugging? After all how do you get that gallon of milk into your house? And to pay 99 cents for a gallon of distilled is not a burden on my budget. I use maybe 1 gallon a month during the winter and less during the other months so round it off and say $12/yr for distilled. We buy it when we are doing our weekly shopping so no panic trips.

Then there is this...

Vikig Mana wrote: All sorts of things are in the ambient air including micro-organisms. If you're using this in your bedroom with the windows opened, whatever is in the air outside comes into your bedroom.

If you use a funnel and leave it out in the open you will immediately transfer any bacteria collected inside the funnel into your water tank, yuk. If you are able pour it straight from the bottle to the tank to minimize any transfer.

And that reminds of the people who religiously clean their humidifier tank, mask, or hose then leave out in the ambient air sometimes for weeks to dry, read this again...

Vikig Mana wrote: then wonder why things are growing in the water tanks, etc.
All sorts of things are in the ambient air including micro-organisms. If you're using this in your bedroom with the windows opened, whatever is in the air outside comes into your bedroom.

I have solved the problem by replacing the water in the tank every day, thus using up bottle before the smell develops.

So, how are we to dry out our hoses, masks, and tanks?

tattooyu wrote: So, how are we to dry out our hoses, masks, and tanks?

The tank and hose don't need drying, I mean come on really? Or don't clean them and leave the system closed to room air, that works too. What will you do with the extra time?

The mask you can pat dry with a towel.

To be honest if/when you stop using tap water to clean your things the fewer problems you will have. Tap water contains bacteria yet it is still ok to drink. So each time you wash/rinse your tank, hose, or mask using tap water you are in fact spreading bacteria all over them. So then next week you look and are amazed again there is slime or scum. And the cycle continues until you break it.

tattooyu wrote:I have solved the problem by replacing the water in the tank every day, thus using up bottle before the smell develops.

So, how are we to dry out our hoses, masks, and tanks?

When I read this thread last night......and noticed it had been resurrected from about 5 months ago, I was wondering where or how you were storing your distilled water that it would get "funky" smelling......when you get down to the last part of it. It sounds like it's in a place where it might be absorbing odors from something else.
Every time I open a gallon of distilled, I put it into 20 oz. plastic bottles (they once had soda/pop in them) and keep them on a shelf in the refrigerator door. That keeps them sealed and cool till I need them.

And, I have never "washed" any of my hoses. I've filled them with hot water occasionally to check for leaks, but never for cleaning. I did take my original HH tank apart once in 9+ years (in early 2012) and scrubbed it out with a soft sponge and Dawn dishwashing liquid, even though it still looked pretty clean. When I do wash my mask, I use a flour sack dish towel to pat it dry.
But, if you really feel the "need" to clean that stuff, do it in the evening and then you won't have to dry it......it'll already have a bit of moisture in it, which is what you want in the air you're breathing anyway.


Den

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I store hem underneath the bathroom sink. There are other cleaners under there, but no funky smells.

tattooyu wrote:I store hem underneath the bathroom sink. There are other cleaners under there, but no funky smells.

Well, I was wondering if the distilled might be in a place where it could possibly draw in smells from other things.
And, especially since you didn't seem to notice it until the amount in the jug was less.


Den

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I have this same problem with Kroger water,when I first open the gallon , it smells funky,and yes , I found this out after I smelled it in my mask and cleaned and scrubbed everything twice,still there, so I smelled the gallon ,and there it was. I have had this a couple of times now, will have to try wal-mart.

tattooyu wrote:I normally get whatever distilled water is on sale. A few times now, when getting down to the last quarter of the jug of CVS distilled water, it smells FUNKY!

This does not happen with other brands. Anyone have this experience?

Well no smell, but the water I use from king soopers/krogers seems to work fine. The water I got from Sprouts ended up coating the humidification resevoir with some dark orange slime. So I can coorberate that not all distilled waters are created equally.

wylie351 wrote:I have this same problem with Kroger water,when I first open the gallon , it smells funky,and yes , I found this out after I smelled it in my mask and cleaned and scrubbed everything twice,still there, so I smelled the gallon ,and there it was. I have had this a couple of times now, will have to try wal-mart.

I'm not a logistics expert, but I'm pretty sure there are many varieties of "Kroger water". It's a very heavy, low value item. I pay $0.99 a gallon for mine. Kroger probably sources it locally all around the country. It's not something that can economically be transported for thousands of miles. The quality of your water depends a lot on how good the local producer is.

I also buy "Kroger water", in Oregon. My label says "OZONATED FOR PURITY. TYPE III DISTILLED WATER." Looking up "TYPE III", it seems that's a relatively low standard. But perhaps you're noticing ozone? In and of itself a small amount of ozone should be OK. I believe it's something that dissipates quickly into the air.

I've never noticed any problems with my Kroger distilled water, and I buy a gallon every few weeks. (I change my humidifier water daily and I also do a sinus rinse at least several times a week.)

I recently bought a gallon of distilled water at another store. It specifically said "steam distillation" on the label. I don't recall the details since I don't have that container any more. From my long-ago high school chemistry classes, it seems like "steam distillation" might be the way to go?

I suppose if I were desperate I'd try private label "Wal-Mart Water". But I'm not that desperate yet. Their overarching operational philosophy has for decades been "cheaper, cheaper, cheaper". IMO they would source water from hellholes like Bangladesh if they could save a few pennies by doing that. To me that the antithesis of "quality". Maybe they've recently seen the error of their ways? After all they are voluntarily paying their employees a little better than they used to.

Funny thing about CVS--the smell of the entire store is off-putting to me.
Maybe it's the cleaning products they use to clean . . . whatever they clean.

tattooyu wrote:I store hem underneath the bathroom sink. There are other cleaners under there, but no funky smells.

The bathroom the dirtiest room in the house....... Jim

I know people who go through this kind of trouble for fish tank water especially if they have a marine tank or some other fish that is more picky when it comes to water chemistry like discus etc...

I wouldn't think the added pain and exspence would be worth it for cpap water. I my self used to buy like 6 or 8 gallons of distilled water from wally world and would keep them under my bed. Once I was down to 2 gallons I would take my empties back and fill them for 58 cents a gallon. This worked great for me for years till one day my cat bit a small hole in the side of one of the gallons to drink the water. Apparently she found the experience so much fun that before I knew it she'd bit holes in all my other gallons as well to play with the water that dropped down. Needless to say I want pleased with her. Solution was to go out and purchase some high quality sturdy milk crates and I still have room for 8 gallons. She hasn't touched the jugs of water since I put them in the crates and the crates help keep her out from under the bed. I stopped refilling them when the price dropped but I was using the milk crates to store and transport the gallon jugs when I took them to the store. On a side note if we ever have a bad storm etc. I usually have lot's of water on hand.

Gotta love your naughty cat! They are lucky that they own "cute".
Otherwise, they would get into much trouble.