Using demineralised water in humidifier

Davidmcc · Post by **Davidmcc** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:21 pm

For the past several months I have being using demineralised water, purchased from the supermarket in my humidifier with no apparant ill effects, and a humidifier tank that remains clean with no build up of any visible deposits.
However, the label for the prodect includes the warning that it is not suitable for drinking and that is not to be used in therapuetic devices. The manufacturers customer services inquiry line advised this warning was included because the product could not sold as being suitable for ingestion or for medical or pharmaceutical use as it was not, and would not be, registered as being suitable for these uses given the expense of obtaining the required registration of the product as a medical product.
It would appear that demineralised water is not distilled water that is produced by means of distillation (condensation of water vapourcreated by boiling water) but is rather town water that has gone through a a number of filtration processes to eliminate minerals, and is as such much "cleaner" than tap water but not as refined as distilled water. I was assured that it would not contain any additives. As a consequence I propose to continue using demineralised water, on the basis that it must be better than simple tap water notwithstanding it is not pharmaceutical grade distilled unless persusive comment to the contrarry is received and would therefore appreciate any comments.
Cheers Davidmcc

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:32 pm

Sounds fine to me. Just curious...since you're buying it at a supermarket, why did you choose to buy "demineralized" rather than "distilled" -- which also is available at supermarkets? Nice to hear that you are avoiding getting any scaly buildup on the chamber walls and bottom by using demineralized. That's the same reason I used distilled. Keeps the inside of the chamber nice and clear.

Davidmcc · Post by **Davidmcc** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:36 pm

The short answer is that demineralised water is both cheaper and more widely available in supermarkets here than distilled water

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:55 pm

Makes sense.

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:53 am

Do any of you remember the blue demineralizer beads/crystals that can be purchased to make demineralized water for your steam iron? You put this stuff into a container and add tap water. The beads/crystals somehow strip the minerals out of the water and, as they become saturated with minerals, the beads/crystals turn brown.

This chemical method of demineralizing water is not healthy for drinking/medical use, but is fine for use in a steam iron. It may be that the company that bottles the demineralized water that you are using is producing it in a method such as this, rather than through a traditional distillation method.

Gotta wonder if this process leaves something in the water that is not great for you to be breathing. Personally, I'd spend the money on distilled water and then only put enough water in the humidifier tank to get you through the night.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:18 am

I am with WS here. Don't forget we breath what we are putting in the chamber of our humidifiers. Even if it is more expensive, how much can it be? It's water. Why take shortcuts at this level?

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:24 am

The warning sounds like lawyertalk- a cya in this age of absurd and frivilous lawsuits by the bottom feeding dregs of society..
The beads are probably ion exchange resin that adsorb and exchange the heavy metal components and replace them with soluble ions.
Keep in mind that most of the bottled water that we think we are getting crystal clear spring water is actually plain city water processed this way or by reverse osmosis..

The demineralized water will do just fine, the advantage is that the minerals that precipitate out and form the deposits are not there to cause a problem.

In any case, there is virtually NO problem of disease being spred from any water source. It is simply a matter of the dissolved minerals.

btw will succeed, I think your picture is actually that of Robert Barrone, aka Brad Garrett of Everybody loves Raymond. I can just hear your deep baritone voice in your postings. Looks a lot like him to moi.
I could be wrong

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:28 am

rock and roll wrote:I am with WS here. Don't forget we breath what we are putting in the chamber of our humidifiers. Even if it is more expensive, how much can it be? It's water. Why take shortcuts at this level?

not so- we are only breathing the water VAPOR, nothing dissolved leaves the chamber.
Many persist in this thinking, but it is not so.
I had a string removed over at another forum trying to explain this.
Water, as well as any aromatic compounds or substances that have a vopor point are involved.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 6:59 am

Tomjax, by this reasoning then we could add scents and other things to our water and according to your description we would not breath it but it would be left in our chamber. I think I will stick to distilled.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:39 am

r/r - Read carefully my post.
Water, as well as any aromatic compounds or substances that have a vopor point are involved.

