Purified Water in place of Distilled Water

by **djmv** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:34 pm

Okay, this may be a dumb question. Just picked up my CPAP machine today. The therapist said to use distilled water in the humidifier. I just came from the store & could only find Purified Water. It does say on the bottle: "Serves Distilled Water Services"
Is this okay?? #-o

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by **TedG954** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:11 pm

Distilled water is void of any contaminants that could be left behind after it evaporates. It is void of any minerals.

"Purified" water is whatever the producer decides is acceptable to be called purified. Maybe a carbon filter. Maybe nothing.

The therapist specified distilled water for a reason, and that's what you should use.

I do.

by **pseudonym** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:54 pm

Agree with Ted. You could probably use purified or even tap water in a pinch without harm, but any semi-regular use would probably gum up the heating plates as well as introduce who-knows-what-beastie into your lungs. I'd stick with distilled unless there is just no way around it.

Blessings,
--pseudonym

by **Frances** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:04 pm

I Googled "Purified water" and find that there is a company that sells what it calls "purified water", along with a whole load of what Crohnie calls 'horse puckies'. They do say that it is free of "inorganic" minerals. I think it would probably do in a humidifier but don't pay more than $1 a gallon for it, preferably less in the U.S. The rest of what they sell is best avoided including some of their ideas about water.

Distilled or de-ionized water really shouldn't be hard to find. Try Walmart and the like, supermarkets and pharmacies, even hardware stores (esp. in smaller places). In our 30 plus years of travelling with a trailer, we found that small town hardware stores often carried an amazing variety of stock.

by **djmv** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:07 pm

Thanks. I ran to Walmart & found the distilled water there.
:-D

Wish me luck on the first night of CPAP use!

by **justplainbill** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:15 pm

Good going.

As to why distilled water is recommended, I would offer the following from the Fisher & Paykel website (F & P manufacture cpap machines and humidifiers):

It is strongly recommended that you use distilled water in the chamber as it is free of minerals and will prolong the life of the chamber and prevent mineral buildup on the inside of the chamber making it appear dirty. Distilled water is “pure” and therefore the most suitable to use. However, the use of normal tap water will not harm you but may cause the chamber to deteriorate at a rate faster than expected. (Note: if your chamber begins to leak replace it immediately)

Locating distilled water to use varies from country to country. Try your local hardware store, chemist or supermarket. Boiling normal tap water does not give you distilled water, it will actually increase the mineral content of the water, therefore we do not recommend you do this. If you do not have access to distilled water, filtered water would be preferable over tap water. Do not use mineral/spring water as the mineral content is high, thus deceasing the longevity of the chamber.

Source: http://www.fphealthcare.com/osa/faqfamilies.asp

Best wishes,
Bill

by **MandoJohnny** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:08 pm

There are good reasons to use distilled water, but "who-knows-what beasties" being introduced into your lungs is not one of them. Studies published in medical journals have proven that can't happen. In one study, water intentionally contaminated with bacteria was put into CPAP tanks. The beasties did not come through the hose. The reason is that the water particles generated by a heated humidifier are too small to host either viruses or bacteria. If it could happen, all of us who do not completely disinfect our machines daily would be dead of some beastie by now.

BTW, my local Fisher and Paykel rep, who is CPAP user as well as an RT, told me that he uses tap water in his own machine. I travel on business and have to use non-distilled water often.

by **pseudonym** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:32 pm

MandoJohnny wrote:There are good reasons to use distilled water, but "who-knows-what beasties" being introduced into your lungs is not one of them.

It's obvious you haven't seen my tap water LOL

by **Vicki** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:17 am

I must admit I just use water run through my Purr filter on my kitchen sink and tap water when I travel. Depending on how old my Purr filter is, I get deposits, but they rinse away easily with vinager.

Vicki

by **mocman** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:48 pm

I decided to go to tap water last night I got tired of carting the bottled water around. It is in a plastic jug usually .98 cents to 1.09 . I have read all the pros and cons of all bottled water and have watched most of the TV commericals on why it is good to drink bottled water. I have read everything on this site about the questions which to use.

I have decided to use tap water but take the extra pre-caution to bring it to a rapid boil and then let cool down. I read about the Apnea guy who puts Vicks Vapor Stream in his water chamber. That certainly sounds good to me if it is a safe practice? I like to put a bit of Vicks Vapor Rub on each nostril before the mask and have done that for years.

by **sephiro499** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:08 pm

I used tap water twice within a week's time and the water reservoir had this like hard crud film on the bottom of it. I had to partially scrub it off. This was even with filtered water from the refrigerator.

by **glennaa11** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:50 pm

If you do get mineral buildup in the chamber you should be able to clean it with a white vinegar/water solution to dissolve the minerals. At least that what the RT who gave me my machine told me.

I am off tomorrow to travel in SE Asia. The tap water there is not safe to drink so I figure I will just use bottled water for the humidifier if I need it. I am thinking since it is tropical there maybe it will be humid enough without using it. But in the a/c environment of a hotel it may be dry enough to use it. However after reading this thread I may just use tap water...

by **mocman** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:09 pm

This is a experiment stay posted I will see what happens ? Let you know in a week.

by **Daniel** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 5:05 pm

mocman wrote: I decided to go to tap water last night I got tired of carting the bottled water around. It is in a plastic jug usually .98 cents to 1.09 . I have read all the pros and cons of all bottled water and have watched most of the TV commericals on why it is good to drink bottled water. I have read everything on this site about the questions which to use.

I have decided to use tap water but take the extra pre-caution to bring it to a rapid boil and then let cool down. I read about the Apnea guy who puts Vicks Vapor Stream in his water chamber. That certainly sounds good to me if it is a safe practice? I like to put a bit of Vicks Vapor Rub on each nostril before the mask and have done that for years.

I have spoken to a number of respiratory physicians, respiratory technicians and DME suppliers........they all said that it could be a very dangerous practice to place any additives in the water chamber of your humidifier. Vicks is not designed to be placed inside a closed breathing circuit (as XPAP is).

We had a guy here a few years back trying to peddle humidifier additives, claiming that they were FDA Approved..............they were approved OK, BUT as a cosmetic......not anything else.

Daniel.

by **mocman** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:46 pm

Thanks Daniel I often want to try something this time of year but have held off I am gonna stick with the water though it appears that most bloggers think it is ok to use clean tap water.
Getting it ready for another night.
Thanks again for this site.