Distilling Water

A few months ago I took the leap to improve my family’s water quality. I spent too long trying to decide what kind of tap water treatment was the absolute best which kept me in a state of ‘analysis paralysis’ and for too long I did nothing.

I basically wanted to kill any present bacteria and remove chlorine and fluoride from our drinking and cooking water and didn’t know whether to obtain water delivery service, hook up house filters, use a stand-alone stainless filtering tank, or get a stainless-steel distiller. We had been using a plastic Brita filter pitcher for tap water which was a good first effort, but wasn’t producing water as pristine as I’d prefer.

Along came a friend who was very excited about his new MegaHome water distiller and so I looked into it. It is reasonably priced, is a counter-top unit that isn’t too large, an activated charcoal sachet filter is in the unit spout, the capturing vessel is a glass pitcher, and the stainless-steel distilling tank allows me to see the left-behind minerals and residue. I like this last feature for the same reason I like a clear capture container on my vacuum cleaner: the satisfaction of evidence.

“In the human body, water fills similar functions. …Distilled water acts as a solvent in the body. It dissolves food substances so they can be assimilated and taken into every cell. It dissolves inorganic mineral substances lodged in tissues of the body so that such substances can be eliminated in the process of purifying the body. Distilled water is the greatest solvent on earth —the only one that can be taken into the body without damage to the tissues.” Dr. Allen E. Banik

While water quality, types, and purifying methods are hotly debatable, distilling water into pure steam made sense to me. The water tastes crystal clear and obviously minerals and impurities are being removed by evidence of the residue in the tank. Eating an alkaline whole food, plant-based diet with occasional added sea salt assures me that I’m getting ample minerals in my diet.

This is a key point: in order to intake adequate minerals for your body’s needs, you need to eat an alkalizing (mineral-rich) diet if you’re going to drink distilled (mineral-free) water. If your diet is acidic, you will need minerals in your drinking water.

“Water has to be pure, free from fluoride, chlorine, and chemicals, which is why I recommend distilled water. To achieve optimum health, I recommend that you drink a half gallon to one full gallon per day.” — Gary Null, Ph.D.

Do we feel different since switching over to distilled water? No. But I’m thankful knowing that the residue stays in the tank rather than entering my body.

Here is the unit on my kitchen counter:

When the pitcher fills and the cycle is done, I fill old glass VOSS water bottles with the distilled water and store them like logs in a basket in my refrigerator. That way they are ready to drink, to fill the cat & dog bowls, fill the teapot or cooking pots for boiling and other kitchen and family needs.

Here is the stainless-steel tank after several rounds of distilling. The upper part above the FULL line (visible between 9 & 10 o’clock) is clean stainless. Everything below has a white residue (scale) and the bottom is thicker. After each cycle I scrub the tank with a bottle brush to loosen the reside and wash as much out as possible. Every 10 cycles or so, I boil a tank full of tap water with citric acid powder and all the residue loosens to be washed away. Then the tank is 100% clean stainless again.

While the unit is running, there is a low hum of the motor which is not bothersome at all. The unit turns itself off when the cycle is complete. It takes a few hours for a full pitcher to fill and is actually much faster than I had anticipated. Tip: If you fill the tank with hot tap water to start the process, it takes less time overall to distill the water since the water is already partially heated.

“…there are hundreds of case histories of people who have enjoyed success in alleviating or overcoming these health problems (arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, gall stones, cataracts and emphysema) when they began drinking distilled water exclusively.” Dr. Clifford C. Dennison

Before deciding for or against a MegaHome distiller, I recommend that you read the in-depth product reviews on Amazon.

Additional Resources

• Doctors & Experts on Distilled Water

• MegaHome website

• MegaHome distiller on Amazon