CPAPtalk.com

billbolton wrote:The Resmed instructions for the rest of the world just say clean water..... the fixation with distilled water is a particularly North American thing. If you can get distilled water easily/cheaply then by all means use it, but if you can't and your tap water is potable, then using tap water will not be any significant issue.

Yeah, we Yanks don't always realize, let alone appreciate, the fact that for us distilled water is much more readily available than plain clean water is in much of the rest of the world.

I got tired of running around trying to find a place that had distilled water. It seems even Wallyworld was out of it a lot, so I bought one of those Megahome water distillers on Amazon. At the time it was $99. They're a bit more now, but I would immediately buy another one, whatever the price, if mine stopped working. I've had mine for about five years, and it's paid for istelf a long time ago.
It takes about 3 hrs or so, to make a gallon. It's actually pretty good for drinking too, if you add some inexpensive Liquimins mineral drops.
At least I'm 100% sure of exactly what's in my drinking water.

I live in an area where our water (even city water) is "hard" from the dissolved minerals. Mainly iron and limestone. While mineral accumulation probably is just a visual thing I don't like looking at it and since I am lazy, the least amount of cleaning I can get by with is my choice.

Grocery stores and drugstores also have distilled water. Your pharmacist can probably special order it for you if you can't find it anywhere around you, right on the shelf with the water or the baby supplies. It is sometimes available in a convenience stores, Kmart, or Dollar General or Family Dollar stores. it is a lot better to use in your humidifier so it doesn't get all gunked up with minerals. The tank that is dishwasher- safe is also expensive, and if you just got your machine, your insurance won't pay any portion of it. I am not sure if insurance pays towards one at ANY time because they are more expensive. The DME might be able to provide the washable one to you in 6 months and let insurance pay their portion, and they will charge you the difference maybe, as well as your co-pay if you have one. If you are not using distilled water, you will need to use vinegar water more often to clean your tank. I use ONLY distlled water for the humidifier with my CPAP, the humidifier in my bedroom (to humidify the air for hubby to breathe), & the iron when I absolutey MUST iron something.

archangle wrote:If you don't already have one, get one of the washable tanks for your humidifier instead of one of the non-cleanable tanks those bums at ResMed are providing these days on S9 machines.

Where would I find one of those?

Elsh wrote: Where would I find one of those?

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe this one. Unsure as to status regarding insurance covered item. Some DMEs might also offer it.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... amber.html

Yes, that's it.

You CAN open the tank that came with your machine, but it's a pain to do so. The cleanable tank is a better way to go.

Pugsy wrote:Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe this one. Unsure as to status regarding insurance covered item. Some DMEs might also offer it.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... amber.html

Thanks! I don't think I'll call up and ask for one, as I feel lucky that they've even agreed to bring me out an Elite machine next Friday. When I have a little bit of money, I'll probably just order one of these. It feels a bit weird since my machine is a rental (to purchase something for it), but after 9 months the machine is supposed to be mine, so I guess it's fine.

I did a small survey two years ago when I was buying it constantly for my kids humidifiers (we went whole house later).

I seem to recall the prices were per gallon as follows:

Walmart 70 cents
Giant (grocery) 80 cents
Target 85 cents
Rite Aid $1.25
CVS $1.25

If its so widely available here (PA), I am guessing you can find it there. Keep looking. I think my grocer had it with a red cap. Walmart was purple if memory serves. I mostly got it at the grocer since that is my more frequent trip.

billbolton wrote:

Elsh wrote:however upon looking at the instructions for the machine, I saw that they said to do so.

The Resmed instructions for the rest of the world just say clean water..... the fixation with distilled water is a particularly North American thing. If you can get distilled water easily/cheaply then by all means use it, but if you can't and your tap water is potable, then using tap water will not be any significant issue.

Cheers,

Bill

Would be a problem here, Bill, due to all the iron in the water. Our humidifiers would "pink" up in short order.

Reverse osmosis water $0.48 per gallon at Safeway.

Tip10 wrote:Don't give up yet -- My grocery store doesn't put distilled water in the water aisle -- they put it in the LAUNDRY AISLE of all places.
If you don't see it there try the baby aisle.

Distilled water is often put in the LAUNDRY AISLE because instructions for many IRONS often state that distilled water is REQUIRED or strongly RECOMMENDED for proper operation and maintenance of the iron---i.e. using distilled water in the iron increases its functional life in areas with hard water by a whole lot.

Not sure why it would be in the baby aisle though.

idamtnboy wrote:

billbolton wrote:The Resmed instructions for the rest of the world just say clean water..... the fixation with distilled water is a particularly North American thing. If you can get distilled water easily/cheaply then by all means use it, but if you can't and your tap water is potable, then using tap water will not be any significant issue.

Yeah, we Yanks don't always realize, let alone appreciate, the fact that for us distilled water is much more readily available than plain clean water is in much of the rest of the world.

I'm definitely not a "Yank", , but I even hate to bathe with the water that comes out of my well!
Some really nasty stuff gets left behind (including lots of iron) in the water distiller when I process it.

I have been drinking distilled water for 20 years, I used a counter top distiller from Waterwise. It costs less than 25 cents pr gallon (figuring the cost of the distiller and electrical costs).

I don't buy distilled water. Overkill. I do use filtered water that we make for our drinking water using just a carbon filter. Sometimes I don't even use that because it isn't available. I just use clean water. I rinse out the tank once a week.

Oh, I quit using distilled water in my iron years ago and just use filtered water. No issues. I blow out steam once in a while to clean it out.