Distilled water is popular among people who want to use clean water that’s free of contaminants. While other types of water may be healthier for you, distilled water offers many advantages. Since distilled water filters out all minerals and contaminants, it’s often used to sterilize medical equipment and make coffee.
While distilled water is typically safe to drink, there are a few risks that you’ll need to consider, which include everything from a decrease in your metabolic function to a bad taste. Distillation is a purification process that’s able to remove most contaminants, nutrients, and minerals from water. It’s important to consider the safety and health implications before you start drinking distilled water. The following article offers a comprehensive guide on “Is distilled water safe to drink?”
What Is Distilled Water?
Nearly all water contains some impurities, which include everything from nutrients and minerals to contaminants like nitrates and organic chemicals. When water is boiled during the distillation process, it evaporates, which ensures that most of the impurities within the solution are removed. Keep in mind that distilled water might not have a pleasant taste because of the lack of minerals, metals, and other types of inorganic compounds.
Distilled water is similar to other forms of purified water. The main difference is the method that’s used to treat the water. Distillation is a common but older water purification process that isn’t easy to do from home. This process is commonly used by municipalities in seaside towns to effectively treat ocean water. Residents within these towns can use it as drinking water after it’s been treated.
During the distillation technique, water is boiled directly in a boiling chamber. The water will eventually evaporate into steam. Once steam is produced, it’s captured and condensed. Most non-volatile molecules and inorganic compounds can’t be evaporated with the water, which means that they will remain in the boiling chamber. You can then dispose of them with ease.
A small-scale distillation unit isn’t much different than a coffee pot. These units are comprised of condensing chambers, storage containers, and boiling chambers. The storage container holds the clean water once the distillation process is over. Below is a more detailed overview of the distillation process.
The process starts by heating water in a boiling chamber. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, it will evaporate and produce steam. The steam will then leave the boiling chamber and rise through a vent before reaching a stainless-steel condenser. If there are any contaminants, microorganisms, and impurities in the water that can’t be converted into gas particles, they will stay behind in the boiling chamber.
The steam will then condense. Once it enters the condenser, it’s chilled by a nearby fan until the temperature drops enough for it to turn into water droplets. You can collect the droplets in a container, after which you must remove the remaining contaminants.
All the impurities that evaporate alongside the water can be captured with an activated carbon filter. This filter uses adsorption to trap the contaminants. Once the water passes through filtration media, it will drip out of a spout and into the storage container. At this stage, the water is fully purified.
It’s possible for distillation to remove nearly all contaminants from water, which include nitrate, hardness, iron, and lead. Some microorganisms should also be removed. The effectiveness of the distillation process depends on the concentration of contaminants in the water.
Certain organic compounds, such as benzene, have a lower boiling point than water. In this scenario, the contaminants will recontaminate the water once the condensation process takes place. Since some contaminants may still be present in the water after it goes through the distillation process, you should have some type of filter media on hand to get rid of these pollutants.
If you purchase a water distiller for your home, it might take around four to five hours to purify a single gallon of water. The water condenses into droplets, which takes time. It’s possible to expedite the distillation process with a large distiller. This system can produce as many as three gallons of water every hour. Distilling rids water of all impurities as well as 99.9% of minerals that have been dissolved in the solution.
Downsides of Drinking Distilled Water Regularly
While the distillation process creates healthy water, it also removes a large number of minerals that are beneficial for you. For example, distillation gets rid of all calcium and magnesium in the water. There are over 20 mineral elements that are known to be essential to human health. These elements support the following functions:
- Hormone functions
- Bone and membrane structure
- Oxygen binding
- Water and electrolyte balance
- Metabolic catalysis, which helps produce energy in your body
The minerals that are present in drinking water can vary based on natural conditions. There’s also a possibility that the water you drink consists of elements that are leached from the piping or minerals that have been intentionally added. For example, municipalities often add fluoride to help residents prevent tooth decay.
Distillation removes all these elements, which means that you might experience deficiencies if you don’t obtain them from another source. Even though the amount of magnesium and calcium in water isn’t sufficient to account for all your needs, a diet that’s low in these minerals can cause deficiencies when you drink distilled water.
If you use distilled water for cooking, the foods you consume might not have the nutrients you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When pairing this water with meat, cereal, or vegetables, you might lose up to:
- 86% of cobalt
- 70% of manganese
- 66% of copper
- 60% of calcium and magnesium
Before you start drinking distilled water, consider the potential health risks associated with consuming it regularly. The issues you might encounter revolve around the lack of minerals that you’ll receive, such as calcium and magnesium. Along with a decrease in your body’s metabolic function, you might also experience an increase in your urine output, which could cause an electrolyte imbalance. The taste may be flat as well, which could cause you to drink less water.
