Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Seems to me that the loss of minerals in distilled water is a lot less troublesome than the amount of bad thingsI'd be getting in local tap water.
It's not the loss of minerals from the water that is the issue, it's loss of minerals from your body caused by drinking the water, and it can become a serious health issue if not detected.
Well, I can understand how people who live near a fracking operations or feeder lots would be very very concerned about the water. I think ways to test water purity are more to the point. It is crazy to waste energy if the pollutants aren't there. Of course people who consider fluoride a pollutant probably want distilling capacity, too. I've drunk tap water for 68 years with no evidence of any health problem. I did get a water filter tank for the times of the year when aquatic plants give the water a bad taste. But I don't hesitate to turn on the kitchen faucet sometimes. But, then, that's because I live in a state that doesnt consider taxes inherently wrong. People who live in ultra-low tax states should be protecting themselves from the consequences of that sort of government. All kinds of environmental dangers probably exist.
<shrug> in the Ft. Lauderdale of Florida, we paid on the order of $100/mo for water that sometimes came out green (literally). They didn't have a problem with taxes, and the water was probably safe to drink, but I wouldn't be singing their praises.
We get our water from a creek, one that has deer around and sometimes cattle a few hundred yards upstream. We either use a Doulton filter or distill our drinking water. I find it all a little interesting, like in the next month or two, there will be more tannins in the water from the leaves falling and decaying. The chlorine I use takes out a lot of it, and I am scrupulous with the micron filters, so I would say that we are less likely to have issues than a city, with stagnant water sitting in pipes leading to unoccupied houses, possible cross-contamination from places without backflow preventers, etc.
City water is cleaner than bottled water. We filter our for taste.
How can anyone know how clean bottled water is? There are hundreds of brands. I'd say you have to have scientific tests of all of them. Personally, I've drunk city water lifelong and can't trace any illness to it. But brain-eating amoeba might come in city water is some places. So THAT city water might be the worst choice out there. I think these deadly organisms are the best argument for distillation. Not all water treatment gets rid of them.
After reading about the amoeba, my thought was "see, that's why the pioneers drank whiskey! It is antiseptic!"
How can anyone know how clean bottled water is? There are hundreds of brands. I'd say you have to have scientific tests of all of them. Personally, I've drunk city water lifelong and can't trace any illness to it. But brain-eating amoeba might come in city water is some places. So THAT city water might be the worst choice out there. I think these deadly organisms are the best argument for distillation. Not all water treatment gets rid of them.
After reading about the amoeba, my thought was "see, that's why the pioneers drank whiskey! It is antiseptic!"
Distillation won't necessarily eliminate all risk of water borne organisms. Scientific tests of city water vs bottled water consistently show city water in general is safer. I object to the chlorine taste in the city water. An activate charcoal filter removes that. If I were worried about organisms, I'd boil the water.
Distillation won't necessarily eliminate all risk of water borne organisms. Scientific tests of city water vs bottled water consistently show city water in general is safer. I object to the chlorine taste in the city water. An activate charcoal filter removes that. If I were worried about organisms, I'd boil the water.
You just contradicted yourself. The first part of distillation involves boiling the water. FWIW, food science dictates that temps as low as 155F kill most pathogens, given a little time. A lot of foods are pasteurized at temperatures below boiling.
Wow people do really use countertop distillers for just distilling. In Tennessee and Kentucky I heard most used to distill whiskey. Just like they did for 200 years now hidden in the hill country and worrying about the revenooers. Today they just set it up and plug it in before they leave for work and Presto. Got 1 1/2 gallons of "shine" when they get off at 5pm.
Everyone who had experience with moonshine knows that distillation doesn't remove all the contaminants. Getting pure alcohol using simple distillation stills - impossible, one must use commercial distillation stacks for that, even then complete alcohol purity is not achievable. Any contaminant with boiling point similar to that of water will not be removed completely by distillation. For the case of water, it means that various (metal) organic compounds will be present in the distilled water.
One aspect I did not see mentioned there is the future scarcity of water. In the very near future water will be treated as a commodity. The price will exceed that of gasoline. Forget the green ideals on this one and prepare. A water distiller is a good investment and as suggested a solar water distiller even better. Use this in conjunction with water barrel/barrels connected to your downspouts.
BTW, if you are really concerned about being green water barrels collect a lot of water. That water can be used for lawn/garden watering, flushing toilets, washing cars, etc., with no processing. In a disaster a system like this could be a life saver.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
FWIW, food science dictates that temps as low as 155F kill most pathogens, given a little time. A lot of foods are pasteurized at temperatures below boiling.
