Tap Water in your humidifier can kill you

Mikesus · Post by **Mikesus** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:45 pm

tomjax wrote:Of course, it is prudent to use clean distilled water with occasional cleaning.

The point was that the article was in error and lacking facts. It was an apples and oranges thing, but will always lead to confusion and hysteria in some.

Same for cleaning mask and hose. not necessary to do it all that often.
Our bodies do a god job of taking care of itself.
I did not intend to imply there was a zero risk, only a very small one. Our obsession with bacteria is causing some big problems with our immune systems and emerging pathogens.
We just are not able to fight off infections after being so clean.
Look up the hygeine hypothesis for more info.

and it may just be that the antibiotics that were considered one of the major advances of the 20th century, may just be the doom of us all when the next great plague comes along. Evolution ain't our friend.
I could be wrong.
tom

Tom,
I would agree that in most cases that the risk is very small. If you have a compromised immune system then that risk increases. Is this oversensationalized? Maybe, but for the person that is at risk that decides to stop increasing his/her risk, maybe not. As the average CPAP user is overweight and already has a number of other health risks, why add on?

The unfortunate thing in all of the news articles is that it is getting very difficult to find the truth from the fiction, so quite often warnings are regularly ignored. Guess the media has been crying wolf for so long, when something really big actually comes along, no one is going to believe it...

BuffaloAl · Post by **BuffaloAl** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:01 pm

Tap water will definitely leave calcium lime buildup on a humidifier whether it is a room type or not. You can clean buildup off easily with products such as CLR or Lime Away. Liam is also right about the Sonic type of humidifier which uses high frequency sound to make the water droplets small enough to make them airborne using a fan. Because this is not an evaporative type of humidfier, calcium, salts, and other particles will not be left behind as with evaporation. A whitish dust will be found near this type of humidifier. As the small water droplets evaporate in the air, they drop their precipitates, as the calcium and salts cannot evaporate.
Bacteria buildup could be a problem, although most bacteria are harmless. Otherwise we would be sick all the time,as your hands have tens of thousands of bacteria on them right now.

Note if anyone reading this is one of those who really needs the instructions on frozen pizza that say " Remove pizza from plastic wrap before placing in oven" then the following is for you: Don't try putting the CLR / Lime Away in your humidifer water to "prevent" buildup! It doesn't work that way and it would be really bad.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:50 pm

I used tap water for a year in my first heated humidifier. I just added more and cleaned it only from time to time -- whenever I got tired of looking at the build-up of scale inside the chamber.

When I got a new machine and new heated humidifier, I decided to start using only distilled water. Didn't want to bother with even occasional soaks to get rid of the build-up. I also wanted the chamber's metal bottom to last. The first one (tap watered) had begun to look pitted.

Using only distilled water, the new chamber stays crystal clear. I simply add water as needed. I never dump it, never wash it out. Looks clean. Looks can be deceiving, of course, but that's my routine and I'm sticking with it.

If a week or more goes by and you see no more posts from me, it will be too late for me to mend my ways. The microbes will have crawled up the hose and gotten me. Or....maybe it was the tape?

Seriously though, this is an interesting thread. Thanks for bringing it up, Mike.

LDuyer · Post by **LDuyer** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:55 pm

Rested Gal,

You're my hero!
I'm a lazy bum, I'll admit it. So if I can keep my humidifier clean merely by using distilled water, hey, I'm all for it! You used logic I can truly relate to. If anyone wants to convince someone of something, they might try to use arguments which appeal to the lazy ones out there (or, just me).

Thanks, rested gal. I'm now a devoted convert.
Also, I will get one of those distillers. If that gunk is mucking up my humidifier, just imagine what the stuff I drink is doing to my insides!

Linda

loonlvr · Post by **loonlvr** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 4:30 pm

i'M A CONVERT TO DISTILLED WATER TOO. AT A WHOLE .60 A GALLON, WHICH LASTS OVER A WEEK, ITS VERY CHEAP. UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET SOME OF THAT FANCY PARISIAN WELL WATER WHICH COST MORE THAN GASOLINE.AND IF ANYONE IS WORRIED ABOUT THERE TAPWATER, ITS EZ TO GET IT TESTED. IHAD A SALESMAN COME BY WANTING TO SELL ME A PURIFIER. TESTED WATER FOR FREE. PROBELM WAS, WATER WAS SUPER CLEAN. POOR GUY. PS SORRY ABOUT CAPS

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:33 pm

loonivr, please don't shout! we're not deaf!

Mikesus · Post by **Mikesus** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:47 pm

Anonymous wrote:loonivr, please don't shout! we're not deaf!

Heh? Whadya say?

loonlvr · Post by **loonlvr** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:25 pm

Must be deaf if we are on page four of this subject

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:50 pm

heheh, Linda...you don't have to get a "distiller". Just buy gallon jugs of distilled water at the supermarket. Usually about 50 - 75 cents a gallon around here in Tennessee.

A gallon lasts a long, long time with the "just keep adding" method.

LDuyer · Post by **LDuyer** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:57 pm

rested gal wrote:heheh, Linda...you don't have to get a "distiller". Just buy gallon jugs of distilled water at the supermarket. Usually about 50 - 75 cents a gallon around here in Tennessee.

A gallon lasts a long, long time with the "just keep adding" method.

I've got my gallon with me now!
Can't wait to be doing the right thing!
And I LOVE the "just keep adding" method. My style of living.

Thanks.

Linda

bpoe689 · Post by **bpoe689** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:55 am

When I received my cpap, I was told to always use distilled water. When I have to go to the hospital for my surgery, they will not operate on me unless I bring my personal cpap with me - they will not furnish one. I was wondering if the staff of the hospital will clean and refill with distilled water. Guess this is something I will have to check on. What if they lose my machine ??? I don't know how I would feel about that .

Becky, who is a little lazy too!

loonlvr · Post by **loonlvr** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:17 am

From my own experience, anyone can have osa, no matter what weight they are at. Its just that there are more episodes with more overweight ppl. I had it when I was extremely underweight during my beer for breakfast days.

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:33 am

Is anyone else so used to our #1 poster that whenever this thread comes up, accidentally reads it as a warning not to put "Tap Wader" in to your humidifier?

Or is it just me?

Liam, dyslexia is fnu

There · Post by **There** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:01 pm

OK, so we've established that breathing is a terminal disease and the world is full of creepy crawlies that are going to kill us I have a more important question that hit me as I was about to go to sleep last night...

Anyone ever try aromatherapy scents in their passover humidifier water?

Tina

There · Post by **There** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:03 pm

LDuyer:

re: your reply Saturday saying you thought it was neat that I put my CPAP info in my .sig - can't take credit for that one. Saw quite a few other people here doing it and thought it was the norm

And to keep this on topic - since I just replied and forgot to include this in that reply - I think a good rule of thumb is never to put anything in your body unless you know where it came from.

Tina

Machine	Mask

Tap Water in your humidifier can kill you

Re: clean water in hunidifier

Tap water