Since distilled water doesn’t contain electrolytes and minerals, people who consume it often have deficiencies in potassium, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium, and sodium. When you urinate and sweat, your body will lose sodium as well as other important minerals. To continue functioning properly, you must replace these minerals. You can avoid becoming deficient by eating a balanced diet that includes the right amount of vegetables and fruits.
Safety of Distilled Water
Distilled water is usually safe for consumption. Since there aren’t any harmful contaminants in the water, you should be able to drink it without developing harmful side effects. However, you may experience a deficiency in beneficial nutrients that are commonly found in water, which you can compensate for with the right diet.
As for tap water, the U.S. has some of the healthiest public drinking water in the world. Community systems provide water to the surrounding population throughout the year. Non-community water systems are designed to provide water to at least 25 people for 60 or more days each year.
Water treatment facilities often test for contaminants and publish comprehensive consumer confidence reports. These reports allow consumers to see the source of the water, the treatment methods that the utility uses, and the types of contaminants that are present in the water. When contaminants rise above the allowed limit, the facility will need to treat the water to ensure it’s potable.
Most tap water is disinfected with chlorine before it’s sent to residential homes. Your municipality will likely use filters to remove sediments. Chemicals may be placed in the water to neutralize the dirt within. As mentioned previously, fluoride is commonly added to keep tooth decay at bay.
Filtered water is any tap water that has been sent through filters to get rid of chlorine. While chlorine is beneficial, it can worsen the taste of the water. Filtered water should also contain fewer chemicals and bacteria. However, each type of filter is effective at removing different contaminants. Most bottled water is filtered.
When looking at purified water, it’s free of chemicals and microbes. While you can use distillation to obtain purified water, there are a couple of other methods that treatment facilities use. For example, reverse osmosis units push water through a membrane to ensure that all minerals, microbes, and chemicals are removed.
You can also purify water with ozonization, which allows you to remove the necessary contaminants without using a chemical. For water to be purified, it can’t contain more than 10 parts per million of total dissolved solids (TDS). When you use the distillation process to treat water, it will remove minerals, salts, and many other organic materials, which is why it’s considered a form of purification.
While distilled water is safe for you to drink, you might find the taste to be bland or flat. The sodium, magnesium, and calcium that are removed during distillation provide the flavor that you’re used to. If you decide to drink distilled water, make sure you maintain a balanced diet to compensate for any loss of minerals.
Potential Health Risks
If you experience deficiencies in the micronutrients that your body needs, you’ll likely suffer from the following health effects:
- Impaired mental and physical development
- Increased morbidity
- Higher morbidity because of damaged immune defense systems
If the water you drink doesn’t contain enough calcium, you’ll be at a higher risk of experiencing:
- Neurodegenerative diseases that destroy cells within your central nervous system
- Different types of cancer
- Low birth rate
- Preterm birth
Children are also more likely to suffer from broken bones. When water is low in magnesium, people will have a higher risk of everything from cancer and motor neuron diseases to pregnancy disorders like preeclampsia.
Keep in mind that drinking distilled water can result in overhydration, which means that your body has too much fluid. When you sweat, salt and water are removed from your body. If you drink too much tap or distilled water once you sweat heavily, you may create an imbalance in your body. This situation can lead to a large number of health issues. If the imbalance is too severe, the issue can be fatal. Athletes typically consume sports drinks that maintain the ideal balance of salts, sugars, and water.
Can Babies and Young Children Drink Distilled Water?
There aren’t any studies that provide clear indicators about whether distilled water should be used in infant feeding. However, most people consider it safe to use. Keep in mind that this water isn’t sterile. If you use the water in formula for an infant who’s less than four months old, you must sterilize it first to ensure all viruses, protozoa, and bacteria have been removed.
Most formulas consist of low levels of fluoride. If the formula your child receives contains fluoridated water, mild fluorosis could occur. While this is a harmless issue that can result in faint white markings on your child’s teeth, you can avoid this problem by using distilled water. Make sure you speak with a healthcare provider before using distilled water to feed your infant.
Uses of Distilled Water
If you consume water from the tap, it will likely consist of low levels of bacteria, amoebas, and other microorganisms. Your stomach acid should destroy these pathogens, which makes the water safe to drink. However, these pathogens could lead to an infection if inhaled. The same is true if the water gets in your eyes.
