Humidifier Water Poll

[ablong]

I love these water in the tank discussions. I use ozarka red label spring water because what does
not go in the machine I can and do drink.

Sometime I wonder if People who watch TV and see SCUBA Divers or Fire Rescue divers
at work in Tanks, Rivers Ponds realize this is a wet breathing enviroment.
What you are in comes in the equiment and you breath a small to large amount.
I must have drank and breathed several gal in my younger days. I am also sure most city
folks have drank a little swimming pool water at times but, that don't count does it?

What does bother me is we are having water supplies show up with too much radioactivity.

What I think is important is clean up regular and use the cleanest water avaible. The don't
wory about it .
Allen

[Jaylee]

Well I used distilled water all week long- instead of boiled water- and my tank was crystal clear today when I took it out to do the weekly cleaning.

[WNJ]

Distilled water is very cheap (usually under $1 per gallon) and comes in convenient bottles.

Unlike other types of water there are no minerals or other yucky things in distilled water to make a mess in the tank. It seems to me the only logical choice except perhaps for an occasional night when traveling.

Wayne

[joe-66]

Distilled water only, bottled water on trips. But I have been cleaning the chamber every 2 weeks. It sounds like I can back off on that.

[BrownEyes]

Distilled Water Only

[sleepie]

tap water only---i replace the humidifier when needed,,its cheaper than distilled water

[Judy R]

I have a ResMed M series auto adjust CPAP, and my RT told me to only use distilled water in it. So....that's what I've been doing. I've only had to boil water once, only because I was visiting some family and I forgot my jug of Distilled water.

[BrownEyes]

i tried to use tap water and my nose and throat felt like it was on FIRE!!!!

the oxygen company used to give me a case of Sterile Water free each month, but one day that changed. i think someone caught their error. so then the RT told me boil water. i was trying to boil water for my Oxygen Concentrator and my CPap Humidifirer. IT WAS HELL!!!! trying to get enough to even last a week.

so now i buy 3 months supply of Distilled Water from Distillata

[Patrick A]

I have a ResMed M series auto adjust CPAP, and my RT told me to only use distilled water in it. So....that's what I've been doing. I've only had to boil water once, only because I was visiting some family and I forgot my jug of Distilled water.

I think that you mean a Remstar Auto w/Cflex atleast that's what picture you have in your profile. I don't use any water. I have a humidifier but have yet to use it. Good Luck

[LinkC]

my RT told me to only use distilled water in it. I've only had to boil water once, only because I was visiting some family and I forgot my jug of Distilled water.

Why did you boil the water? Distilling water removes any dissolved solids which would eventually crud up your humidifier tank. Merely boiling it is worthless for that purpose. If you forget your distilled jug, just use plain tap water for a few nights, then go back to distilled. Boiling the tap water is a waste of time and energy.

[TheDreamer]

my RT told me to only use distilled water in it. I've only had to boil water once, only because I was visiting some family and I forgot my jug of Distilled water.

Why did you boil the water? Distilling water removes any dissolved solids which would eventually crud up your humidifier tank. Merely boiling it is worthless for that purpose. If you forget your distilled jug, just use plain tap water for a few nights, then go back to distilled. Boiling the tap water is a waste of time and energy.

I'd guess it removes the volatile compounds in the water that have a lower volatility point than the boiling point of water....like the stuff that makes tap water in some areas smell funny.... like where I used to live, heavy chlorine smell....around here there's kind of a sulfur smell (the residue in the bottom of my distiller has a really strong smell to it)

The Dreamer.

[Tielman]

I'll throw some gasoline on this fire. I've been reading up on water, distillation, vaporization, and doing some google searches.

I've run across this description, and others regarding bacteria in the water:

Legionellosis infection normally occurs after inhaling an aerosol (suspension of fine particles in air) containing Legionella bacteria. Such particles could originate from any infected water source.

One of the most common method of contracting Legionaries disease is to take a shower in a facility where the water supply has been contaminated with Legionaries spores. Other bacteria and contaminants in the water supply can be vaporized in the same way.

There are articles at the EPA, LBL (Lawrence Berkley Labs), and other sources that clearly indicate that bacteria, noxious vapors, and other contaminants can be vaporized from water sources and sent into the lungs of people breathing air near flowing water (such as a shower), something a humidifier does for us, vaporizes the water, and the particulates in the water (see above).

Given this information, I would like to throw my 2 cents in and say that anyone not using distilled water with their xPAP is gambling with their lungs (Distillation will kill the bacteria, and usually most if not all noxious vapors).

Minerals is another story, and one I haven't researched.

[TheDreamer]

I'll throw some gasoline on this fire. I've been reading up on water, distillation, vaporization, and doing some google searches.

I've run across this description, and others regarding bacteria in the water:

Legionellosis infection normally occurs after inhaling an aerosol (suspension of fine particles in air) containing Legionella bacteria. Such particles could originate from any infected water source.

One of the most common method of contracting Legionaries disease is to take a shower in a facility where the water supply has been contaminated with Legionaries spores.

It says aerosol...which is not how the CPAP humidifier works.

Now an ultrasonic room humidifier....

The Dreamer.

[torontoCPAPguy]

[quote="TheDreamer"][quote="LinkC"][quote="Judy R"][size=150][color=#8000BF]my RT told me to only use distilled water in it. I've only had to boil water once, only because I was visiting some family and I forgot my jug of Distilled water. [/color][/size][/quote]

Why did you boil the water? Distilling water removes any dissolved solids which would eventually crud up your humidifier tank. Merely boiling it is worthless for that purpose. If you forget your distilled jug, just use plain tap water for a few nights, then go back to distilled. Boiling the tap water is a waste of time and energy.[/quote]

I'd guess it removes the volatile compounds in the water that have a lower volatility point than the boiling point of water....like the stuff that makes tap water in some areas smell funny.... like where I used to live, heavy chlorine smell....around here there's kind of a sulfur smell (the residue in the bottom of my distiller has a really strong smell to it)

The Dreamer.[/quote]

Disagree.
One of the main reasons to use distilled water over all others is to prevent the machine from getting crudded up with dried up minerals and crap in the water being used.
The other major reason to use distilled water is that it has generally already been heated to the boiling point and the bacteria has been killed off. I'm not certain but I believe that there may even be a medical grade distilled water and if that was available that is what I would be using.

Boil the water? Absolutely BOIL IT FOR TEN MINUTES AT LEAST - if you are using water of unknown origin or suspect anything. Nothing like having spores of god-knows-what blown into your lungs while you sleep. I say this in all seriousness.... it can kill you dead in a blink. I had dinner with my family at 7 p.m. and at 7 a.m. was on my way to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia and spent almost a month on full life support. YOU don't want to do that. It is not a nice thing to go through. That was July... and I have only been able to turn over in bed for the past few weeks and with significant effort. I am in rehab for one to two years and that is how long it is going to take to regain my muscle tone everywhere. I don't wish it on anyone. Boil the damn water unless you are sure of it.

[montana user]

I use tap water now bcause I live outside of town and have well water. When I lived in town I did use tap water a few times and I could see the build up starting, so I cleaned it with vinager, and it made it good as new.