What is Distilled Water?

Water is water, right? Well, not exactly. The water that sits in a lake or pond is much different from the water we see coming out of the pipes in our homes. Not only that, water can be treated or processed to make it different in several ways. Water is distilled by boiling it until it becomes steam. This removes many of the contaminating substances as well as some of the minerals that may be in the water.

When the gas form of water, steam, cools sufficiently it returns to the liquid state, with some of the contaminants and minerals removed. In basic terms, distilled water is purified water. If the water was perfectly purified it would contain only hydrogen and oxygen molecules. There would be no additional minerals or pollution.

Filtering in a Special Way

Water can’t be distilled simply by filtering it through another material, though this helps. When water is distilled the solid material separates from the lighter molecules. They simply don’t turn into steam. The water in steam form can be removed from the other materials and returned to liquid state. Be advised that distilled water doesn’t have the same taste as untreated water because the minerals and other substances give water its taste.

There is no harm in drinking distilled water but that isn’t its most important purpose. Distilled water is used in scientific experiments so that there are no materials or pollutants to change the test results. Some companies use distilled water to manufacture baby formula and other food products. People also used distilled water in places where they want to avoid mineral build up. Tap water often contains significant amounts of calcium that can cause build up over time.

Distilled Water: Is it Better?

It may be tempting to think of distilled water as being much better for us to drink and cook with, since minerals and contaminants are taken out. This is probably true to a certain extent. But there are some people who insist that distilled water isn’t as good for us because it tends to take natural minerals from our bodies when we drink it. This may not happen with water that already contains these minerals.

Some research indicates that distilled water becomes more acidic when exposed to the air around us. This may not occur with water that is not distilled or filtered. It seems the jury is still out on this particular issue. One thing that most people can’t argue about is the cost of distilled water. In most cases, distillation adds a few pennies of cost to a gallon of water. But this difference is not as significant when distilled water and filtered/bottled water are compared. In some cases, people use distilled water to which flavor and one or two basic minerals are added. This may provide the benefits of distilled water without sacrificing taste or beneficial supplements. At this point, it may be enough just to say that distilled water is more pure and has its special uses. Using distilled water as drinking water may not be one of those special uses.