The Problem With Pure Water Distillers
Pure water distillers are some of the most common filtering and purification devices sold. Distillers, although popular, have two problems. They're expensive compared with other filtering and purification devices. They also should not be used with chlorinated water. Let's talk about all of this.
First off, a pure water distiller can run you anywhere from several hundred dollars for a smaller unit to over $3,000 for an under-the-counter model. Even the $3,000 model doesn't make enough pure water for anything beyond drinking and cooking. Unfortunately, because of the level of pollution found in our water systems, you need to filter not only what you drink and cook with, but also what you bathe in.
You see, your skin can absorb more toxins while bathing than you can drinking a big glass of water. Chlorine is the chemical that's used to kill bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms in our water. Unfortunately, chlorine can form compounds that can be vaporized by hot water. These compounds are called trihalomethanes, and they're carcinogenic.
So, one problem with pure water distillers is the volume of water they can handle. Another problem is caused by this same chlorine that's already in our water. Distillers work by vaporizing the impure water and letting it condense. The idea is that the impurities are left behind, because they don't vaporize. If there are trihalomethanes in your water (and there might well be), then the distiller is going to vaporize them, just as your hot bathing water could vaporize them. Once vaporized, they travel to the "pure" side of the distiller.
For the money, you can get the better results using filters and purifiers that use technology other than distillation. For instance, ultraviolet light kills organic impurities safely. Unfortunately, it can do nothing for inorganic impurities like lead. But it's good for the organic stuff!
Reverse osmosis is another water filtering technology that is probably better than distillation. This method works by pressuring the water through a porous membrane. The pure water makes it through the membrane, while the impurities are left behind.
Perhaps the best types of filters are two-step filters that use carbon and/or ceramic filters. Other than needing to be changed every six months or so, these filters are not high maintenance. If designed correctly, this sort of water filtering device can filter out the organic impurities in one step, and then the inorganic impurities in the next step.
Not only are these alternatives better, but they're cheaper as well. You can buy a whole house, two-step filter for about $1,000. Or you can get a one faucet filter for less than $100. Either way, these filters are probably a better bet than most pure water distillers.
