reuse distilled water??

Friends,
Every morning I have some water left over in my humidifier tank. Can I pour it back into the gal. jug, or is it wise to throw it out?
Merry Christmas to everyone.
God Bless
Bob

Throw it out.

Merry Christmas to you and yours too.

Why pour it out? All I do is top off the tub off with distilled water when needed. Distilled water doesn't go bad. I use distilled water and will only clean out my tub every 6 months and then I'm wondering why I'm cleaning it because it looks brand new.

I agree!!..I just top mine off every night.If tub goes emty no harm.Twice a week I let mine run emty then I just rinse it out with a little soap&hot water&let it air dry.The distilled water is the trick.Well worth the 90 cent to buy a gal.

kempo wrote:Why pour it out? All I do is top off the tub off with distilled water when needed. Distilled water doesn't go bad. I use distilled water and will only clean out my tub every 6 months and then I'm wondering why I'm cleaning it because it looks brand new.

Another vote here for topping off every other night or so.

Randy

wildman 2 wrote:Can I pour it back into the gal. jug, or is it wise to throw it out?

Sounds to me like you are making more work. Making it harder than it needs to be.

I say pour in less. If you get it wrong, top it off. I pour in enuff, right from the bottle, to last the whole week. Then I don't have to bother the rest of the week.

To me using a funnel is just another source of contamination as is washing the chamber with tap water. Your tap water has more bacteria than you realize.

IF you insist on washing it - use distilled water. But do keep in mind, every time you open it to room air, more bacteria enters the chamber.

I top it up every day.
When I clean it, once a week, I pour any that's left into a water glass, clean the tank, then pour it back from the water glass, and top it up.
At 89¢ a gallon, I don't like to waste it.

We top it off each morning until it starts to look suspicious; (then dump, wash, & dry)
even though it only costs about 27 cents a gallon to run the 'still'.
We're unbearably tight.
Old water never goes into a clean tank or a clean jug--contamination!

As has been said, if you always have water left over, then pour less when you fill. If you still have water left over, then just add more at night. No need to do so much work.

Chunkyfrog wrote: We top it off each morning until it starts to look suspicious; (then dump, wash, & dry) even though it only costs about 27 cents a gallon to run the 'still'. We're unbearably tight.

Chunkyfrog,

What type of machine do you use or that you would recommend? I have been thinking about possibly purchasing a H2O distiller. I have no clue which one would provide quality water, but not break the bank by getting more machine than is necessary.

Thanks,

John

Since 2008 I just keep adding distilled water to the
tank with no ill effects or residue building in the tank.

My DME said to top off the distilled water. It's important to use distilled water and clean the chamber properly, boiling it in water for 20 min or preferably in a dishwasher if possible, it's b/c :

1) Plain faucet water carries an organism by the name of Mycobacterium avium (MAC).

2) In the humidifier chamber the water with this organism is made into an aerosol, and we inhale it deeply into our lungs, that's where the problem may result. So if you come down with a cough, let's say, and you go to your doctor, and he looks at you, and he says, well, it may be TB or something, and he'll do tests for all those things, and don't find anything. And you say, but I'm still coughing, he or she may not be testing for the right thing because it could be a low-grade cough that persists for months, you feel lousy, weak, perhaps breathing difficulties, particularly when exerting. That's a good reason to point the finger at the possibility of Mycobacterium avium pulmonary disease. It's very under-diagnosed.

avi123 wrote:My DME said to top off the distilled water. It's important to use distilled water and clean the chamber properly, boiling it in water for 20 min or preferably in a dishwasher if possible, it's b/c :

1) Plain faucet water carries an organism by the name of Mycobacterium avium (MAC).

2) In the humidifier chamber the water with this organism is made into an aerosol, and we inhale it deeply into our lungs, that's where the problem may result. So if you come down with a cough, let's say, and you go to your doctor, and he looks at you, and he says, well, it may be TB or something, and he'll do tests for all those things, and don't find anything. And you say, but I'm still coughing, he or she may not be testing for the right thing because it could be a low-grade cough that persists for months, you feel lousy, weak, perhaps breathing difficulties, particularly when exerting. That's a good reason to point the finger at the possibility of Mycobacterium avium pulmonary disease. It's very under-diagnosed.

If your "plain faucet water" contains bacteria, then you need to do something about the quality of your water supply. If you have mycobacterium avium, then it's likely you also have fecal coliforms and ecoli, both of which are dangerous and potentially deadly!

As well, I've yet to see good evidence that there is any type of aerosolization taking place in a cpap humidifier. Others have published results of tests in this forum, but the tests appear to have been done without adequate controls or use of scientific method; their results are suspect.

If there is danger from reuse of distilled water or inadequate cleaning of cpap humidifiers, my guess it's more likely to come from airborne spores that may be accumulating and possibly growing in the tank. Evidence of this is the pink or black slime that some have reported finding in their tanks.

IMO, some of the posters seem a bit paranoid about the use of faucet water. Unless your health department has deemed it un-drinkable (and there are very few situations of this in this country), then it certainly is safe to put into your humidifier chamber for humidification. You don't hold your breath when you take a shower do you?

Top off the water in the humidifier chamber with water (faucet or distilled), when it is necessary..