Distilled Water

[TinyT]

In the real world, all water is not the same, but pedantry aside I generally agree. I drink tap water. I use tap water for shaving. I'd recommend everybody else do the same and I have never taken the fact that I have access to clean drinking water for granted. However, I find the chemical composition of water to be an interesting subject, and a relevant one to shaving. Does the type of water make a big difference to a shave? Possibly. Do I use special water for shaving? I do not. But there is a distinction, and it is not insignificant. I'm in the common man club, for sure, but the "close enough" club? Never! Afterall, I'm a perfect shave seeker.

 

[Big Jim]

My tap water is reasonably soft and the city treatment doesn't include chlorine. The taste is reasonable. I still have an RO filter and use RO water for cooking, most drinking, for my CPAP, and other uses where purified water is preferred such as mixing with anti-freeze for the car and even for the car windshield washers. A big advantage in cooking is no calcium build up on the pans as well as less likelihood of any off flavors in the food. (I remember baking bread with tap water in Houston that ended up tasting like algae. My RO filter lowers the TDS (total dissolved solids from about 250 to 300 to under 30). Taste is slightly flat because of the lack of trace minerals, but after a while you get to like it better. The purified water to avoid for all but industrial uses is DI water. It is so pure that it attacks metal pipes and can't be good for the insides of humans on a regular basis.

 

[santamariasteve]

I get 35 cents a gallon water out of the ubiquitous vending machines that are common outside of grocery stores in California. I use it for car batteries, steam irons, and for making shaving lather.

A friend has a device that measures the hardness of water. He came over and measured my tap water (it was moderately hard), and he measured my water that came from the vending machines. To his surprise the vending machine water was very soft, and it definitely was ok for irons and automobile batteries.

 

[Raissermesser]

Just glad that we have water at the turn of a tap, unlike vast numbers in Africa or Asia. I'm all for enjoying shaving, but when it gets to detailed discussion about water......GET A LIFE GUYS!!

What's wrong with extra information and defining terms? We could make a scale here, with distilled water (or oxidized hydrogen for that matter, and no, that's not a joke) on one end, and hard water on the other. A definition of hard water has been given already - 60 parts per million or more of calcium carbonate for the US.

Here's some info from a chart found here: Water Hardness | Cross Valley Water District, WA - https://www.crossvalleywater.net/192/Water-Hardness

Soft: Less than 17.1 ppm of calcium carbonate
Slightly Hard: 17.1 to 60 ppm
Moderately Hard: 60 to 120 ppm
Hard: 120 to 180 ppm
Very Hard: Over 180 ppm

It also gets into grains per gallon (US liquid) for water hardness

Soft: Less than 1.0
Slightly Hard: 1.0 to 3.5
Moderately Hard: 3.5 to 7.0
Hard: 7.0 to 10.5
Very Hard: over 10.5

For milligrams per liter, just look at the parts per million.

This is an incredibly small amount of material.

Too much info? Depends. Clean out even one electric water heater, and water hardness can be a very big issue.

 

[ackvil]

For drinking, I prefer distilled spirits.

 

[Alacrity59]

I collect rainwater for my garden but I'm not going to drink it. I don't like the idea of it washing bird poop off my roof and then of course it will sit in the barrel for a while with nothing stopping various parasites from thriving.

Right now I'm pretty happy drinking water from the tap. Maybe I shouldn't be given what happened in Flint MI and the frequent reports of failures in town and city water systems.

 

[ackvil]

I used to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands on business several times a year. There is very little freshwater there so individuals collect the rainwater in cisterns and store it. In fact, all homes built are required to have such cisterns. To keep the water "fresh" and germ-free they add bleach to it. Many folks will add a filtration system to one tap for drinking purposes and buy bottled water if they can afford it. I never had a problem shaving when I stayed at hotels or private homes.

 

[Chandu]

In the UK, soft water is water with less than 50 percent calcium. In the US, soft water is water with less than 60 percent calcium.

I don't think you mean half or more of the water is calcium. You mean some ratio as in mg/L

 

[TinyT]

I don't think you mean half or more of the water is calcium. You mean some ratio as in mg/L

Yes, you're right - less than 50 mg/l in the UK and 60 mg/l in the US. Thanks for the correction.

 

[TinyT]

What's wrong with extra information and defining terms? We could make a scale here, with distilled water (or oxidized hydrogen for that matter, and no, that's not a joke) on one end, and hard water on the other. A definition of hard water has been given already - 60 parts per million or more of calcium carbonate for the US.

Here's some info from a chart found here: Water Hardness | Cross Valley Water District, WA - https://www.crossvalleywater.net/192/Water-Hardness

Soft: Less than 17.1 ppm of calcium carbonate
Slightly Hard: 17.1 to 60 ppm
Moderately Hard: 60 to 120 ppm
Hard: 120 to 180 ppm
Very Hard: Over 180 ppm

It also gets into grains per gallon (US liquid) for water hardness

Soft: Less than 1.0
Slightly Hard: 1.0 to 3.5
Moderately Hard: 3.5 to 7.0
Hard: 7.0 to 10.5
Very Hard: over 10.5

For milligrams per liter, just look at the parts per million.

