Distilled Water and Travel

I do travel frequently and was wondering about how easy it would be to find distilled water when traveling? Bottled water is everywhere, but not distilled water. Can you get bottled distilled water on cruise ships? What issues would be potentially present if I simply used bottled spring water? Or even products like Dasani or Aquafina that are purified tap water.

I have a Resmed S9, been using it about a month. I have not tried it without the humidifier, but will experiment soon to see how uncomfortable not using it would be. I plan to buy a 30W power supply for the S9 for shorter trips (carry-on luggage) because of its far less weight over the 90W power brick. I understand that the 30W brick will not run the humidifer.

You can use any water that is drinkable. The reason for distilled water is to prevent the mineral build up that one gets with tap water. However if you empty and rinse the humidifier each morning there is no problem.
Cruise ships will supply you with distilled water if you warn them in advance - for a price of course.

Try it without the humidifier. If you are on the ocean, I doubt you are going to need moisture to sleep!

I am using bottled water at the moment...grocery store was out of distilled Friday and I was sick yesterday and weather turned crappy today...started to town in the sleet to get the water and slid all over the road and decided it wasn't worth it and turned around and decided bottled water would work just fine and if I didn't have that I would use tap water.

The main thing is mineral build up and even that is easily removed with a bit of vinegar.

So it isn't the end of the world to use non distilled water.

I just returned from 2 1/2 weeks on a passenger/freighter to the Marquesas. I used the local bottled water and had very little mineral buildup. A quick rinse with vinegar, when we returned to one of the highest snowfalls recorded in February history, cleaned it up good as new.

I use tap water or bottled water whenever I'm traveling.

When I get home, I scrub out the H5i tank and go back to using distilled water

If you use tap water, I like to let the water "air out" so any chlorine used in the system escapes before I hose up. On the ship I was on they said to not drink the tap water in the room. Therefore, I used water from the purified water drinking fountain.

RobertS975 wrote:I do travel frequently and was wondering about how easy it would be to find distilled water when traveling? Bottled water is everywhere, but not distilled water. Can you get bottled distilled water on cruise ships? What issues would be potentially present if I simply used bottled spring water? Or even products like Dasani or Aquafina that are purified tap water.

I have a Resmed S9, been using it about a month. I have not tried it without the humidifier, but will experiment soon to see how uncomfortable not using it would be. I plan to buy a 30W power supply for the S9 for shorter trips (carry-on luggage) because of its far less weight over the 90W power brick. I understand that the 30W brick will not run the humidifer.

I've used just about any water in a pinch. That said, before I went on a cruise last year, I let them know I had apnea, and they had a complimentary bottle of distilled water (and an extension cord!) in my cabin on embarkation. Pretty nice

I have had my CPAP for a year. I have always used filtered water to get rid of the chlorine which can be quite noticeable at times in Canberra. I do empty the tank and rinse it each morning but there is no salt buildup and no noticeable discolouration of the tank or seal.

Use distilled water at home, but when traveling just use whatever source of potable water I can find. Generally I'm traveling for less than a month, nothing horrible is going to happen during that period, and rinsing and making an effort to air dry the tank every day when traveling works for me. Only takes me a few minutes since I use the tank that can be taken apart, the heavier duty one, so it's easy to thoroughly rinse out.

We just got back from a 10 day cruise. Initially I tried tap water but
the chlorine smell overwhelmed me. I then switched to bottled water
and had no problems.

I use distilled water when I travel in the US as it is easy to find. In Germany I have not had any luck in finding distilled water. My first trip to Germany with my BiPAP I used tap water. Rinsed everyday and let it dry. After a week the humidifier was a mess. The metal plate was covered with white powder and white crud... no better way to describe it. Took a few cleanings to get it clean again. So, next time in Germany (in a few weeks) I will try some of their bottled water and see....

I travel a lot by car and spend 1-4 nights in a hotel room. I have two plastic water bottles that I keep reserved for distilled water. That will usually last me 4 nights and takes up very little space in my travel supplies. If I run out, then I just use bottled water. If I am going to stay in a location for awhile, such as a week or more, I will go ahead and get a gallon of distilled water. I travel at least one weekend a month, sometimes two. I am still using the same humidifier tank that I got almost 2 years ago. It looks great.

I've used tap water in my tank for over 5 years. I drink it too. Hasn't hurt me or the humidifier yet.

But if you need something to worry about, it might as well be something harmless.

A lot of our cpap patients strictly use bottled water i.e Ozarka etc.. even though during set up we tell them to use distilled water to prevent mineral buildup. If we happen to see them later (few months or even years) and they are using bottled water I have specifically asked them about any mineral buildup or problems and so far everyone has said 'no problem'