Is it worth it to buy distilled water?

[timeuser84]

Hello, not sure whether this subject belongs in the chemistry or biology. A guy I met at a public place I got to sometimes during the week told me that drinking water or tap water from faucets in homes, espeashally very old homes isn't safe to drink or has toxic stuff in it that's not good for the body and something about copper or coper pipes seeping into the water where around 50 years ago or more were not aware of that or did not know that. He has a degree in biology or at least that's what he told me so I listened to his advice to drink distilled water from now on.

I would rather be safe then sorry since I don't know so I have been buying distilled water for around over 2 months now. Before buying distilled water I would always drink tap water from my kitchen faucet for over a decade now. I have never felt sick, the water has never tasted weird, have never gotten sick or felt like I have consumed toxic substances from drinking tap water. I never wanted to buy bottled water as I thought it was just a sales gimmick to make an extra buck so I never invested into it but I never even heard of distilled water which is apparently not the same as the typical bottled water they sell in stores. I live in a apartment complex that was built in 1969

 

[Vanadium 50]

"I know a guy who knows a guy" is a terrible source.

If you are worried about the water in your house, why not have it tested? That is more likely to give you a good answer than asking a bunch of people and taking the last answer you hear.

 

[BillTre]

This is an extremely complex subject. Without a lot more information, it would not be reasonable to give detailed advice on what you should do.

The person you talked with did not provide a lot of relevant chemical detail. I would not have a lot of faith in what he said.
I would have a lot of questions.
I once had some guy tell me I was going to die because I was eating a candy bar and he was anti-processed sugar (I'm still here).
This seems to me to be about the same level of concern I would have without more details from your contact.

Here are some issues you might want to look into:

1. Are there local issues, wherever it is that you are, about the quality of water delivered to your house. A lot of tap water in the US is pretty good. Wells can be problematic. Where I live the patchiness of geology that ground water is exposed to can lead to prolems at specific wells, but not others nearby.
2. Old copper pipes are not usually problematic. They often will usually have a layer of precipitated chemicals coating the inside of the pipes, which would prevent the pipe material from dissolving, unless some change in water chemistry has caused to coating to be dissolved. New pipes don't have this protective coating.
   This is what the problem was in Flint, MI. The water company started using unbuffered water from a different source. The acidic water dissolved the coatings inside the lead pipes and the started dissolving the lead. Lead in the water is bad for humans. Everything was OK until the new water supply started their problems.
3. Copper, not so bad for humans (it is bad for fish). Copper pipes are really common. Galvanized pipes can dissolve additional metals, like zinc (also bad for fish).
4. You could get some kind of water filtration unit (charcoal, reverse osmosis, ion exchange) to get more pure water, but with such a vague concern (no chemical details), it would be hard to make a good choice.
5. You can (should be able to) get water quality reports from your water supplier. (However, not all of them are useful). Such reports should list what's in the water at the supplier's end.
   You could buy some water test kits and check for a variety of bad things in the water at your end.

 

[Borek]

While drinking tap water can be not a good idea (zillions of factors to take into account) I would not listen to anyone suggesting to drink distilled water. Makes about as much sense as wearing tinfoil hats.

 

[256bits]

He has a degree in biology or at least that's what he told me

Credentials. Credentials.

 

[256bits]

He has a degree in biology or at least that's what he told me

Credentials. Credentials.

 

[Mayhem]

"off-brand" bottled water is cheaper than distilled water and approved for consumption. Don't ingest anything that is sold as a chemical; it might contain traces of compounds that are not fit for consumption.

 

[Algr]

Bottled water tastes really nasty to me if it freezes and then thaws again. Somehow I doubt all that plasticy goodness can be healthy.

 

[pinball1970]

Hello, not sure whether this subject belongs in the chemistry or biology. A guy I met at a public place I got to sometimes during the week told me that drinking water or tap water from faucets in homes, espeashally very old homes isn't safe to drink or has toxic stuff in it that's not good for the body and something about copper or coper pipes seeping into the water where around 50 years ago or more were not aware of that or did not know that. He has a degree in biology or at least that's what he told me so I listened to his advice to drink distilled water from now on.

