Distilled vs. Bottled Water

[bigdano]

Hi all,

I just got my CPAP yesterday, and the tech who delivered it recommended filling the reservoir with distilled water. I didn't have any, and filled it with bottled water. Is this OK to do, or should I run out and pick up some distilled water?

[ironhands]

bottled is better than tap, but often still has other chemicals in it that can eventually build up in the tank. Distilled is pure H2O, so it won't leave behind any traces when vaporized

[chunkyfrog]

Distilled water makes cleaning the tank a whole lot easier--and less frequent.

[nanwilson]

I've used bottled water whenever I have gone to a week long conference and have had no problems. When I got home I made sure I gave the humidifier a really good wash and rinse.

[BlackSpinner]

The difference is mineral content - distilled water has much less.

[JDS74]

Distilled water is just plain water with nothing else.
Bottled water is purified water with some remaining minerals.
Tap water is purified water with some remaining minerals and some harmless bacteria. The minerals are mostly carbonates.

The air going through your machine carries with it some small number of fungus spores that do get into the water in the water chamber. As the water evaporates, the minerals become concentrated and precipitate out onto the surfaces of the tank. This will usually be seen in the top part of the walls as the concentration in the remaining water doesn't get high enough to cause precipitation but the water on the walls evaporates to dry and can cause some on the walls.

If there are minerals in the water, the fungus can grow and is the usual source of the pink slime that is reported.
The harmless bacteria from tap water can also grow. Aside from being 'ucky' the growing stuff is likely harmless. You breathe the same air all day long and most folks are not harmed by it, allergies excepted. The water borne bacteria also don't cause harm, you drink it all day anyway. All the really bad stuff is removed during the water treatment.

So, real distilled water limits the kinds of things that can grow or precipitate out into your tank and require cleaning.
Bottled water is next best for preventing 'stuff' from collecting in the water chamber because it does not have any growy things in it until the air intake brings them there. The fine filter helps block the larger of the growy stuff from getting in.
Tap water lets all that stuff be there and grow.

So cleaning your water chamber daily, once a week, once a month, or, in my case, once every six months or so is your choice. I choose distilled water to keep my system clean.
BTW, I dump any residual water every morning.

[Pugsy]

No need to make a special trip into town or the store just for distilled water. It won't hurt anything to use the bottled water or even tap water short term.
Just dump any leftovers in the AM and let the tank dry to minimize any chance of mineral build up ...and even mineral build up isn't the end of the world as a little vinegar will dissolve the minerals.

Not long ago I had to use tap water as the store was out of distilled water and I didn't feel like driving 20 miles one way to the next store...then the next day my truck wouldn't start so I was stuck at home with no transportation for 3 days...so I had to use tap water. I didn't even bother to dump it each morning and the tank still looks crystal clear.

[Ontario CPAP]

There is no difference in the vapour that is passed through the hose and through the mask -- it is the same irrespective of the type of water used in the reservoir. In fact, distillation involves evapourating water and recondensing it. The difference between water types is in what is left behind.

If you completely evapourate distilled water, nothing is left behind. However, if you completely evapourate bottled or tap water, the minerals present in the water do not evapourate and are left behind as a residue (often a hard scale.) Over time, this can build up, but can be removed with CLR.

Hence, using bottled or tap water will not impact what is going through your mask as water vapour, but it will eventually leave residue behind in the tank. As someone else pointed out, throw away the leftover water (which will have a higher concentration of minerals in the morning) and replace with fresh water.

Over the long term, however, distilled water will make cleaning the tank easier.

[sleeplessinaz]

Distilled water only. It's cheap and available everywhere! Go out and get some lol!

[Wyowanderer]

Naughty fellow that i am, I've never used anything but tap water in five years. I just fill my humidifier reservoir with vinegar every sunday morning, and all the mineral disappears. If you didn't know, you couldn't tell by looking.
$.02

[gulfjack]

I have seen so called distilled water which was treated by reverse osmosis when I read the fine print. I always look for the fine print that says steam distilled.

[chunkyfrog]

Mine is steam distilled--I know because my distiller sits in the kitchen, waiting for me to run a batch.
(or hubby, the big sweetie)

[Cds1306]

The problem with distilled, bottled water or even demineralization water ( such as reverse osmosis filters) is that they do not contain any disinfectant or preservatives. I have been using a CPAP with humidifier for over 10 years and have found that pink slime is less a problem with tape water than the alternatives. If you are going to use bottled or distilled water you should boil it first to kill any bacteria it may contain.

I dump the remaining water every morning and rinse the tank several times with tape water. I also hand towel as much water as I can from the tank and leave it with the cover off to air dry. It might be easier to keep clean if the plastic tank had a smooth inside surface rather than reinforcing ribs every with nooks and crannies that make it hard to clean. A very soft toothbrush and Q-tips help. The tank on the System One (Respironis) is polycarbonate plastic which may be effected by some of the cleaning agents suggested in other posts.

[chunkyfrog]

Good point.
Distilled water from some sources may not be consistently pure.
I got pink slime from Wally World DW, but I can store home distilled up to a month or two without observing weird science.

[Islandwoman]

I agree with gulfjack. Steam distilled is cheap and clean. Plus you can refill bottles(screw top bottles) with tap water for emergencies( here earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, welcome to the Northwest) or freeze a few to use in an ice chest or leave in freezer in case of power outages also a full freezer is cheaper to run. All that for under a dollar.