This is an incredibly small amount of material.

Too much info? Depends. Clean out even one electric water heater, and water hardness can be a very big issue.

 

[RayClem]

There are three ways of reducing the mineral content of water. One is through distillation which is the process of boiling water and then allowing the water vapor to condense. This process removes most solids from the water, but some volatile components in the water may be retained. Thus, it is not completely pure.

The next common way is through Reverse Osmosis. The water is forced through a semi-porous membrane. The water molecules and some other small molecules may pass though, but larger molecules are too large to pass through the filter. This also removes impurities in the water, but some may remain.

The third way is less common, but water can be purified using ion-exchange. When coupled with other filters such as activated carbon, this can produce very pure water. This is the type of water purification typically found in laboratories where impurities in the water might affect results.

When you purchase bottled water, you may be getting spring water. It will often say "bottled at the source". However, many brands of bottled water are simply city water treated by reverse osmosis and to which some minerals have been added back to make it taste better for drinking. Dasani is one such brand of RO water processed in this manner.

I have a reverse osmosis unit at home which is used to produce water for drinking and for ice. Since minerals (including flouride) have been removed, I need to make sure I get the minerals I need from other sources.

 

[BigJ]

For drinking, I prefer distilled spirits.

+2! Bing, Bing!! We have a winner!!

 

[Raissermesser]

Here are the definitions of bottled water used in the US:

CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21

Found this by looking for the definition of "spring water" after thinking about that jug of spring water I purchased that came from the same aquifer we used on the farm. I don't know if a spring was on the bottling site or not, but by the definitions above, if water is tapped from the same source that provides water for a spring, then it can be termed spring water. Since the area springs come from that aquifer, water from a well sunk into it can be termed spring water. By that definition, we were drinking spring water every day, and never knew it. Guess we should have bottled it.

I'm ambivalent when it comes to bottled water. Usually look at it as a convenience purchase, when no water fountains are available.

BTW, have seen canned water. Anheuser-Busch cans and provides it for disaster relief. The one I saw was a white can with blue writing.

 

[Big Jim]

Just for giggles this morning I checked the TDS (total dissolved solids) from my tap, my RO, Sparkletts (purified city water with added minerals for taste), and Chrystal Geyser, my favorite spring water (tastes much better than Arrowhead). Here are the results:

Tap 264
RO 35
Sparkletts 28
Chrystal Geyser 126

It would be interesting to check Nestle's purified water to see if it is as clean as Sparkletts. Arrowhead too since it is a Nestle's product.

Anyway, my CPAP provider said it was OK to use bottled water when I travel and it appears that purified bottled water may be fine but spring water might not be so good.

As for shaving, my tap water is fine and I would guess that any of those listed would be fine too unless Chrystal Geyser has a lot of calcium but I doubt that it does.

 

[emwolf]

I use distilled water (required) in my CPAP, but I've never tried drinking it. It's certainly cheap enough - way cheaper than bottled water (which is, in some cases, just tap water - and often has bits of plastic floating within).

mine is for the CPAP and the iron, both places you don't want mineral deposits yet still have the benefit of moisture.

 

[Granite.Glasser]

Hydrogeologically speaking, water hardness (total) is a measurement of the amount of dissolved Ca2+ (Calcium) and Mg2+ (Magnesium) cations present. However, water in nature generally contains a whole other plethora of cations and anions in solution (not to mention organic compounds). The concentrations of various cations and anions, along with the temperature, pH, and other factors determines water's ability to act as a solvent. Absolutely "pure" water, due to the nature of its polar covalent bonding, is just about the most universal solvent we know, yet we add soap or detergents to make it even better at dissolving non-polar substances such as oils.

Always remember, "you can't get water wet"... but you CAN make it "wetter"!

 

[Big Jim]

Just for giggles this morning I checked the TDS (total dissolved solids) from my tap, my RO, Sparkletts (purified city water with added minerals for taste), and Chrystal Geyser, my favorite spring water (tastes much better than Arrowhead). Here are the results:

Tap 264
RO 35
Sparkletts 28
Chrystal Geyser 126

It would be interesting to check Nestle's purified water to see if it is as clean as Sparkletts. Arrowhead too since it is a Nestle's product.

Anyway, my CPAP provider said it was OK to use bottled water when I travel and it appears that purified bottled water may be fine but spring water might not be so good.

As for shaving, my tap water is fine and I would guess that any of those listed would be fine too unless Chrystal Geyser has a lot of calcium but I doubt that it does.