I would rather be safe then sorry since I don't know so I have been buying distilled water for around over 2 months now. Before buying distilled water I would always drink tap water from my kitchen faucet for over a decade now. I have never felt sick, the water has never tasted weird, have never gotten sick or felt like I have consumed toxic substances from drinking tap water. I never wanted to buy bottled water as I thought it was just a sales gimmick to make an extra buck so I never invested into it but I never even heard of distilled water which is apparently not the same as the typical bottled water they sell in stores. I live in a apartment complex that was built in 1969

Have you tried the web for your area to do a search on water quality?

we have this in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/check-drinking-water-quality

Then you could request your landlords maintenance records on the building including plumbing fixtures and fittings & water tests.

It works differently everywhere but he could be legally obliged to make sure the services you are paying, for via rent in his property, are regularly checked.

As per the other posters, just get bottled water from the supermarket if you are worried it is cheaper.

 

[Fra]

A guy I met at a public place...

his advice to drink distilled water from now on.

Did you ask if he owned a nearby distilled water shop?

Regardless of problems (or not) with your water - buying DISTILLED water to drink makes no sense! and i would not trust anyone giving such advice, regardless of how many degrees he has.

/Fredrik

 

[Algr]

Bottled water a sensible and healthy replacement for soda pop. The best thing about them is the convenience of being there in your car or wherever when needed. The risks of bottling water yourself are probably low, but somehow it feels safer to have that snap when you twist the cap open. At home I have a filter in the sink.

 

[symbolipoint]

Buying distilled water for some non-drinkable, non-edible use is worth to do.

If you have high quality drinkable water, and it never had been stored in plastic, then you could store it in clean glass container/s with a secure closure for a few days.

 

[JT Smith]

Regardless of problems (or not) with your water - buying DISTILLED water to drink makes no sense!

I used to do exactly that. Our tap water tasted horrible and the local water shop used distillation. They later switched to reverse osmosis but the proprietor said that the purity was virtually the same as with distillation. I drank that stuff for years. Why would what I was doing make no sense to you?

 

[Fra]

I used to do exactly that. Our tap water tasted horrible and the local water shop used distillation. They later switched to reverse osmosis but the proprietor said that the purity was virtually the same as with distillation. I drank that stuff for years. Why would what I was doing make no sense to you?

My main argument was economical. But
admittedly i may have generalized too much.
Where i live i would buy regular bottled mineralwater of cheap brand if i couldn't use tap water as buying distilled water is much more expensive!

Depending on your local options, I guess one can imagine that it is a solution. It reminds me of a guy i talked to yeara ago that lived i saudi arabia that told med a gallon of good drinking water cost more than a gallon of gasoline.

That said for high intense exercises where you drink a lot not even normal mineral water is good as it drains the body of salts. So some resorb salts may be good to add.

/Fredrik

 

[JT Smith]

That said for high intense exercises where you drink a lot not even normal mineral water is good as it drains the body of salts. So some resorb salts may be good to add.

For sure there are situations where drinking a lot of any sort of water can disrupt one's salt balance. And some people are prone to hyponatremia in less extreme contexts. But that has nothing to do with distilled vs drinking water.

 

[Borek]

Drinking distilled water is sadly one of these things often suggested by tin foil hatters and altmed folks (in Poland altmed stands very broadly for nonsensical CAM therapies, not sure if there is an equivalent English term) as a way of "cleaning body", "removing chemtrails toxins" etc. You get the idea.

Probably in some rare, specific cases it can make sense, but in general there are much better and much cheaper ways of making water safe for consumption.

 

[symbolipoint]

very broadly for nonsensical CAM therapies, not sure if there is an equivalent English term) as a way of "cleaning body",

Would try to tell us what the CAM stands for, and try to explain what it is?

 

[Borek]

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/complementary-and-alternative-medicine

 

[Vanadium 50]

Would try to tell us what the CAM stands for

Crackpot Alternative Medicine.

 

[JT Smith]

Probably in some rare, specific cases it can make sense, but in general there are much better and much cheaper ways of making water safe for consumption.

Distillation is very energy intensive, time consuming, and I imagine expensive as a result. Why that water store did it that way at first I can't say. Maybe he was appealing to tin foil hatted people? But it wasn't particularly expensive to buy the water. And when the guy switched to RO treatment the price did not go down.

Nowadays I drink what comes out of the tap as we have excellent water here. The distilled water I occasionally buy is reserved for things like zeroing the refractometer.

 

[Crypsis]

While drinking tap water can be not a good idea (zillions of factors to take into account) I would not listen to anyone suggesting to drink distilled water. Makes about as much sense as wearing tinfoil hats.

Well, if reducing EMF is on your bucket list, wearing tinfoil hats could yield you zillions.