What is distilled water and what can it be used for?

Distilled water is the result of a purification process. This process removes contaminants, as well as minerals and nutrients. It is suitable for medical sterilization and manufacturing processes where mineral buildup must be avoided. Because it lacks minerals or dissolved gases, distilled water has a very flat taste, which is not to many people's liking, though it is safe for human consumption.

Table of contents

1. What is distilled water?
2. Tap water. Distilled water. Filtered water. Purified water
3. How is distilled water made?
4. Is distilled water safe to drink?
5. Uses of distilled water
6. What are the risks of using distilled water?
7. Medical uses of distilled water
8. What is the pH of distilled water?

1. What is distilled water?

Distilled water is steam obtained from boiling water that has been cooled and returned to its liquid state. Any water – regardless of whether it comes from a natural spring, an artesian well, or the common tap – can have trace, but safe, amounts of minerals, bacteria, pesticides, and other contaminants.

Through distillation, water is cleared of all these impurities. It also removes over 99.9% of minerals dissolved in the water.

Because distilled water does not contain beneficial minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, or potassium, distilled water does not provide the body with these benefits. People get most of their minerals from food, so drinking distilled water is not a problem in itself, although it lacks the benefits provided by most tap, purified, and mineral waters.

There are concerns that regular consumption of distilled water increases urine production to unhealthy levels or that it dilutes the body's electrolytes. Although there is no scientific consensus regarding these issues, it is logical, for the purpose of daily consumption, to choose water with a certain mineral content to avoid the possibility of such problems. (Source)

2. Tap water. Distilled water. Filtered water. Purified water

As the name suggests, tap water is the water from public water supply networks. It has likely been disinfected with chlorine, but also filtered to remove sediment and treated with chemicals to neutralize dirt.

Filtered water is tap water that has been passed through filters to remove chlorine (this improves the taste) and other elements, such as bacteria and some chemicals. Different types of filters remove different things. Most bottled water is filtered in one way or another.

Purified water is essentially free of microbes and chemicals. This is achieved through reverse osmosis (forcing water through a membrane to get rid of chemicals, minerals, and microbes), ozonation (disinfecting water using ozone rather than a chemical), or distillation. Regulatory authorities require that purified water contain no more than 10 parts per million of total dissolved solids in order to be labeled as purified water.

Distilled water is a type of purified water. Salts, minerals, and other organic materials are removed by collecting steam from boiling water.

3. How is distilled water made?

Distilled water is obtained by boiling the source water, cooling it, and collecting the steam. There are three main methods of distilling water.

• Simple distillation. The most basic form of distillation consists of boiling source water at 100°C, letting the steam rise into a separate chamber, a tube, or condensing coils where it cools, and then collecting the pure water as it condenses.
• Multi-stage flash distillation. In this process, the liquid is placed under high pressure. This lowers the boiling point to ambient temperature, turning it into steam without heating it. The steam is then transferred to a lower-pressure chamber, where it recondenses.
• Fractional distillation. The steps of heating, vaporization, and condensation are repeated at different temperatures. This is rarely necessary for water, as it has only one boiling temperature, but the process is used for oil refining because different products boil at different temperatures.

4. Is distilled water safe to drink?

Distilled water can be consumed safely. However, its taste is flat or insipid. This is because it does not contain important minerals, such as calcium, sodium, and magnesium, which give tap water its familiar aroma. What remains is only hydrogen and oxygen and nothing else.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the distillation process is very effective in removing protozoa (such as cryptosporidium or giardia), bacteria (such as campylobacter, salmonella, shigella, E. coli), and viruses (including enteric ones, hepatitis A, norovirus, and rotavirus). Distillation also removes chemical contaminants, including arsenic, barium, chromium, lead, nitrate, sodium, sulfate, and many organic chemicals, according to the CDC.

In addition to contaminants and bacteria, distillation also removes minerals that are beneficial to the body. Based on this, it can be inferred that consuming distilled water is safe, but not necessarily healthier than most other types of clean drinking water. (Source)

5. Uses of distilled water

Distilled water is used for sterilizing medical equipment, for the production of surface disinfectants, lead-acid batteries, automotive cooling systems, and other devices where mineral buildup could cause damage. The absence of other minerals and contaminants makes it ideal for use in skin products and for cleaning laboratory equipment.

• For cosmetic use: Most cosmetic products contain water that must be free of microbes, toxins, and pollutants, making distilled water the best choice.

• In lead-acid batteries and automotive cooling systems: Distilled water is suitable for use in devices where mineral deposits could cause corrosion and buildup that interferes with operations. This includes lead-acid batteries and automotive cooling systems, as well as many types of industrial equipment.
• Medical uses: The high level of purity of distilled water makes it ideal for sterilizing medical instruments, as it leaves no residues or deposits. It is used by surgeons to sterilize and prevent infections and cross-contamination, as well as by emergency personnel to clean wounds. Dentists use distilled water to rinse the mouth and remove bacteria. Distilled water is also preferred in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines because it prevents the multiplication of bacteria. Another medical use is employing distilled water for the production of surface disinfectants.

