Update on Water Distiller

Jason7 wrote:Viking Gnome,

Can you kindly provide some reference for distilled water being able to dissolve calcified plaque in your arteries preventing hardening of the arteries. If this is true, it would prevent heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease, and increase longevity considerably.

Thanks,
Jason

Try this website with quotes from 24 different doctors: http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2012/04/ ... led-water/

How old is your house? Your neighborhood? Sounds like you may have a little rust in the waterline, maybe from old iron pipes?

VikingGnome wrote:
Try this website with quotes from 24 different doctors: http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2012/04/ ... led-water/

I see a lot of opinions but no real studies.

Yeah, I noticed that, too.
Anyone can call themselves "doctor"; LLD, PHD, doctor of hypnotism, etc.
-------"Paging Doctor Fine."

I think the orange fluid at the bottom of my distiller tank is from the orange Yazoo clay that comprises most of the soil in this area. It's gunky, heavy, and a real problem for foundations of buildings, roads,and highways. The clay expands and shrinks with changes in weather/temperature. It has burst water mains and gas lines. It cracks home foundations so homes tilt and creates havoc on our roads and highways. Potholes, cracks, and uneven pavement quickly wear out the shocks on vehicles and tires last half the time it should. I don't know why I didn't think about that being the source of the bright orange liquid left after distillation.

I distilled a gallon of water from a neighboring city with different water supply. What was left was a very light orange fluid (not fluorescent like my city's). That city is mostly affluent with expensive homes. I suspect that Yazoo Clay has been removed and replaced with good fill dirt before building homes, roads, etc. They don't have nearly the foundation problems we have because proper prep of building sites. Most of the city is new homes from suburban sprawl. Perhaps even the clay was removed before laying water supply pipes so less orange in the water.

I distilled a gallon of water from a neighboring city with different water supply. What was left was a very light orange fluid (not fluorescent like my city's). That city is mostly affluent with expensive homes. I suspect that Yazoo Clay has been removed and replaced with good fill dirt before building homes, roads, etc. They don't have nearly the foundation problems we have because proper prep of building sites. Most of the city is new homes from suburban sprawl. Perhaps even the clay was removed before laying water supply pipes so less orange in the water.

No that is not a factor. The pipes and the dirt they run through don't affect the water. It is the source where the clay gets into the water. Once the water is treated and into the pipes there is no contact with the local dirt. I know this because once where I was living there was a problem with the pipes and we had to boil water for almost 3 months while they hunted down the cause of the contamination. Soil contains E.Coli (amongst other things) which is why you must wash your carrots and potatoes. Never put you cooked meat on the same cutting board which had your raw potatoes/carrots.

VikingGnome wrote:I think the orange fluid at the bottom of my distiller tank is from the orange Yazoo clay that comprises most of the soil in this area. It's gunky, heavy, and a real problem for foundations of buildings, roads,and highways. The clay expands and shrinks with changes in weather/temperature. It has burst water mains and gas lines. It cracks home foundations so homes tilt and creates havoc on our roads and highways. Potholes, cracks, and uneven pavement quickly wear out the shocks on vehicles and tires last half the time it should. I don't know why I didn't think about that being the source of the bright orange liquid left after distillation.

I distilled a gallon of water from a neighboring city with different water supply. What was left was a very light orange fluid (not fluorescent like my city's). That city is mostly affluent with expensive homes. I suspect that Yazoo Clay has been removed and replaced with good fill dirt before building homes, roads, etc. They don't have nearly the foundation problems we have because proper prep of building sites. Most of the city is new homes from suburban sprawl. Perhaps even the clay was removed before laying water supply pipes so less orange in the water.

The orange in orange clay is also iron compounds mixed in with the clay.

While I find it yucky, clay in general is considered non-toxic, maybe even healthy. It's used in toothpaste, and quite a bit of medicines and cosmetics. Many animals eat it as an aid to digestion.

I'd still rather not have it in my pipes, drinking water, or humidifier.

