What kind of water is distilled

Purified water goes a step further than filtering, with a process that removes chemical pollutants, bacteria, fungi, and algae. You'll often find purified water in bottles at your local grocery. Distilled water is a more specialized type of purified water, but much easier and cheaper to produce at home. As with purified water, it meets the classification requirement of 10ppm parts per million of total dissolved solids, aka, contaminants or less. The process of distilling is simple.

Heat tap water to the point that it turns to vapor. When the vapor condenses back to water, it leaves behind any mineral residue. The resulting condensed liquid is distilled water. Distilled water is completely safe for use, but the downside of distilling is that it removes all of the helpful minerals like calcium and magnesium that occur naturally in tap water. For that reason, it isn't generally recommended to use distilled water as your daily drinking water, and you may find that it lacks in flavor.

You also need to choose any storage container you use for distilled water carefully. Distilled water's lack of nutrients can cause it to leach chemicals from the container it's stored in.

If you plan to use the water immediately, most containers will do fine, but for long-term storage it's best to use glass or high-quality stainless steel. Not to get too science-y here, but this is exciting for me. We'll be using water in all three of its known states -- solid, liquid and gas. The gist is this: You heat water liquid , turn it into water vapor gas , then collect the condensation with the aid of ice solid.

It's like middle school science class all over again. You'll likely find everything you need in your kitchen. A large pot, a lid for the large pot, a small pot, water, ice and oven mitts for handling the hot cookware. It does take some time for all this science to happen, so be prepared. In my example below, I started with 8 cups of water in the large pot. To recreate a gallon jug that you'd find in the supermarket you'd need about 13 hours of distilling time.

First, place the large pot over a stovetop burner and add 8 cups of water. Then, place the smaller pot inside the large pot. At this point the smaller pot should float on top of the water. The key to circulating water vapor inside the large pot is airflow.

Make sure the smaller pot has plenty of it, both around its sides and between it and the top of the larger pot. A certain amount of minerals in water can be beneficial. Whelton also says minerals may be added into purified water. According to Carpenter, if you have health conditions such as kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, or have diminished or excess calcification, it's important to make the right choice with drinking water.

Talk to your doctor about what's best for you. Even if you don't have a pre-existing health condition, you may still want to chat with your doctor about what type of water is the best for you, and of course, check on the safety of your location's tap water. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Women's Health. Primary Care. Mental Health. More Button Icon Circle with three vertical dots. It indicates a way to see more nav menu items inside the site menu by triggering the side menu to open and close. Ashley Laderer. The quality of your tap water depends on where you live. Purified water is usually a good option since the purification process removes chemicals and impurities from the water.

You should not drink distilled water since it lacks naturally-occurring minerals, including calcium and magnesium, that are beneficial for health. T his article was medically reviewed by Tania Elliott , MD, who specializes in infectious diseases related to allergies and immunology for internal medicine at NYU Langone Health. Visit Insider's Health Reference library for more advice.

Ashley Laderer is a freelance writer from New York who specializes in health and wellness. Follow her on Twitter ashladerer. It makes for an excellent drinking experience and one that does wonders for the body.

Mineral water is right behind. Mineral water is spring water that has had more minerals added to it. It has minerals per million solids. Sparkling mineral water is bottled containing the same carbon dioxide that was at the source of the spring. Because of the additives in this water, there can be a bit of a distinctive taste to it. Not all of the additional minerals are necessary for the body, and not everyone can process them. In addition, there is a distinct taste that is off-putting to mineral water, which puts it behind spring water.

Distilled water may lack the minerals and nutrients of spring and mineral water, but the distilling process can be used to remove toxic metals and chemicals from the water. While there are home distillers, it is best to go with industrially distilled water instead. However, distilling water also removes healthy minerals the body needs, which means drinking it for any length of time can lead to mineral deficiencies.

Also, once it comes in contact with the air, distilled water absorbs carbon dioxide, which makes it acidic.