Advice - Caribbean - Humidifier needed?

I'm off to Far North Queensland next week for a few days. This is almost as far into the tropics as you can go in Australia, and verrrry humid. I'm guessing that with the air already so moisture laden I'll probably not be able to get much value from the humidifier, but I'll take it and fiddle with it to see what will happen.

As you may have noticed from my posts about distilled water, I'm sceptical about the need to use it except to keep the tank looking bright and shiny, and to date I've seen no deleterious effects from my 3 months use of tap water. So, whatever comes out of the tap I'm happy to use. In fact, I may even try seawater

Cheers

k

kopoloff wrote:I'm off to Far North Queensland next week for a few days. This is almost as far into the tropics as you can go in Australia, and verrrry humid. I'm guessing that with the air already so moisture laden I'll probably not be able to get much value from the humidifier, but I'll take it and fiddle with it to see what will happen.

As you may have noticed from my posts about distilled water, I'm sceptical about the need to use it except to keep the tank looking bright and shiny, and to date I've seen no deleterious effects from my 3 months use of tap water. So, whatever comes out of the tap I'm happy to use. In fact, I may even try seawater

Cheers

k

Seawater probably good because of the ph level would more closely matched to the mucous membranes of our nose and throats. Plus salt is a great killer of bacteria. Like I said earlier tap water stinks, I can't stand the chlorine smell.

i'll be controversial here.

As far as I'm concerned, it makes no difference whether you use tap water, seawater or sewage in your humidifer. The humidifier uses evaporation to lift water water molecules from the surface of the tank. Water molecules are just that, molecules only, which means they contain no solids, gases, bacteria or salts. If the surface of your hose is cold, the vapour will condense onto the hose wall, or perhaps on your mask, forming a condensate. This condensate is in fact distilled water. And distilled water has a pH of 7.0.

The reason you get a smell from the tap water is because the chlorine, and/or fluorine, is being released from the water due to its lower vapour pressure. Best way to deal with this is to leave the water standing in an uncovered container for 24 hours prior to filling the humidifier. Chances are that the bulk of the chlorine and fluorine will have evaporated, leaving only trace amounts that your probably won't be able to smell anyway.

aS

I've talked to a friend who is a microbiologist, who has confirmed the validity ofmy theory that bacteria will not be entrained in the airstream unless there is mechanical agitation as well, which we know does not happen in our humidifiers. Also, and bacteria that do land in the condensate somehowwill most likely be killed by the osmosis effect, literally exploded.

So, as long as its wet, it will work!

K

kopoloff wrote:i'll be controversial here.

...

The reason you get a smell from the tap water is because the chlorine, and/or fluorine, is being released from the water due to its lower vapour pressure. Best way to deal with this is to leave the water standing in an uncovered container for 24 hours prior to filling the humidifier. Chances are that the bulk of the chlorine and fluorine will have evaporated, leaving only trace amounts that your probably won't be able to smell anyway.
...
K

All of what you said makes sense...I wasn't thinking with my logic side of my brain yes it doesn't matter if you use salt water as a HH creates humidified air! The salt remains in the liquid water as opposed to air.

And..yes the Chlorine does dissipate over time . I know this from my Hot tub. I use Bromine (same family as Chlorine, I think) and in order to get either Bromine or Chlorine down in hot tub simply is to turn on the jets for about 3/4 hour or less. The 02 (oxygen) brings down the level...all I can remember from High School Chem would be this... Br + O2 = ?

So if I have to use tap water and I guess a cheap and easy alternative is to collect it, let it sit and voila.

So to be controversial K, aside from water hardness that may or may not create some scale, is there any one reason why we should or should not use distilled, tap, etc....starting to sound to me that it is totally personal preference?

well of course you can use any water you like in the humidifier, but whatever doesn't get evaporated will be left behind in your water bin. Distilled water has a mineral count of 0 so there are no impurities left behind after boiling. I'm sure that if you were to use sea water you'd have a nice layer of sea sludge left behind when your humidifier bin is empty.

By the way, I just got in contact with my airline that I'm taking to the Dominican (Skyservice) and they tell me they recognize CPAP as a required medical device and it will not count towards my carry-on limitation. I just need to provide some documentation -- I have my sleep doctor's prescription for the CPAP, my invoice, and a generic letter from the Resmed website certifying their device is safe for air travel.

wongnog wrote:.....and a generic letter from the Resmed website certifying their device is safe for air travel.

Does anyone know if such a travel document exists for Puritan Bennett?

In case anyone needs it, I tracked down the Resmed letter again. Go to myresmed.com, click on Therapy Tips, then Travel. Or here's a direct link:
http://www.myresmed.com/MyResMed/USV2/A ... r_2008.pdf

wongnog wrote:In case anyone needs it, I tracked down the Resmed letter again. Go to myresmed.com, click on Therapy Tips, then Travel. Or here's a direct link:
http://www.myresmed.com/MyResMed/USV2/A ... r_2008.pdf

I bought a tag for my CPAP from cpap.com that identifies it as medical equipment. Is there a letter anyone is aware of from Respironics? I will bring copies of my prescription and invoice.

Here is the link to the tag:
Front:

Back:

Hey those tags look great! I think I'll print them out myself, my local dollar store sells a 4-pack of self laminating luggage tags that you can use to laminate anything. Perfect for something like this!

Well I love being controversial - if it serves to us thinking and talking, and therefore finding solutions using our collected experience and brainpower, then more power to us.

I've been posting on this thread also - you may want to have a look. Haven't got much of a bite yet!

viewtopic/t37129/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37 ... a&start=15

Cheers

K

kopoloff wrote:Well I love being controversial - if it serves to us thinking and talking, and therefore finding solutions using our collected experience and brainpower, then more power to us.

I've been posting on this thread also - you may want to have a look. Haven't got much of a bite yet!

viewtopic/t37129/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37 ... a&start=15

Cheers

K

Okay I bit!

From one seasoned cruiser to another - take it! The cabins are air conditioned and the humidity outside has no bearing on the humidity inside the ship! Yes - they will supply distilled water - we had to arrange it through the dietary coordinator for our ship before we sailed.

kopoloff wrote:i'll be controversial here.

As far as I'm concerned, it makes no difference whether you use tap water, seawater or sewage in your humidifer. The humidifier uses evaporation to lift water water molecules from the surface of the tank. Water molecules are just that, molecules only, which means they contain no solids, gases, bacteria or salts. If the surface of your hose is cold, the vapour will condense onto the hose wall, or perhaps on your mask, forming a condensate. This condensate is in fact distilled water. And distilled water has a pH of 7.0.

K

I can't see the heated humidifier getting up to a high enough temperature in order to kill any bacteria say, in sewage - that grosses me out. I would think in order to kill the bacteria from the sludge or unsterile water, it would have to be heated at high temperatures for a long period of time - same principles in heat sterilization in health care facilities.

NeurosurgeryNP wrote:From one seasoned cruiser to another - take it! The cabins are air conditioned and the humidity outside has no bearing on the humidity inside the ship! Yes - they will supply distilled water - we had to arrange it through the dietary coordinator for our ship before we sailed.

Which cruise line did you take?

But, neurosurgery NP, why do we care what's in the mumidifier tank. What we care about is what's in the airstream. And that is simply The air we normally breath and water vapour, which is by definition sterile.

K