Distilled water myth

[steamboat1569]

There have been a couple of threads lately, debating the use of distilled water. I was even corrected by someone who knew a little more about the subject.
Distilled water has come a long way. They no longer use the iron pots or the copper tubing. When I looked up the test results of different companies, I was surprized to see the results. For those interested, here is a link that shows test results of what most distilled water contains.
<a href="http://www.waterdistillers-polarbear.com/test.html" target="_blank">www.waterdistillers-polarbear.com/test.html</a>

 

[striker]

I've been using distilled water for over 6 months now and haven't had any problems. I just started using polarbear distilled because it's a company I trust. I guess it depends on what comp. you buy from.

 

[steamboat1569]

I just posted this topic because there seemed to be a disagreement on it. Some people were saying it is full of heavy metals and such. All the companies that I found that make distilled water make it like the link that I posted. There were US Government laws passed that water must meet a certain standard based on Environmental Protection Agency recomendations. You will notice on the very bottom of the link that I gave, that this Canadian company is following the US guidelines.
I just wanted people to know that it is safe. The question has been asked many times.
As for cost effectiveness, I do not know. I have my own RO/DI unit.
For those that may not have access to RO water, it seems like a good alternative. I remember seeing in Wal-Mart, both distilled and RO. I think that they were comperable in price.

 

[byrself]

i've been using bottled distilled for months now, and am so pleased i did. since the switch, i've had no nuisance algae probs, or any other water related probs. i get 3 gallon cases from walmart for about a dollar and a half. works fine for me, but i have small tanks. i was skeptical about using it at first from the stories, but obviously steamboat, you are correct to assume that most of those nightmare stories about bottled distilled are old news. i've been using it PERSONALLY and haven't had ANY complaints. thanks for sharing that..

 

[heavenly damsel]

My husband is an engineer and described the distillation process in more detail than I wanted to know. He is happy with distilled water...we have no porblems with our tanks in 7 months....if he is happy I am happy.
We have grown to 4 tanks now though and are getting tired of lugging the distilled water so I think our next purchase will be an RO unit. But then again he is in charge of this aspect of the tank maintanence so time will tell. So glad we share this hobby. I test and enjoy, he feeds and maintains the plumbing. Life is wonderful.

 

[tankstolove]

i beleive that distilled water is better than mains water and even beter is ro/di filtered water. The cost may be more to began with 300-500 bucks though over time it will pay for it's self if you are prepared to buy distilled water for every water change.
By the way excellent research on the proccess. Some times hobbists preach from the same pulpit for years with out continuing study, since their tank is fine for years. Can you blame them though, they have it right for them...
Good keeping

 

[steamboat1569]

I have never had the opportunity to have the water from my RO/DI tested in the same manner as this. I test for everything the we usually test for such as nitrates, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine, and on and on. According to my Salifert and FasTests, the usuals are undetectable.
According to the test results given by Polar Bear, it is comperable to RO/DI water if not better.
I don't think I could afford to put a "still" in my garage. Besides, I could find a better use for it and the wife would not approve.

 

[reeferkeeper]

I am now using distilled water after I bought a water distiller from sears. I researched and found that all the components are stainless and there is no copper. My water quality has increased as well as all test on the distilled water is great.

 

[nacl-h2o]

I've been using distilled for 3 years with no problems. I even noticed an improvment in the tanks after switching. After first hearing about the use of it and the fact that it was even purer than RO/DI I called the company bottling it and thats when I learned that they no longer use copper. At .53c a gallon for very pure water its hard to pass up.