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Humidifier (distilled vs. tap water)
#11
RE: Humidifier
(03-02-2015, 11:21 AM)bluederby Wrote: What are the effects of using distilled water? tap water?
My water comes straight from the tap and have not suffered any ill effects .... YMMV

Best to follow manufacturer recommendation and use distilled water


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#12
RE: Humidifier
(03-02-2015, 11:21 AM)bluederby Wrote: What are the effects of using distilled water? tap water?

My understanding is that tap water is full of chlorine, other chemicals, and bacteria....

I have recently read that the drinking distilled water on a regualr basis is dangerous and could cause adrenal fatigue because it aborbs minerals from the body (making short term use for detoxifying, but long term use dangerous)....

Anyone have knowledge or experience with use of water sources?Huhsign

The risk of drinking distilled water is greatly exaggerated. Even if the problems came up, they would only be a problem if distilled water was the majority of your drinking water.

Don't drink the water from your humidifier, even if you put tap water in there.
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#13
RE: Humidifier
(03-02-2015, 11:10 PM)archangle Wrote:
(03-02-2015, 11:21 AM)bluederby Wrote: What are the effects of using distilled water? tap water?
I have recently read that the drinking distilled water on a regualr basis is dangerous and could cause adrenal fatigue because it aborbs minerals from the body (making short term use for detoxifying, but long term use dangerous)....

The risk of drinking distilled water is greatly exaggerated.

The tap water where I live is close to, but not quite, as mineral free as distilled water. So far as I know people around here live about as long as people elsewhere.

I remember reading studies that suggested that "hard" water is better for heart health over time than the kind of "soft" water we typically have on the west coast of Canada. How much of that is due to "mineral leaching" I don't know, but surely taking supplemental minerals would swamp out that effect.

A quick google search suggests that for every site touting the "dangers" of DW their is another one touting it's "health benefits"!
Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH

Part cow since February 2018.

Trust your mind less and your brain more.


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#14
RE: Humidifier
Because distilled water does not contain any fluoride, dentists are beginning to see an increased number of cavities in young children who drink bottled water.
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#15
RE: Humidifier
(03-02-2015, 11:48 PM)surferdude2 Wrote: Because distilled water does not contain any fluoride, dentists are beginning to see an increased number of cavities in young children who drink bottled water.

Well, there's nothing special about distilled water in this regard. Very few towns have natural fluoride in their water supplies. Many put it in artificially but this is politically controversial.

My town has no fluoride in it's water supply, and in this regard is no better than distilled water. It is not common in Canada,



Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH

Part cow since February 2018.

Trust your mind less and your brain more.


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#16
RE: Humidifier
Thank you for the feedback
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#17
RE: Humidifier
I am attempting to learn about the best water supply. I do not have any background in this area and just attempting to make sense of varying perspectives, so I appreciate the comments and view points.

I know we don't drink from the humidifier, but we still ingest it when it evaporates and goes into our mouth/nose during the night.
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#18
RE: Humidifier
(03-03-2015, 02:56 PM)bluederby Wrote: I know we don't drink from the humidifier, but we still ingest it when it evaporates and goes into our mouth/nose during the night.

The vapor you breathe from tap water in the humidifier will be deficient in minerals, the same as the fumes from distilled water. The minerals are "distilled" out of the vapor as it evaporates.

Even if the "adrenal fatigue" stuff were true, tap water in the humidifier is no better for adrenal fatigue than distilled.

BTW, "adrenal fatigue" is pure quackery. Google "adrenal fatigue quackery." Then look at "adrenal fatigue" and look at all the stereotypical quackery web sites about it.

Mayo clinic article.

Get the free OSCAR CPAP software here.
Useful links.
Click here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
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#19
RE: Humidifier
Formerly in the water business and I would think that as it relates to humidifiers, the issue is just a scale buildup from hardness in the water, probably 95% calcium. I don't really know how hot the water actually gets in the humidifier, but scaling would be a problem if it got hot enough. Many municipal supplies are now, or are going to chloramines which in addition to chlorine adds ammonia. Many times, certain plastics and rubber materials don't do well with ammonia. Personally, I would not use chloraminated water in the humidifier. Probably wouldn't mind regular or just chlorinated water. Chlorine is a gas and as with most gases in solution, as temp increase the water will off gas what is dissolved in it. Because you are inhaling it, if you detect any odor from the water I certainly wouldn't use it for this purpose.

My concern would be the common misconception that many/most people have is about the quality of "bottled water". Which means many different things, really just means it's in a bottled. It does NOT mean distilled, pure or contaminant free water. The water bottlers are not held to the same standards as the municipal water supplies. It is unusual to see real distilled water for sale in the bottled water section of the grocery. You will see mineral water, spring water, pure water along with a host of other things. What matters is the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) rating you see on the bottle. True distilled will be almost zero. You will see many bottled waters that exceed the Safe Water Drinking Act standard imposed on public municipal suppliers of 500 ppm or 250 ppm if certain other contaminants are found in the water.

The Desal/RO unit we have onboard produces water from seawater, which is about 35,000 ppm to about 180 ppm TDS. I have no concern using it in the humidifier. Although, so far, I'm finding I don't need humidification onboard.


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#20
RE: Humidifier
The chloramine residue left in well run water systems is in the low parts per billion concentration. At that level there is not much to worry about.

Just my 2 cents.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

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PaytonA passed away in September 2017
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