I would expect a large percent of the VOCs to evaporate out of the water and be released as vapors from the distiller rather than recondensing and ending up in the output water. While that may sound bad, as long as you're starting with your tap water, you're drinking these VOCs all day long, and breathing them whenever you take a shower, wash dishes, boil food, mop the floor, etc. Also, you're going to be diluting these VOCs with a large volume of air, so only a small percent would end up in your lungs, and the concentration will be much less than what was in your drinking water. However, it wouldn't hurt to put the distiller under the vent hood on the stove or use it outside.

Our local water company sends out the report of their yearly testing with a water bill.
I have also seen it online. It may be made public by law here.
Our water has a high mineral content, including iron and calcium.
It is tough on coffee makers--we gave up on having a Bunn after two died very quickly.
Used vaporizers are almost never seen in thrift shops because they are just too gross!

I LOVE my H2O distiller. It's wonderful to drink. I use it in my H5i humidifier and I use it in my my little room humidifier. My pets love it too. Both dog and cat drinking considerably more water now that stinky municipal water isn't in their bowl. I distill a gallon every night while I sleep and a couple gallons during the day per week.

Last week our local news reported that the city council is going to apply a 1% sales tax on everything except food and medication. (Better go to neighboring city to buy any high cost item). We already pay a state sales tax of 8% on everything including food. The reason for the additional sales tax is to upgrade the municipal water system. It is over 100 years old with rusted iron joints. The water lines are always bursting flooding city streets.

Last week, after a car hit a fire hydrant, an idiot worker didn't know the protocol on how to shut off water supply to that section of town He opened the wrong valve and poured water from sewage pools into municipal water supply. Our entire city was under a boil water notice for a week.

I normally don't listen to local news so didn't realize the dire situation with city water supply. As of Dec 4 there have been 300 separate boil water notices around places in town. That's almost DAILY. I never heard anything about them. If you don't watch morning and evening news, you won't know about it. I have been drinking bottled water before I got my distiller so was oblivious to this health hazard.

So those that think city water is "SAFE" need to rethink that idea. Don't depend on the annual water report. It won't tell you the REAL STORY.

interesting topic - I was thinking of doing this myself but was really unsure on the benefit.

Reading on the specifications of the H2O Labs 300SS: http://www.h2olabs.com/p-55-stainless-s ... arafe.aspx
- interesting that they note that they use a lower wattage to slow the boiling process so that:
1. they don't need a splash shield
2. they allow the VOC's to boil off first - not as part of the water that is distilled - well, after reading it again, it really does not say this, but they infer it for sure " Larger heating elements in one gallon units can cause water to mix with VOCs and other contaminate"

So - pardon the engineer in me - there are 2 side for me to consider 1. the cost side and 2 the health benefit side.

Let's look at cost first.

They rate the unit at 580 Watts. They say you can make 4 gallons per day, so I assume it take 6 hours to produce 1 gallon. (24 hours/4 gallons = 6 hours / gallon). Depending on the cost of electricity in your area you can calculate your electric cost to make the water by looking at the kWh (kilo Watt hour). A simple example is that if you have a 1000 watt heater and you leave it on for one hour, they you used 1 kWh of electricity. In the US, we buy electricity in kWh. (the meter on the side of your home measures usage in kWh).

Back to the distiller - 580 watts = 0.58 kW, we run it for 6 hours, so 6 hours * 0.58 kW = 3.48 kWh of electricity consumed. Then you need to know the energy cost where you live, in Michigan I pay anywhere from $0.12 to $0.15 per kWh depending on how much I use and the time of the year. so for me I would use $0.522 of electricity at $0.15 per kWh to produce 1 gallon of distilled water. (0.15 $/kWh* 3.48 kWh = $0.522) or as low as $0.41 per gallon.

On average I pay about $1.00 per gallon. Using my lowest cost of electricity, I save $0.59 per gallon used. Not looking so hard online I see the unit sells for ~$250.00. So, after I produce 423.7 gallons, the unit pays for itself ($250/$0.59 per gallon = 423.7 gallons). Only factor used in the electric energy cost...

