How to Make Distilled Water at Home for an Emergency Supply

If violent weather events have taught us something, it is because preparation and preparation can lead to much better results. Having drinking water is imperative in an emergency and keeping a distilled water supply at hand is simply common sense.

Distilled water may not be something that you often consider, but this can be one of the most important supplies for using a CPAP machine, using other medical equipment or taking care of injuries.

You can make distilled water at home using a few basic kitchen items. It’s simple, profitable and could give you a real peace of mind next time a storm, a power outlet or heat wave rolled.

What is distilled water?

Unlike simple filtered water, distilled water is almost free from all impurities. This means that there is a lack of beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium and will have a slightly bizarre taste, even if it is extremely sure to drink. Maintaining and storing a good supply of distilled water is an excellent way to prepare for emergency situations such as hurricanes, floods, forest fires or other natural disasters.

Can you buy distilled water?

Most grocery stores sell distilled water, but in recent years we have seen many shortages. If you cannot find distilled water and you need it to prepare for a storm to come or to make sure you can manage your medical devices, there is an easy way to do it at home yourself.

Why do distilled water at home?

For people with sleep apnea who use CPAP machines or any other type of humidifier, distilled water is essential. It is also useful if you don’t want additional minerals in your water. (For example, distilled water will not corrode the parts of the car engine or will create an accumulation on a lime scale in aquariums and it is easier on your home if you use it to do this completely natural cleaner.)

If you live in a place with water or “hard” water with a lot of chemicals, you can even use distilled water to protect your hair during washing. However, as distilled water has no minerals like calcium and magnesium, it has a bland taste and is not the best for drinking.

You can buy distilled water in your local grocery store or on AmazonBut doing it at home will save you money and will keep some plastic jugs out of the recycling system. Learning to make this water without bacteria will also save you if the store is out of stock.

Below, I will guide you through the five steps to make your own distilled water. I will also explain the differences between all the types of water you meet in the store. For more advice, find out if it is cheaper to buy online grocery products compared to the grocery store and our list of the best bottles of filtered water.

What is the difference between tap water, filtered, purified and distilled?

Tap water is the easiest. Turn on your kitchen tap. The water comes out of the tap. The tour is played! Tap water. The quality of tap water varies depending on the location and can contain traces of minerals specific to the geology of your region, as well as traces of chemicals used in the treatment of municipal water. I hope that tap water is sure to drink, but this is not true for 45 million Americans. Filtered water is a solution.

Filtered water starts like ordinary tap water. You may have already filtered water in your home through an entire filtration system, a tap filter or a water filtration pitcher. Most filtered water involves a combination of carbon and micron filters, which help remove chemicals such as chlorine (commonly added to municipal tap water as a disinfectant) and pesticides, and metals such as copper or lead. Filters can also eliminate odors and coarse tastes.

Purified water Generally starts as tap water as well. It will go through many purification processes, including those used for water filtration. Purified water goes further than filtering, with a process that eliminates chemical pollutants, bacteria, mushrooms and algae. You will often find purified water in bottles to your local grocery store.

Distilled water is a more specialized type of purified water but much easier and cheaper to produce at home. As for purified water, it meets the classification requirement of 10 ppm (parts per million) of solid dissolved total, alias contaminants or less. The distillation process is simple: heat the tap water to the point that it turns into steam. When the steam condenses in the water, it leaves in any mineral residue. The resulting condensed liquid is distilled water.

Is it sure to drink distilled water?

Distilled water is completely safe for use, but the disadvantage of distillation is that it eliminates all useful minerals such as calcium and magnesium that occur naturally in tap water. For this reason, it is generally not recommended to use distilled water as daily drinking water. You might also see that it does not have the flavor of the tap or filtered water.

What is the best way to store distilled water?

If it is stored correctly, distilled water can have a long shelf life as long as it is not exposed to direct sunlight or hot temperatures.

Carefully choose the storage container you use for distilled water. The lack of distilled water nutrients can led it to the chemicals of the container in which it is stored. If you plan to use water immediately, most containers will do the trick, but for long -term storage, it is preferable to Use glass bottles or in high quality stainless steel.

How to make your own distilled water

Here’s how you can distill your own water at home.

Do not become too scientific here, but it’s exciting for me. We will use water in its three known states – solid, liquid and gas.

The main thing is as follows: you heat the water (liquid), transform it into water vapor (gas), then collect condensation using the ice (solid). It is again like the college science course. You will probably find everything you need in your kitchen. A large pot with a lid, a small pot, water, ice and oven gloves to handle hot kitchen utensils.

It takes a while for this whole science to happen, so be prepared. In my example below, I started with 8 cups of water in the large pot. After 1 hour, I had produced approximately 1 1/4 cup of distilled water. To create a gallon jug that you will find in the supermarket, you would need about 13 hours of distillation.

If you follow these steps, you need to get closer to 100%, but whatever the quantity of distilled water with which you want to find yourself, be sure to add additional water so as not to heat one or more empty pans at the end of the process, which can damage kitchen utensils.

1. First, place the large pot on a stove burner and add 8 cups of water. Then place the smallest pot inside the large pot. At this point, the small pot should float on top of the water. The key to circulating water vapor inside the large pot is the air flow. Make sure there is a lot of space around the small pot, both around its sides and between it and the top of the largest pot.

2. Then transform the burner somewhere between the medium and medium-high heat. I tried to keep the heat level to a regular simmer – somewhere between 180 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit – and not to a boil. Executing a higher temperature will not give you a higher yield, but it will warm the cold side of the lid faster and make the general handling of equipment more difficult to manage.

3. After putting the burner, place the lid upside down on the large pot. The lids are generally higher in the middle than towards the edges. The reversal of the cover will allow the condensed distilled water to flow in the middle of the lid and in the small pot. Once all this is done, go to your ice cube (or tray) and load the top of the inverted cover with ice. The temperature difference on both sides of the lid will speed up the condensation process.

4. At this point, you can sit down and wait. I ended up reconstructing the ice offer twice in an hour, once at 30 minutes and once after 45 minutes. This is why you need oven mittens – this cover will be hot! Be careful when emptying this ice now hot.

5. Any water that sank into the small pot has now been distilled. Again, I was able to make about 1 1/4 cup of water distilled with 8 cups of tap water in about an hour.

Remember that making your own distilled water is easy (and fun!), But the lack of nutrients makes it a bad choice for daily drinking water. But if you are stuck at home and count on a device that requires it, or maybe you just want to keep your fish healthy, you may want to try to do it yourself.

To find out more, see how to clean the mold and bacteria of your washing machine and the best way to unclog a clogged toilet.