distilled water vs tap water?

[bono1]

hi, i have a resmed s9 elite and use distilled water. i am going to be travelling soon and not sure if i will be able to find distilled water easily. can i use regular tap water? will it impact the machine? my sleep?

[ppharman]

A good question. I am not an expert, but I will give you my thoughts. Any dissolved salts and minerals will not evaporate and will mostly remain in the reservoir. Some will carry over into the hose and mask. Fortunately vinegar dissolves most of these minerals. Distilled water is usually easy to purchase in remote areas as it is needed for topping off batteries used in everything from motorcycles to heavy equipment, and diesel generators.
My advice is to take a couple of water bottles and put distilled water in them. They are much easier to travel with than a gallon jug of distilled water. Top them off when you can.
Last note tap water is not totally free of bacteria, viruses, mold, and other nasty things.

Pat

[cflame1]

I've been known to use bottled water when I travel. Sometimes it's just easier to get. I usually use Dasani.

[TheDreamer]

tap water would probably be alright in a pinch....

What I've done when I've traveled and not had distilled water available is use Aquafina. Which I heard later in a chat is what lots of people do... I guess its a common brand of bottled water at hotels

The Dreamer.

[GumbyCT]

So true....echoing what Pat said. When I travel I pack enuff distilled to get me thru 3 nites. I have used Propel bottles hand labeled "Distilled Water". If you don't toss it everyday, you'd be surprised just how far you can stretch it.

Just be certain to empty your chamber BEFORE packing. I think that is THE BiggEST problem is the stress of travelling, esp. when returning, is to forget to dump the water. If water does get into your machine - Do NOT turn it on until it is completely dry, Completely DRY.

You never mentioned where you are going but most Hotels/Motels can either have some in your room or direct you to where it can be purchased - if you ask.

Many here will tell you to use tap water and certainly you can, in a pinch. But given my ruthers, I'd ruther not.

[jdm2857]

All tap water is not created equal.

I have good tap water that is not terribly hard and have been using it for well over a year with no major problems. I have used vinegar in it twice -- once to remove a very slight bit of mineral deposits, and once to eliminate a bit of fussy stuff in the bottom of the tank. The tank is still crystal clear.

If you do use tap water, it is important to dump and refill the tank every day to avoid problems with increasing mineral concentration in the water, and to dump any microorganisms and not give any that might be present the opportunity to multiply.

[bono1]

thanks for all the feedback. very helpful. hopefully i can find some easily on my travels. thanks

[Gerald]

Bono......

Any water you would drink will be just fine. Follow JDM's suggestion to dump the leftover reservoir water every morning. Re-fill with drinking water every night and you'll never have a problem.

We just returned from a 12-day trip to Europe....partly overland....partly cruise.....and we used tap water all the way. Don't bother carrying any water with you...or trying to find distilled water while on the move.

Distilled water is only needed when we fail to dump the water in the morning....and just keep on adding water every night to top off the tank. Nightly evaporation sends pure water vapor to us....and leaves the minerals and sludge behind. If we never drain the tank....and just keep adding regular water.....crud builds up in the tank. If you "swish" and dump every morning, the crud can't build up. JDM is right.

Have a good trip!

[Slartybartfast]

Tap water is just fine. Seriously. It is.

The manufacturers are being cautious because they cannot anticipate what KIND of water someone might fill their reservoir with. And it is conceivable that someone who is very ill, perhaps with a compromised immune system, might have some sort of reaction to something in the water. And there are scary bacteria like Legionella that live in warm water like you'll find in swamp coolers, industrial air-conditioning cooling towers, hot springs and conceivably, your humidifier reservoir. So in order to avoid the possibility of becoming a target for a product liability suit, they specify the cleanest water that is commonly available: deionized or distilled water.

Deionized water is water that has had the dissolved solids in it removed. Calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium ions, mostly. Calcium and magnesium ions are what cause boiler scale and ruin your hot water heater and steam iron. Distilled water is the same thing as deionized water, however the name refers to the process by which the dissolved solids (ions) are removed, that being distillation. Reverse-osmosis water is water that has been deionized by a different process: reverse osmosis.

That said, it's important that you clean out your reservoir every time it is refilled. You don't have to sanitize it, but you should sluice it out a couple of times with clean water before refilling it in order to avoid mineral scale buildup.

And, PLEASE, don't put any essential oils or fru-fru fragrances in your humidifier water. It is safe to say that everything that can evaporate out of your humidifier will end up in your bloodstream. And you wouldn't main-line those oils, would you?

[jweeks]

Tap water is just fine. Seriously. It is.

Hi,

After just reading the thread on the red bacteria that someone has in their water tank, and was having a hard time getting rid of it, there is absolutely no way that I am going to put that stuff up my nose. At least when you drink tap water, it ends up getting attacked by your stomach acids. Even then, the worst that is likely to happen is to get puking sick. But if you breathe that stuff into your sinuses or into your lungs, you can really mess yourself up. Think about it, dozens of people in the US die every year from drinking tap water. Why take the chance?

As far as traveling goes, there is a Wal-Mart in every civilized city in the US. They have distilled water by the gallon for something like 69 cents. Every major and most mid-sized grocery store also carries distilled water. Cub Foods has it for 79 cents. That is no big deal.

For traveling, I rince out a few 12-oz Diet Coke bottles, and use them for distilled water. They seal very well. Diet Coke isn't sticky, so you can rinse out the bottles without having to use soap. I don't want to breathe in soap, either. One of these will last me 2 nights. I cannot help but pass a Wal-mart in 2 days worth of travel. I put one bottle in my checked luggage inside of a zip-lock bag. That gives double protection, and there is no hassle with TSA.

-john-

[Gerald]

Slartybartfast is correct.

Use the Scientific Method....run some tests....observe the results....take appropriate action.

Gerald

[tomjax]

This question is perhaps the most predictable in all the forum.
The answers also are.
This is about the thousandth time this has been asked and answered.

Great logic, poor physics background.
The simplest answer is to use distilled water at all times to prevent minreral buildup, but occasional use of tap water does no harm.
The Paul Reveres will tune in with the caution to avoid legioneers and all other maladies, but again nothing but scare tactics.

The simple answer here is that there is no connection at all with the diseases spread from water particles from coooling towers and a heated humidifier.

It just cannot happen.
No bugs can be spread this way.

This will never be understood by those not interested in understanding.

[HoseCrusher]

Tomjax, although rare, Paul Revere was correct in this case...

http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonlin ... le.21.aspx

I don't believe this happens every day, but to say that it can not happen and that bugs can not be spread this way is obviously incorrect.

I don't think there is any reason to be paranoid about this, but there are risks if the tap water is contaminated.

[tomjax]

This is an interesting case, but coincidental events may be at work here.
How many other people had the same condition last year who were NOT on CPAP?

One sentence from the article:
This report has a number of weaknesses. First, we did not include bronchoalveolar lavage in the patient's evaluation, since she responded to corticosteroid treatment....
The question remains as to HOW the endotoxin, which may well be present, could have POSSIBLY entered the air.

Water vapor molecules are far to small to let a pathogen catch a ride.

I saw a similar article in a report that included a lawsuit.
It did not work.

I think these dots cannot be connected.

[HoseCrusher]

Well, here is another case where a humidifier introduced endotoxins into the air...

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... x/abstract