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How to Make Distilled Water at Home?

Don’t we all remember the term “distilled water” from our high school science lessons? In most simple terms, it is the water boiled to produce steam, and then steam is cooled to make water again. What if you run out of your distilled water supply and need it badly?

Simple, you can create distilled water at home by using some basic cookware. So you don’t need to rush to the grocery shop every time you need distilled water, and also, you don’t need any special equipment.

Read this article to learn the steps for creating your own distilled water from the comfort of your kitchen. Moreover, we will also differentiate between different types of water you drink, including distilled, purified, boiled, and filtered water.

Distilled water is purified water produced by boiling the tap water into water vapour and condensing it back to the water. This condensed liquid is free from minerals and salts. Hence, it is known as distilled water.

The process of distilling involves the simple steps of evaporation and condensation. Therefore, it offers an easier and affordable way of producing water at home.

Going by the sophisticated and technically correct definition of distilled water, purified water free fulfils the classification requirement of 10 ppm or less. Here ppm refers to the parts per million of total dissolved solids or contaminants.

From various chemical processes to industrial to medicinal usages, the distilled water is used in countless applications in our day-to-day life such as the aquarium, health-related equipment like CPAP machines, humidifiers, car maintenance, steam irons, car batteries, etc.

It’s also commonly used to water plants and make clear ice cubes. It is also used for preventing the iron from getting clogged up inside the minerals.

You can drink both distilled and purified water. Distilled water represents the cleanest possible water without any minerals and salts. On the other hand, purified water contains a mix of healthy minerals with the distilled water for making it more beneficial.

No, contrary to popular thinking, boiling water is not the same as distilled water. Boiled water is water that is boiled till its temperature reaches its boiling point. It’s a great way to kill most of the disease-causing germs and bacteria in the water.

On the other hand, distilled water is a type of purified water free from all impurities, including microbes and minerals.

Let’s briefly talk about the different kinds of water we drink at home.

Tap Water

Tap water is the water you get the moment you turn on your kitchen faucet. The quality of tap water depends on the geology of your residing area and thus varies from one location to another.

Tap water might contain traces of minerals found in the specific region you are living in. It also contains traces of chemicals used for water treatment by the municipality. Tap water is not safe to drink in most areas. The solution to this issue lies in filtered water.

Filtered Water

As the name suggests, filtered water is generated by filtering out the impurities of the tap water. Nowadays, it’s normal to have a whole house filtration system installed in houses.

Thus, you may have access to filtered water in your home through this system.

The water filters may come in the form of an advanced RO purifier or simple faucet water filter. During the filtration process, the water passes through a combination of various filters, including carbon and micron filters.

These filters in the filtration system remove chemicals like pesticides and chlorine (generally added as a disinfectant to municipal tap water). Moreover, these filters eliminate metallic impurities such as lead or copper while getting rid of foul odours and tastes.

Purified Water

Purified water is the purest water produced when tap water undergoes various purification processes. It includes the procedures used for water filtration and the methods for removing bacteria, algae, fungi, and chemical pollutants.

Thus, producing purified water includes further purification steps apart from filtering. The water bottles you get at groceries consist of purified water.

The science involved in making your own distilled water at home is simple. It involves using water in all its three states of solid, liquid and gas.

This procedure includes heating water in liquid form to convert it into gaseous vapour form and then to collect the condensed water with the help of solid ice. It uses the process of evaporation and condensation that we have studied in school science class.

To begin with, let’s list down the materials and equipment needed. Most likely, you need not purchase anything from outside and find everything you require in your kitchen.

1. A large pot
2. A lid for the large pot
3. A small pot
4. Tap water
5. Ice
6. Oven mitts for handling the hot cookware

• Preparing distilled water at home is a time-consuming process, and you need to have patience for allowing the scientific procedures to occur. For example, making 1 1/4 cup of distilled water takes around one hour using 8 cups of tap water.
• To begin with, take the large pot and keep it over your stovetop burner. Next, add 8 cups of water to the pot. Now, take the smaller pot and keep it inside the large pot so that it floats on the water’s surface.
• For circulating water vapour within the large pot, you need to maintain the optimal airflow around the sides of the small pot and between the top of the larger pot and the small pot.
• Once you have arranged the pots, turn on the burner and keep the heat settings somewhere between medium to medium-high. It’s recommended to maintain the heat level at a steady simmer around 82°C-93°C. Avoid boiling the water at extreme heat.
• When you heat water at a higher temperature, it doesn’t result in a higher yield, but it quickly warms the cold side of the lid and making it difficult to handle the equipment.
• Once you have started the burner, keep the lid upside-down over the top of a large pot. The design of the lids makes them higher in the middle compared to their edges when used for covering pots.
• When you flip the lid, it causes the condensed distilled water moves down towards the centre of the lid and subsequently into the smaller pot. Once you have reached this stage, take ice cubes from the ice maker and load the top of the inverted lid with them. This creates a difference in temperature on either side of the lid and thereby accelerates the condensation process.
• Now, relax and allow the condensation process to take place. Replenish the ice supply after half an hour and then at 45 minutes. As the lid will be very hot at this stage, you need to use oven mitts to dump the hot melted ice.
• After an hour, check your smaller pot to find the accumulated distilled water dripped down during the condensation procedure.
• Once you have a sufficient amount of distilled water with you, turn off the burner and carefully remove the lid from the pot by using gloves.
• Let the distilled water in the smaller pot cool down and store it in glass or stainless steel bottles.

With this procedure, you get a 100% yield of distilled water. Ensure to add additional water than required not to overheat and damage the empty pot once the procedure ends.

While it’s convenient to make your own distilled water in your kitchen, you can’t use it daily for drinking purposes due to its lack of nutrients. However, if you need distilled water for your car batteries or aquarium, you can easily make it by following the above steps.

Yes, it’s safe to drink distilled water. It is the cleanest form of water without any minerals and salts.

However, you don’t find it tasty as the distillation process eliminates most of the important minerals responsible for giving taste to water, such as sodium, calcium, and magnesium.

While it’s safe to drink distilled water, it is recommended to avoid drinking it daily as it lacks vital nutrients required for the body.

Your natural tap water is enriched with helpful nutrients like sodium, calcium, magnesium, etc. These minerals are removed during the distillation procedure.

If you are using the distilled water instantly, then you can use any storage container. Otherwise, ensure to store your distilled water in high-quality stainless steel or glass containers as its lack of nutrients may result in leaching chemicals from other storage containers.