Had a chance to test Nestle Pure Life and Arrowhead today. Nestle Pure Life is RO filtered (or distilled) and then trace minerals added back for taste. Arrowhead is spring water. Interestingly enough Arrowhead is a Nestle brand. Here are the results:

Nestle Pure Life 76 TDS
Arrowhead 196 TDS

 

[weizemanner]

Earlier today the subject of distilled water came up. I thought to myself 'ok, I have a bottle of distilled water in the kitchen by the kettle, etc'. Then it occured to me that bottled water is not distilled water.

I did a B&B search for the term 'distilled water' and found that many people are using the terms distilled water and bottled water interchangeably, especially when discussing water hardness. They are not the same.

Distilled water has had all of its impurities removed, including mineral salts, ionic compounds and micro organisms. This is achieved by heating water past its boiling point, collecting the vapour and condesing it back back into liquid.

Purified water is not intended for human consumption because the lack of minerals make it bad tasting and nutritionally unbeneficial. Continually drinking it would remove the existing minerals and electrolytes from the body.

Spring water and mineral water are the two most commonly bottled forms of drinking water because they contain the natural mineral content that best hydrates the body. They are filtered, but not distilled.

More can be found here: Is Bottled Water Distilled? | ReAgent Chemicals Ltd - https://www.chemicals.co.uk/blog/is-bottled-water-distilled

Wes

Most distilled water comes from bottles and it's the only kind of bottled water I usually buy. So when I say "bottled water" I am often referring to distilled. Reverse osmosis (a fancy word for "filtered") water is usually filtered to nearly distilled softness and then a small amount of salt and potassium chloride are added "for taste" These minerals are very common and most Western diets are already eating more of these than they need. Distilled water is actually better for most people who are already getting more than the recommended dose of sodium.

Many of the extra healthy waters like Penta are actually de-ionized, which is a step above distilled in purity. Many drinking waters like Aquafina have less than 5 PPM of dissolved solids which is an acceptable range for distilled waters. Most of the "baby" waters designed for babies to drink are distilled. There is no evidence to show that pure water is dangerous in any way. And since there is plenty of these minerals in the food in your stomach, once you drink distilled water, it's no longer distilled water.

Pure water, whether purified using distillation or filtering methods are delicious. And they don't make you more thirsty. Biggest scam ever, adding salt to drinking water.

Municipal (tap) water is one of the most common type of bottled drinking water. And it doesn't matter where it comes from because they purify it and remove the minerals then add minerals back in. "for flavor"

There are good reasons to avoid drinking bottled water. There is very little in the way of testing required for bottled water. Dasani is very acidic, and nobody knows why. The FDA is in charge of bottled water but it is a very low concern for them and they only monitor water that crosses state lines. So if your bottled water was bottled in your state, then NO government agency is responsible for testing your water. It's also far more expensive. The cheapest is usually around $1 per gallon, but I pay $3 per 750 gallons out of the tap or less than half a penny per gallon. It's also regulated by the FDA, EPA, State government, and the county. Also bottled water can absorb chemicals from the plastic bottle, which can sit on store shelves for a very long time. But then tap water has things like chlorine and lye added. So...

Really there is no water that is going to make you live forever.

 

[RayClem]

.....

Dasani is very acidic, and nobody knows why. .....

With "tap" water, the minerals in the water act as buffering agents. Thus, tap water generally fall within a fairly small range of pH. In some areas, the water may be slightly acidic and in others, slightly alkaline. Once water is purified, the buffering agents are no longer present.

Reverse Osmosis does not remove gasses dissolved in the water. Carbon dioxide when dissolved in water produces a weak acid called carbonic acid. Thus, RO water is generally slightly acidic, often around pH 6.0. However, this is not problematic considering that the pH of many fruit juices is below 4.0. A pH or 4 is 100 times more acidic than a pH or 6.

 

[weizemanner]

Yeah but

With "tap" water, the minerals in the water act as buffering agents. Thus, tap water generally fall within a fairly small range of pH. In some areas, the water may be slightly acidic and in others, slightly alkaline. Once water is purified, the buffering agents are no longer present.

Reverse Osmosis does not remove gasses dissolved in the water. Carbon dioxide when dissolved in water produces a weak acid called carbonic acid. Thus, RO water is generally slightly acidic, often around pH 6.0. However, this is not problematic considering that the pH of many fruit juices is below 4.0. A pH or 4 is 100 times more acidic than a pH or

The reason I say that nobody knows why Dasani is acidic, is because it contains about 20 TDS which is a normal range for drinking water with minerals added, but it is ph4 whereas other waters, RO like Aquafina which only had 2 TDS but a ph5 which is nearly identical to distilled. Which means that they must have added something acidic to the Dasani. It's testing about where carbonated water should be but it's flat water and it has minerals in it.

Harmful? no. But it does illustrate that we have no idea what is going into our bottled water.