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[CPAP] Humidifier Water
#11
RE: Hunidifier Water
(11-17-2013, 05:04 AM)DocWils Wrote: But, for health and other reasons, yes, distilled water is the only water recommended. Anything else is quite literally taking your life in your hands.
From Fisher & Paykel
The use of normal tap water will not harm you but may cause the chamber to deterioate at a rate faster than expected.


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#12
RE: Hunidifier Water
There's another side of the coin to distilled H2O. Very pure water which is usually designated by its resistivity is highly reactive.
So called 18 Meg water is used in industrial processes such as making semiconductors. Highly pure water is actually an electrical insulator.
I know of one multi-terraWatt flash x-ray machine that uses water as the insulator in its coaxial charge line.

Point being, tap water may leave deposits; but very pure water can dissolve metal.
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#13
RE: Hunidifier Water
(11-16-2013, 11:29 PM)DrWho? Wrote: Thanks to all those that replied. Buying distilled water seems to be expensive when the humidifier water is changed every night though.

It's not the water being changed that matters. It is the water deposits being left behind when the water is heated. Steam doesn't take much with it and leaves behind any minerals that were in the water. So if your tap water is heavy in minerals, over time you will have a white residue inside the tank.

If you are blessed with an insurance company that regularly replaces the tub, and if you are willing to regularly soak the tub with a vinegar solution, then use the tap water.

If you are a germ phobe, OR if your water is not drinkable, OR if your water is heavy in minerals, OR if you cannot afford getting a new tank every 3-6 months, then use distilled water.

I use tap water. I live in a rural area and have a spring. The mineral content of our water is very low. The idea of buying water just to prevent scaling? I lasted less than a year doing that. I switched to tap water. I will say, though, that when traveling I use bottle water. I am not used to "city" water and the bleach smell drives me nuts.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#14
RE: Hunidifier Water
I use the municipal water supply. Softened after passing through a sediment filter. I have used distilled water, and I have used reverse osmosis filtered water. The only difference I notice is a slight build up of residue which easily removed with vinegar.

If I were you I would use the tap water, unless it's too hard, in which case you could use filtered drinking water. Distilled water is cheap and readily available in the US, but that's not the case in other parts of the world.

When I travel I always use bottled drinking water.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#15
RE: Hunidifier Water
If you have the cleanable tank, ResMed says you can use tap water, but you should dump it nightly. This is probably OK. If you're using the tap water you drink, there's no need to boil it, as long as you dump it every morning, clean if necessary, and fill before bed. As far as I know, no manufacturer recommends boiling the water.

ResMed sells a "standard" tank in the US that is not dishwashable like the cleanable tank. That one says "distilled water only."

All the Philips Respironics tanks are cleanable.

The corrosiveness of distilled water is exaggerated. As far as I know, none of us using distilled water in our tanks have had any corrosion problems from distilled water. I've used distilled water for years.

Many of us use distilled water and don't bother to dump and clean the tank more than once a week or so. Some go even longer. I think the manufacturers still say to dump it daily.

Tap water may end up building up minerals in your water tank. Clean it out as needed. Some people find that vinegar will remove mineral buildup. If you do eventually ruin a tank, they're not that expensive. Dumping and rinsing the tank every morning helps prevent mineral buildup.

Boiling tap water will not help with the mineral problem.

I'm a little concerned that the concentration of the chemicals and nutrients in tap water encourages the growth of germs. Distilled water has less food for the germs to live on, so germ growth will be less.

In theory, germs in the water tank don't matter, other than the smell, since, in theory, only water vapor comes off the water and heads down the hose. I still don't want crud growing in my tank.

Even if you start with germ free water, whatever germs are in the air will get sucked into the blower, and end up in the water, so it's not sterile in any case.

In the US, I can buy distilled water for less than 1 dollar per gallon, so it's worth it to me. If it's more expensive or inconvenient where you live, use the tap water and clean and replace the tank more often.

Some people find their tap water smells of chlorine and don't want to use it for that reason. Boiling might actually reduce the smell in that case.
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#16
RE: Hunidifier Water
(11-17-2013, 06:54 PM)archangle Wrote: Some people find their tap water smells of chlorine and don't want to use it for that reason. Boiling might actually reduce the smell in that case.

Letting the water "rest" in the fridge for a day or two can help with the chlorine smell, too, as the chlorine evaporates away.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#17
RE: Hunidifier Water
Sydney drinking tap water is fine, state government spent a fortune on desalination plant which sitting idle
The dams are full now, too much rain but useful during the dry season
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#18
RE: Hunidifier Water
I normally use distilled when I am home and go through about a gallon every three weeks. My humidifier is on 1 (but I think I may be turning it up to 2 here in a little bit when I fire up the heater in the house). If I run out I use bottled water. On the road, I either buy an extra small bottled water or just take it from the tap. My insurance company gives me a new tank every six months so I always have a spare. I just rotated my supply stock (got new set of mask, tubing, and filters) and found I had two spare used tanks. If I use tap water for a while, I find I have to do the vinegar trick and then stick the tank on the top rack of the dishwasher.
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#19
RE: Hunidifier Water
Whatever water you decide to use, make sure to dump the water and not just topping up otherwise its a contamination. From what I reading, most people using distilled water don,t dump the water, only top up and sometimes forgetting topping up and they wake up with burning smell. In this case using distilled water gives some a false sense of security and think by just using distilled water, they don,t have to dump the water or/and clean the tank, hose, etc ...

Its been reported that exposure to traffic fumes is enough to raise the risk of lung cancer
[Image: article-2359148-1ABD1E70000005DC-889_634x416.jpg]

Q: Can germs pass from the humidifier to me?
Answer: No, using a heated humidifier in line with your CPAP device will not cause you to become sick or give you germs. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s heated humidifiers are pass-over humidifiers that do not produce aerosols (the fine water droplets that are visible to the eye such as steam from a kettle). Pass-over humidifiers add moisture in the form of water vapor. Water vapor particles are smaller than bacteria or viruses so it is impossible for them to be transported up to the mask (and then to you). Even if pathogens (germs) were able to exist in the chamber, they would not be able to be transported to you. Refer to the diagram below which demonstrates the size of water vapor, bacteria and virus particles.

[Image: germs]
http://www.fphcare.com/sleep-apnea/educa...t/faqs/#ns

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#20
RE: Hunidifier Water
(11-18-2013, 04:01 PM)zonk Wrote: In this case using distilled water gives some a false sense of security and think by just using distilled water, they don,t have to dump the water or/and clean the tank, hose, etc ...

+1

If you aren't getting a residue in your tank, I see no need to use distilled water.

I agree that changing the water daily is a good and necessary thing to do.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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