distilled water

Doddie · Post by **Doddie** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:49 am

what is better distilled or RO I have RO in my home can I use it instead of distilled water?
thanks Doddie

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:26 am

Doddie,

A few people here use RO water, but the vast majority use distilled. It's what's recommended in the equiment/user's manuals. Distilled water is cheap. It's what I use.

Welcome to the forum.

Best wishes,

Den

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:57 am

If you have RO water, you should be fine. A good test would be to put some in a nice clear glass and let it simply evaporate. You can hasten the evaporation by putting teh glass in your oven BUT ONLY IF your oven can be set really really low. Like.... just barely warm. OR... you can heat your oven up to as low as you can get it to turn on... and then just put the glass in the warmed up oven with the oven OFF.

Anyways... the point is that you'll see what's LEFT after the water evaporates. Any chemical or mineral deposit left behind should make you suspicious at the very least.

I get distilled water right up at the pharmacy or when we go grocery shopping. It's really inexpensive and a gallon lasts a long time. (at least 2 weeks I think..it's so cheap I don't really pay attention).

Reverse Osmosis should be removing everything though. So it should be fine.

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:41 pm

The water issue has been discussed here quite a lot. I wanted to add one more point to the discussion.

By operating the humidifier, you are actually operating a distillation apparatus. That is to say, the water vapor that goes up the tube is "distilled", (except in the sense that some of it doesn't get condensed back into liquid water). My REAL point is that the water that gets left behind in the humidifier tank is thus slightly more concentrated in whatever impurities that don't get "distilled" out as vapor. If you never empty the humidifier tank, these impurities, however slight, could conceivably become sufficiently concentrated to precipitate out as calcific scale on the sides of the tank. Mostly an aesthetic issue, it "looks" yucky. (It might interfere with your ability to estimate the amount of water left in the tank?) And it's usually easy to remove by soaking a day in vinegar solution. I just wanted to remind that it is good practice to empty the tank periodically to prevent the excessive concentration of WHATEVER you choose to put in there.

Respironics HH user manual:
WARNING: The humidifier should be emptied and cleaned DAILY.

(Although they are more concerned with mold and bacteria!)

For what it's worth, distilled and RO water are very good, but nothing you can buy at the store or make under-the-counter is perfect. Some tap, and even bottled water is LOADED with "stuff". Some crooks sell deionized water under the label of "DISTILLED". Or worse. And not to mention that some dust and debris can get in there through the filters. OK, enuf on that.

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jcobb607 · Post by **jcobb607** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:14 pm

The RT at my DME provider cautioned against using tap water due to the chlorine that was in tap water. She said that the chlorine would vaporize and then be inhaled, in effect poisoning yourself. Anyone validity to this?

Snoozin' Bluezzz · Post by **Snoozin' Bluezzz** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:27 pm

I'll surprised if the consensus on the idea of vaporized chlorine from tap water being enough to harm, let alone poison does not find it to be:

silly.

The more I hear about the common sense level of many DME techs the more cautious I am in my dealings with them. Sounds like profound stupidity or a scare tactic on that tech's part.

But tap water can create scaling problems. Distilled is cheap, $.50 a week at the most in my experience. If I travel I'll take a chance on tap water because hauling around gallon jugs of distilled water does not make too much sense to me, particularly in Europe. If I'm driving then I suppose I might take a jug of distilled.

SB

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:04 pm

Snoozin' Bluezzz wrote:silly.

I toss my vote with Snoozin'. I suppose if you DRANK the same amount of tap water you would still be "poisoning yourself" ??? I say poppycock. Sheer hysteria.

That is not to say that a molecule of chlorine will not occasionally reach your alveoli. Maybe several. What happens next is of no consequence. Do you bathe in tap water? Do you breathe while you're bathing? Do you breathe while swimming? Is this a serious problem ?????

jcobb607 · Post by **jcobb607** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:18 pm

Its my understanding, and I may be wrong, that liquid chlorine is relativaly safe, while chlorine gas is highly poisonous. Maybe someone with chemical knowledge will chime in. I do doubt the validity of tap water poisoning you if used in a humidifier though. When you buy a humidifier for the house you dont have to use distilled water.

Doddie · Post by **Doddie** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:42 pm

thanks everyone for the input I see everyone here has a lot of answers I am glad I found this site.

Doddie

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:59 pm

Chlorine (Cl2) is a gas (at standard temperature and pressure) that can be compressed into a liquid (that's how it's transported). It is highly reactive in any state, and that is what is dissolved in water to kill germs (viruses, bacteria, mold spores etc). Chloride (the ion) is a very different chemical species, with different reactivities and other properties. You can literally eat it for lunch, and most of us do. (salt). It also dissolves in water, and is not a gas. The stuff your RT might be worried about is the CL2 (dissolved gas) present in minute amounts in drinking water. It's the BAAAAAD stuff. But there is so little of it that it is considered safe, no matter where you put it. Even if there WERE a few ppb in the cup or two of tap water that got put into the HH, it would probably "outgas" very rapidly, and not find it's way into your lungs. And the few molecules that did, so what. The real point is that distilled water is still better for the HH (AND you). On that we have no real disagreement. .

The only thing that I was responding to were the scare tactics by the RT, however well-intentioned, that have no basis in reality. It may sound "plausible", but zoom back a level, a few molecules of almost ANYTHING can be encountered by most people, without consequence. This is really a discussion about nothing. (but soooo much fun! ).

snoregirl · Post by **snoregirl** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:42 pm

I am just wondering when Ric says it would "outgas" quickly, is this kind of the same as when you change water for a goldfish and use tap water that you let it stand in a bowl or pan for a number of hours so the fish can safely be put in? I assume that is also to allow the small amount of chlorine to dissapate from the water.

Elizabeth · Post by **Elizabeth** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:52 pm

Poison is determined more by dosage than substance. I would avoid tap water, simply because it might have corrosive effects on the parts of the humidifier. Its an expensive machine, and I would want it to last as long as possible.

I have a chemistry degree, but I'm not going to just guess whether or not tap water vapors would harm you or not based on what I know off-hand. I wouldn't put chlorinated pool water in the humidifyer, though. The chlorine (or arsenic in certain regions, or other unwanted minerals) in tap water may not hurt you in a matter of days or weeks, but I wouldn't take the chance on any long term effects. Tiny dosages of many things seem harmless for a while, but there are things that affect you after years and years.

Nitro Dan · Post by **Nitro Dan** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:15 am

I have used RO water for 20 years worry free. I dump and rinse the tank once a month. I have never had mold or bacteria issues, and have never had any sinus issues. Maybe I'm just lucky?!

Doddie · Post by **Doddie** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:32 pm

Thanks for the advice on RO I just wanted to be sure if it was okay to use since we have it in our home why not use it.

any advice on traveling with the cpap machine they told me if I didn't want to bring the humifier I could just use the machine but will it make me dryer???

Doddie

Moogy · Post by **Moogy** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:36 pm

Doddie wrote: any advice on traveling with the cpap machine they told me if I didn't want to bring the humifier I could just use the machine but will it make me dryer???

Doddie

I take my humidfier when I travel. Why be less comfortable just to save a tiny bit of weight?

Moogy

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