Virtually all liquids have a vapor point and will be subject to the laws of physics.
This includes the aromatic hydrocarbonsand this will indeed be vaporized.

The calcium, magnesium, iron do not and will be left behind. This also includes pathogens- virus and bacteria.
I agree all this is moot if you use distilled water.

I do not use a humidifier at all and am not convinced as many that it is all that important for many people. Some, yes, all, no.

peg · Post by **peg** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:10 am

btw will succeed, I think your picture is actually that of Robert Barrone, aka Brad Garrett of Everybody loves Raymond. I can just hear your deep baritone voice in your postings. Looks a lot like him to moi.
I could be wrong[/quote]

I had thought the same thing. He has a great voice.
Isn't it funny how we hear "voices" when we read. Must come from our parents reading to us when we are small and making the characters voices.

Another thought. For those with colds, what about putting some Vicks or something similar in the water. You would just need to clean everything well afterwards.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:34 am

Vics was not meant to be in the water and inhaled.

Tomjax,

I am a big tea drinker. I boil water all day long in a tea pot. I use tap water that is softened. The end of my pot and a part of the cabinet over the years picked up the residue minerals from the steam.

I also remember when my son was a baby and he had severe asthma and we ran a vaporizer in his room. The whole room eventually had a white residue powder from the vaporizer water containing minerals and chorine.

Our humidifiers for the most part are heated. While I don't claim to be a chemist as you might be, I am not about to breath all night long anything but distilled water from it. If you can smell something in the water then you are getting more than just H2O.

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:40 am

btw will succeed, I think your picture is actually that of Robert Barrone, aka Brad Garrett of Everybody loves Raymond.

I should be so tall... I'm only 6'1" However, given the cold that I've had for the last week, I've got the big-chest, deep-voice going.

Just as an aside, I've been looking at my numbers over the last week and, while stuffed up with this cold, my autoPAP has been delivering consistently higher pressures. It unnerved me a bit, until I figured out that the machine can't tell the difference between congestion in the sinuses and restriction in the throat.

The beads are probably ion exchange resin

Thanks Tomjax! This is exactly what I was referring to, I just could not remember what this stuff was called. I don't have any knowledge of the chemistry of this method of demineralizing water so I have no comment about the safety of it. I just think that for $1.50, I'll buy 4 litres of steam distilled, only put in what I need each night, throw almost none out in the morning, and have one less thing to worry about. Having this *$#+@!*+ OSA is enough to worry about.

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:13 pm

R/R-
The end of my pot and a part of the cabinet over the years picked up the residue minerals from the steam.

R/R- again, there are no residue minerals in the distillate. It is more likely something leaching out of the cabinet and depositing when the water evaporates. It doed NOT come from the condensed steam.

The difference in the cool air humidifier, as contrasted from a vaporizer, is that minerals, bacteria, virus and anything else is sent into the room because it is a physical process in which water DROPLETS are blown out. This is the way legioneers disease spreads.

Also, yes you are smelling something- Read again my post. It is the aromatic compounds that will come out as will virtually any liquid with a vapor point.

I am not up to speed on super string theory or quantum wierdness, but I am reasonably comfortable on elementary physics and chemistry.
I am totally not up to speed on intelligent design theory either. I have seen nothing there slightly credible.
But then, I do not understand how a brown cow can eat green grass and drink clear water and produce white milk....

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:30 pm

Tomjax,

Problem with your cabinet leaching theory is that I travel and take the pot with me. And our humidifiers are heated. And vaporisers work the same way as our humidifiers and I know there was residue. IMHO, I am not going to put anything in my tank that I am not willing to breath in.

All I know is, I am not going to chance it for a few cents savings. And I can't recommend anybody else doing it either.

Using demineralised water in humidifier

Using demineralised water in humidifier

dm water

breathing

water

Re: dm water

steam