• In the food industry: Distilled water is used in the canning process to ensure that the flavor of food remains the same. The salts and minerals in other types of water could alter flavors.
• In aquariums and fish tanks: Tap water contains minerals and chemicals that could be harmful to fish in an aquarium. Distilled water serves as a neutral form of water whose qualities, such as pH or salinity, can be adjusted according to the needs of any aquatic creature being kept.

(Source)

6. What are the risks of using distilled water?

The risks of using distilled water are a reduction in the amount of healthy minerals in the diet, dilution of electrolytes in the body, and an increase in the amount of urine, which could cause dehydration problems. The main risks of consuming distilled water are not problems caused by distilled water as a substance, but simply the absence of positive minerals.

The World Health Organization’s guidelines on drinking water quality do not take a position on the risks related to distilled water consumption. However, research conducted in 2004 by Frantisek Kozisek for these guidelines identified some potential risks. (Source)

Experiments analyzed in the WHO study indicated that consumption of pure distilled water led to an increase in urine production or diuresis of approximately 20% on average. This could lead to dehydration problems.

The absence of important minerals in distilled water (sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium ions) led to the dilution of electrolytes dissolved in the body's water. The gut needs these minerals and takes them from the body's reserves. This causes an inadequate redistribution of water in the body between compartments, which can compromise the function of vital organs. Symptoms at the start of this condition could include exhaustion, weakness, and headaches, and can escalate to muscle cramps and impaired heart rhythm. (Source)

7. Medical uses of distilled water

• Medical equipment: Decreases the risk of infection when disinfected equipment comes into contact with the patient's skin. The same is true for surface disinfectants. Cleaning with distilled water ensures cleanliness to high standards.
• Sterilization of instruments: Using distilled water ensures the sterilization of any medical equipment that comes into contact with human skin.
• Food preparation: The health and safety of patients are important. Distilled water is used to ensure that there is no trace of bacteria during food preparation.
• Wash stations: Distilled water is used by surgeons when decontaminating their hands and arms before surgery.
• Laboratory experiments: Distilled water can be used for experiments in the laboratory, as it is chemically neutral. This eliminates the risk of contaminating various substances with bacteria.

• Medical procedures: Distilled water can be used for various procedures, such as cleaning wounds, dental interventions, and first aid maneuvers.

Klintensiv Advice: It is important to note that, although this water comes in its purest form, having undergone a distillation process, we do not recommend distilled water for human consumption. Distilled water is recommended for other purposes.

8. What is the pH of distilled water?

The pH of distilled water ranges between 5.8 and 7. Pure distilled water in a sealed system has a pH of 7, but as soon as it is exposed to air, it begins to absorb atmospheric gases, including CO2, and begins to become acidic. If trace elements remain in the water after distillation, they can also alter the pH.

For a definition of pH, the simplest explanation is that the pH of water measures the degree of its acidity or basicity (alkalinity) and is expressed on a scale from 0 to 14. Water with a pH of 7 is neutral. A “pH” of less than 7 is acidic, with 0 being the most acidic level. More than 7 is basic or alkaline, with 14 being the most basic.

Usually, the pH of water does not have a direct impact on health or safety, but it is an important parameter that must be monitored, because pH affects how water interacts with the surrounding environment and can thus have an impact on the water's susceptibility to other impurities.

Except for extreme levels, which far exceed any drinking water, the pH of water has no harmful or beneficial effects on human health. If a person consumes a substance with a low degree of acid, the blood will produce more bicarbonate and less carbon dioxide to neutralize the acidity. Similarly, the blood will produce more carbon dioxide and less bicarbonate if an alkaline substance is consumed. Which means that alkaline water will not increase the body's pH level, acidic water will not decrease it, and distilled water will not balance it.

What other types of water are similar to distilled water?

Other types of water similar to distilled water are deionized water, reverse osmosis water, and arctic iceberg water.

Deionized water: It is processed in ion-exchange resins that remove ionized salts. Deionization can remove 100% of salts when operating at optimal levels, but it usually does not remove organic substances, viruses, or bacteria except by "accidental" trapping in the resin.

Reverse osmosis water: Reverse osmosis is a process that uses a very fine membrane under pressure to separate impurities from feed water. As in the case of distillation, it also removes most minerals, both beneficial and harmful. The process is energy-efficient and operates at low temperatures, which makes it one of the most common ways of treating water. Because the water is very pure, it is used for dialysis in hospitals, for cosmetic products, and for the manufacturing of some drugs by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Arctic iceberg water: There are few natural waters with a high degree of purity and a low mineral level similar to that of distilled water, but arctic iceberg water is one of the closest. Because it is snow that was preserved in the form of ice almost immediately after falling from the sky thousands of years ago, it is free of modern pollutants. Because it never came into contact with the geology of the soil, the pH tends toward the lower end of the range of values for distilled water, because the iceberg water has absorbed atmospheric gases.

Conclusion

Distilled water is suitable for a multitude of applications in the health field, in the cosmetic industry, but it can also have domestic uses due to its neutral composition. Although it is safe for human consumption, its taste may be considered unpleasant. In addition, consuming large amounts of distilled water could lead to dehydration.

Sources:

https://www.thedistilledwatercompany.com/6-medical-uses-for-distilled-water

https://svalbardi.com/blogs/water/distilled

https://www.webmd.com/diet/distilled-water-overview

https://www.healthline.com/health/can-you-drink-distilled-water#distilled-water-vs-purified-water