Distilled water

[Jan1ce]

I have never purchased distilled water in the UK before and since looking for it, all I get is blank stares. Is it called something different? Where do you purchase yours? In which form does it come? Maybe it's the area I live in, but I'm drawing a blank. I've also yet to figure out where my closest sleep clinic is but I'm working on it. Is there a central registry? Even my PCT didn't seem to have a clue. On with the battle then!
(Lost in London!!)

[Tigers Fan]

Helpless?

There's a whole thread on buying distilled water in UK.

Now I know you are in London and not Canada, I could tell you where to go to buy your mask. But it's so obvious, needs only another two seconds research, I shall leave you to discover it for yourself.

May I respectfully remind you that this is a forum, not your personal answering service?

Tigers Fan

[James @ Intus]

Easy Tiger

Aquatics shops and health shops sometimes sell purified / distilled water by the gallons.

On www.cpap.co.uk in the middle of the page you can search for sleep clinics. Plenty in London but you can't just rock up. See resmed.co.uk for their own fitting centres.

[Tigers Fan]

Sorry

Hi James and all other readers of this thread

Sorry for being 'short' for you all to read. I was irked and expressed it inappropriately.

I've taken the correct action so it won't happen again.

Tigers Fan

[Floatyboaty]

Hope it wasn't the nasalwash Tigers!

Janice, why do you want distilled water? tap water over here is fine as it is wholesome (the new name for potable!) It is cheaper to rinse tank regularly with descaler or vinegar than go to the trouble of tracking down distilled water. I would also not advise the use of deionised water as I used to make this and it is deionised for use in car batteries and passes through caustic soda and hydrocloric acid and I personally would not want to breathe that in!

Hope this helps!

[Jan1ce]

Thanks FB. I'm probably just good at following orders - it's what the sleep clinics say to use.

If I seem helpless, don't mean to. The difference between the two systems (Canada vs UK) is like a chasm! I only just learned one way and now it's like I'm a babe in the woods again. I will definitely catch up. Will be a challenging month first! I need to write another thread on what's happened but the jet lag seems to be lingering this time around.

[jossmax]

hard water

Janice the reason distilled water is suggested is due to the "hard water" many areas of the UK have.
Hard water is water that has high mineral content (mainly calcium and magnesium ions) (in contrast with soft water). Hard water minerals primarily consist of calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) metal cations, and sometimes other dissolved compounds such as bicarbonates and sulfates. Calcium usually enters the water as either calcium carbonate (CaCO3), in the form of limestone and chalk, or calcium sulfate (CaSO4), in the form of other mineral deposits. The predominant source of magnesium is dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Hard water is generally not harmful to one's health.

There fore, it tends to "fur" up our kettles and boilers. The same applies to your humidifier. If in a hard water area you will over time see white creamy colour deposits build up on your water tank.

Distilled water has all these minerals removed during distillation. Hence why they recommend using distilled water.

[Pedigaba]

My CPAP clinic person advised me to merely boil tapwater first and then use the cooled boiled water .It seems to work fine as long as the resevoir is cleaned out once every two weeks. There is a bit of build up of soft "fur" or "sludge" on the sides of the tank which is easily cleaned out in the fortnightly cleaning process.

[jonpspencer2]

Distilled water

Distilled Water or sometimes called De-Ironised water or, battery top up water. Most chemists will get you a purified distilled water for medical use, or you can buy a very similar product from Halfords or most Motor Factors.

As an alternative, use RAIN WATER. I actually use water from a Dehumidifier. Provided the water is kept in fresh clean containers and comes from a clean envirenment its every bit as goods as whats for sale. I prefer the water from the dehumidifier as its readily available and cheap. tHE DEHUMIDIFIER CAST ME Ł20 FROM A market it was an Argos return(New)

Just a suggestion, Jon........

[Floatyboaty]

Distilled water and deionised water are two different things.

Deionised water (I used to make this so know the process) is deionised for use in car batteries and passes through caustic soda and hydrocloric acid and I personally would not want to drink it or breathe it in!

Distilled water is water boiled and changes to steam, a process known as distillation. When this steam is allowed to cool down and condense into liquid form again, the result is a purified form called distilled water

Carol

[James @ Intus]

The deionised water idea probably comes from RODI systems which stands for Reverse Osmosis De-Ionisation. The reverse osmosis part is what filters the impurities out.

[Floatyboaty]

Would still not want it in my humidifier!

[leswaller]

Chemically it is probably more pure than distilled water which can contain other soluble elements in the distillate. Water that has been purified by reverse osmosis will have been passed through a molecule screen that is designed only to let H2O through. (sorry about the science lesson)

[Floatyboaty]

Chemically it is probably more pure than distilled water which can contain other soluble elements in the distillate. Water that has been purified by reverse osmosis will have been passed through a molecule screen that is designed only to let H2O through. (sorry about the science lesson)

i still would not use it in a humidifier!

[sleepinquebec]

@ Jan1ce – Could I refer you to the thread I started last year when I was looking for distilled water in London? http://forums.cpap.co.uk/showthread.php?t=564

You’re right when you say ‘The difference between the two systems (Canada vs UK) is like a chasm!’. I looked a lot to find where to buy distilled water in London before finding this forum. Distilled water is sold in almost every grocery store here in Quebec and we are told by CPAP technicians to use only this type of water and nothing else. After my trip to London last year I learnt that it is not true. Since then, I use Brita filter with tap water to fill my CPAP and it’s just perfect. When I travel, I bring my Brita filter with me and use tap water or bottled water depending of the quality of the tap water available.