Countertop Distillers questions

[StuUnderPressure]

My VPAP humidifiers uses a gallon a week. It's on auto climate control, temp at 75, and pressure 20/16 and sleep 7-8 hours a night.

Four gallons of distilled water a month in a PAP machine? In the South?

Does anyone else use this much water in their machine? It makes me wonder if my machine is broken if this is true. Something just doesn't seem right.

Those numbers also do not seem right to me - even if he is having to totally refill the humidifier water chamber every morning.

[chunkyfrog]

DH bought a couple of older distillers; returns sold by a jobber used by Sears to keep the cheap stuff out of the retail store.
He paid around $20 each, and we had to de-lime them. (Some people don't realize this is a regular maintenance chore, and couldn't deal with it.)
We figured the electricity costs between 17 cents and 2 bits a gallon. (our electric rates are higher in summer.)
He used one (unsuccessfully) to try to distill "fun juice", (You need a sealed system for that--water distillers don't work)
When the one we are using dies, we have parts/etc. to keep distilling. In our case it was not economic, just really clever of DH.

[TahoeGal]

I'm using about a gallon a week in my humidifier, and frequently run dry during the night. I do live in a very dry climate.
We had a distiller at work, but it was too much work to be economical, since it took too much employee time to maintain. We just buy our water (3 gals/week).

[woodworkerjunkie]

Four gallons of distilled water a month in a PAP machine? In the South?

Does anyone else use this much water in their machine? It makes me wonder if my machine is broken if this is true. Something just doesn't seem right.

I can fill my machine up to the 50% mark and it will last me 3 or 4 nights at a setting of "2". A gallon will usually last me a 1-1/2 to 2 months.

[Vader]

I've been making my own distilled water for about 8 years. I use it mainly for the convenience of always having distilled on hand for CPAP. I don't really like the distilled taste so I add Concentrace mineral drops whenever I do drink it. (normally I just use Zero Water system for drinking) The mineral drops are quite cheap though, and make the water taste really good. Most heath food stores carry the drops, or you can get them here:
http://www.amazon.com/Trace-Minerals-Re ... eral+drops

[archangle]

I was always worried that the scale buildup on the boiler of a still would be a problem.

Even if there are VOCs in your water, it will probably be less in the distilled water than you started with.

Boiling the water before putting it into the still would probably eliminate a lot of those as well.

[chunkyfrog]

I surmise that most of the VOC's in your water would have different condensation temperatures than water, and would (hopefully) escape,
as did DH's alcohol (also a VOC), which is why I pointed out that our water distiller is an open system.
(I imagine home units are all this design, "for safety", of course.
I would also suspect that outfits like Pure Water Co. use similar equipment.
Now, "moonshiners" have to use a closed system, which may enhance the risk of explosion, but captures all the alcohol.
EDIT: After a little additional reading, VOC's evaporate at room temperature, and could probably be removed by
mild warming and agitation near a moving fresh air stream.

[msla]

Here I was hoping this was about distilling alcohol

After all, it helps us fall asleep! (No, I am not recommending this. All of the preceding text is humor, only.).

Just be careful. In 1993, while I was in Norway, a house was leveled when the moonshine still blew up.

[jamiswolf]

Hi,
The death from distilled water was in reference to water fasting and related to loss of electrolytes. If you're eating food daily like most people, drinking distilled water is fine.

I have worn out two gallon tabletop distillers. They last several years and produce enough for most peoples use. I routinely did a gallon a day just as a habit.

Another option is an RO unit which will reduce dissolved solids to most likely under 25 parts per million. Average spring water is probably 350 ppm or more. You could buy a small unit for about the same cost as a distiller but they require annual filter replacement and there is quite a bit of runoff water wasted.

Sears used to sell a reliable gallon distiller that held up well.

I use RO in my humidifier with little or no residue.
J