So, part 2 is the health benefit - of which you can apply no cost to, only need to understand the benefit vs risk in my opinion

My distilled water is sold in HDPE (recycle number 2) bottles. Interesting for my is that so is the milk I buy. I did look at one "purified water" bottle that I have and it is made from PETE (recycle number 1). The distilled water is coded with the bottled date and the best by date. In this case it was bottled October 22, 2013 at 10:40 with a best by date of October 22, 2015. So, somewhere, someone decided that a 2 year shelf life is "safe". The purified water bottle has no obvious bottled or use by date - it is coded for lot traceability as required by law though - just not human readable. For some details on the recycle numbers take a look at: http://www.nationofchange.org/numbers-p ... 1360168347 take a special interest in the health concerns for each type of plastic and what you use everyday that is stored in these plastics...

Back to the distilled water - so knowing that it is produced from HDPE is not much more useful than calling it plastic, but at least we know the molecular structure of the basic plastic that it is produced from. However, we do know that HDPE does not contain any BPA, this was a problem with the polycarbonate plastic bottles. (http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0902.asp) Then if HDPE is safe, why the expiration date? Some interesting items I found were related to a 1987 rule in NJ, but others say it is just based on the water running on same equipment as other bottled products that do expire. Here is a good overview - http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartne ... tion-date/

But all of that is drinking water and not water that we breath. To me, the human bodies digestive system is designed to handle multiple contaminates and filter them before the body "consumes" them. Think of the liver and its functions. (I am not a doctor, just an engineer) The human lungs on the other hand do not have any protective systems that I am aware of. So, to be safe, the cleaner the water that I breath the better.

Overall, to me there is still room for debate on this. I will use distilled water all the time at home, occasionally when I travel I use tap water that is known safe to drink when I can't get at least bottled water or preference is distilled water. The question here in my opinion is to purchase or produce it yourself.

other thoughts?
Paul

pbriggs wrote: Overall, to me there is still room for debate on this. I will use distilled water all the time at home, occasionally when I travel I use tap water that is known safe to drink when I can't get at least bottled water or preference is distilled water. The question here in my opinion is to purchase or produce it yourself.

other thoughts?
Paul

There is also the effort of buying the bottles to consider. I stopped using distilled water one February because I didn't have a car, I had pneumonia, there was 2 feet of snow outside and the sidewalks were alternately icy and knee deep in snow and it was -20c. Now I have a car but I have to remember to buy it. I forgot last week and when I ran out we had a windchill warning of -40c for several days so I am currently using Edmonton's smelly tap water and I am seriously considering the distiller since the tank is already becoming crunchy.

Briggs,
I used a distiller for years...till I wore it out. Took about 5 hours for a gallon. And my electric cost is less then half of yours so around $0.25 per gal.

But I use RO now which is less hassle and even cheaper.
CN

What a great discussion and there are no nasty barbs or insults, which I really appreciate. Also, I've learned tons of stuff about different water processes which I never dreamed of. Thanks, everybody Side Note: If you have to go out of your way to drive to the cheapest distilled water outlet (I do), you have to add your automobile costs like gas etc for the extra mileage, especially if you have a Hummer or similar vehicle:!: . If it's where you routinely shop, then the extra driving cost doesn't apply.

VikingGnome wrote:My pets love it too. Both dog and cat drinking considerably more water now that stinky municipal water isn't in their bowl.

Animals are smart, they have more natural sense than humans. It could be they are drinking more not out of taste, but because they sense a need for more mineral content. Therefore they drink more to try to replace the missing content. I have read that drinking distilled water pulls needed minerals from the body, mainly bones.

If I lived where the water was smelly and foul, I'd move to a place where life was better. The best tasting water I ever had was well water, and it was loaded with minerals, but this was years ago before we decided we had to use man made chemicals to do everything. Jim