Distilled or sterilized water can be used for a wide range of medical applications, which include everything from continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to nasal irrigation. You can use distilled water with all types of nasal irrigation, such as neti pots, bulb syringes, and squeeze bottles. Some people use distilled water for household appliances, plant watering, and cooking. If you place it in household appliances, you’ll be able to reduce mineral buildup and prevent scale formation.
Hospitals often clean equipment with distilled water to reduce the potential for infections and contamination. Kidney dialysis machines must use ultra-pure water to make sure waste is filtered out of the blood. In automobiles, distilled water is used to avoid corroding metallic parts or interfering with internal batteries. Deodorants and shampoos that contain water as an ingredient will only be made with distilled water.
If you use distilled water at your home, consider placing it in your clothes iron. Doing so should prevent scale buildup and maintain the condition of your iron. When shampooing your hair, distilled water should keep your hair clean and healthy. The fluoride and chlorine that are often found in tap water can dull your hair.
Comparison with Tap and Purified Water
Municipalities are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure that all public water supplies throughout the U.S. are safe to consume. EPA sets strict standards that limit the chemicals and germs that can be present in tap water. They monitor municipal water systems to ensure that these facilities are properly treating the water before sending it to residential homes.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has implemented numerous regulations for bottled water as well. These regulations are based on the EPA standards for tap water. When a bottled water producer is manufacturing these products, they must adhere to the good manufacturing practices for the bottling of drinking water that have been set by the FDA.
Before distilling your water, consider the differences between tap, distilled, and purified water. Tap water comes out of the faucets in your home. This water is usually disinfected and filtered. Purified water doesn’t contain any chemicals or microbes. Distillation is just one form of purified water. Once you boil water and turn it into steam, you can get rid of the minerals and salts that are found within.
When Is Distilled Water Necessary?
While distilled water can be challenging and time-consuming to produce, there are times when this water is preferred. If you have a specific health need or live in an area where the main supply of drinking water is contaminated, you may require distilled water.
Most of the private water systems throughout the U.S. come directly from groundwater wells. Keep in mind that the comprehensive EPA regulations that are designed to limit contaminants in public drinking water systems don’t directly apply to rainwater collection systems or privately owned wells. You’ll be directly responsible for maintaining the safety of your private water system. The types of contaminants that are regularly found in private systems include the following:
- Shigella
- E. coli
- Hepatitis A
- Giardia
- Arsenic
- Salmonella
- Cryptosporidium
- Nitrate
- Gasoline
- Selenium
- Phenol
If you have a private water system, it’s highly recommended that you use the distillation process to improve the quality of your water. Contaminated water doesn’t always appear dirty or discolored. If you’re camping or traveling, try to determine if the water has been treated and where it comes from. If you’re uncertain about the quality of the water, consider distilling it.
There are numerous steps you can take to ensure all harmful contaminants have been removed from your water. For example, you can heat the water to a rolling boil for one minute. You can then use chlorine dioxide tablets to disinfect the water and remove any cryptosporidium found within. If you disinfect the water with iodine, make sure that it’s not consumed by pregnant individuals or people with thyroid issues.
Portable water filters with small pore sizes can remove parasites. However, they aren’t effective against viruses or bacteria. You may need a reverse osmosis filter to eliminate viruses, salt, and bacteria. Ultraviolet light units emit an intense beam of UV light that can kill pathogens in clear water.
You can also use bottled water if you’d like to avoid drinking water when you aren’t certain about its quality. As mentioned previously, bottled water is strictly regulated by the FDA, which means that it’s safe to drink. Look at the label on your bottle to identify where the water comes from. You can also call the company to determine how the water was treated.
If you have a weakened immune system, make sure you only drink bottled water that’s been treated with filtration, reverse osmosis, or distillation. If filtration has been used, the filter must have a one-micron pore size. The cryptosporidium parasite is harmful to individuals with weak immune systems.
Conclusion
Drinking distilled water is healthy for you if it’s consumed in moderation. You can be confident that the water you drink doesn’t contain pathogens and bacteria that cause disease. You must, however, replace the nutrients you lose when consuming distilled water, which can be done by maintaining a balanced diet. Limit the amount of distilled water you drink to avoid overhydration issues.
Source link: https://sensorex.com/is-distilled-water-safe-to-drink/ by Joshua Samp at sensorex.com