CPAPtalk.com

Elle wrote:I clean my humidifier at least once a week and should probably do it more often because there is a film of white on the bottom when I empty it. I run my finger across the bottom and can see a line. I guess I should do it more often if I want to eliminate that but I hate to waste the water. I get distilled at London Drugs.

Can you try distilled from some other source for a week and see if there's a difference?

You might also want to check and see if the actual source of the water is listed on the label. The stuff I get at Walmart is labeled "produced by Premium Water, Dallas TX. " or some such.

I should try that. I only have two places (conveniently located) from which to get it and the one I get is cheaper. A few pennies shouldn't make a difference though so I am going to get the other one. Although this one keeps me cleaning the tank occasionally. If it weren't for that layer of white on the bottom I might never bother.

I know that this started as a really old thread but I find it interesting. I've been using both Walgreen's (ie. Sam Walton's Interstellar Enterprises) and RiteAid's distilled water for about eight months have noticed a very slight build up of whitish sediment on the walls of my humidifier. I plan to use the vinegar trick to get it out, but I still wonder where it came from. If you look at your air filter you will see it gets quite dirty... that makes me wonder if the dust that penetrates thru the filter gets caught up in the humidifier tank's water? After all, the filter can't trap ALL the dust, can it? That would be an obvious source of contamination in my way of thinking. Just throwing it out for consideration.

I am having the same problem, will try the bitch line. My CPAP humidifier water container become slimy and the water was cloudy. Who keeps a check on stuff like this.

We need to watch this ourselves. This will eventually happen in any system if neglected long enough.
Dumping out leftover water in the morning, and a quick rinse of plain water helps.
Any off smell, slimy feel, or UFO's (unidentified floating objects) is a cry for a good cleaning.
Hot water and unscented dish detergent is my choice, followed by a long, running water rinse.
A splash of vinegar or cheap vodka sometimes is used--but rinsed away.
If the jug of water smells funky or has floaters, return it to the store.
They need to know they are being sold an inferior product.

What should the cost of Fake Distilled water be? Real Steam Distilled Water costs under $1 per gallon. Does the Fake cost more because they have to add CRAP to the water, or does it cost less because it is indeed fake. We all know Fakes aren't as good as the real thing.

One would think in Canada, you could melt snow and strain it thru a filter and use that, at long as you didn't use the yellow snow. Jim

Jim, although rain and snow are technically "distilled", it captures particulate matter (dirt) on the way down.
Even if it's not yellow, it could still be nasty!

chunkyfrog wrote:Jim, although rain and snow are technically "distilled", it captures particulate matter (dirt) on the way down.
Even if it's not yellow, it could still be nasty!

There you go over think things, i'm just trying to save 80 cents, and clean my driveway. Jim

my filter will get the big pices, maybe gravel.

Arizona-Willie wrote:I normally use Distilled water from Fry's here in the Phoenix area.
No problem at all.

One time I was in Wal-Mart and bought some of their distilled water and was stunned to see a pinkish deposit in the humidifier.
I've seen that when I used water from my reverse osmosis machine or tap water when traveling for a few days.

I immediately cleaned it out and went and got some good water at Fry's.

Now I never buy it anywhere else. For sure never buy Wal-Mart distilled water.

Did you at least notify them that there was a problem with the distilled water? Badmouthing a store when you did nothing to report it doesn't really help anybody.

Wal-Mart water is usually OK here, but I got some at the iffy neighborhood grocers that produced pink slime.
I never went back, as the store was a really lame attempt at breaking the food desert.
Horrid brands, weird canned goods, not very competitive/fresh produce. Nasty place.

Are you sure it's calcium and not some form of growth? How often do you change your water? If you have real suspicions, there are plenty of television stations who would gladly investigate your claim. Coming onto the forum with these kind of claims, stating your conclusions (like it is calcium you are seeing) instead of just your observations is bad form..

WindCpap wrote:Are you sure it's calcium and not some form of growth? How often do you change your water? If you have real suspicions, there are plenty of television stations who would gladly investigate your claim. Coming onto the forum with these kind of claims, stating your conclusions (like it is calcium you are seeing) instead of just your observations is bad form..

As a suggestion, find a local water company that sells home water softeners, reverse osmosis units, filtration and that sort of thing. Take a sample of your distilled water (in a * clean * container) to them and ask them to check it for dissolved solids. They can do this check in just a few minutes in their office and if my local water company is any example, they will check it for free (other than time, there's no cost to them). If they ask, tell them the water is from your reverse osmosis system and you want to check to see how it's performing.

If the water is distilled, the total dissolved solids (TDS) should be zero ppm (parts per million), or very near zero. If it's more than 30 ppm or so, I'd be very suspicious of it.

The reverse osmosis companies don't remove the dissolved salts, so if the water is well filtered, the solids will still be zero even though the water was not distilled

The whole discussion is irrelevant because you can use tap water and wash the thing daily.

The "distilled" water is suggested ONLY to prevent mineral build up.

WindCpap wrote:The reverse osmosis companies don't remove the dissolved salts, so if the water is well filtered, the solids will still be zero even though the water was not distilled

Nope.

My home reverse osmosis unit reduces TDS in my well water from 250 ppm to 50 ppm. The company that I use for supplies will test for free - just take the sample to them.