Water-Distillation followed by Carbon-Filtration

[LA]

 

[LA]

Viruses are in all water supplies with the exception of distilled water.
We had the 2009 swine flu and have not been sick again with any type of virus after my husband started distilling all of our drinking and cooking water.

Carbon Filtering does not remove viruses.
Reverse Osmosis Treatment does NOT remove viruses

Bottled water does not remove viruses and sometimes it contains residual pharmaceuticals from all the under the counter stuff used in Europe and etc.

Distilled water treatment removes Viruses and also the following various contaminants, which are not removed by charcoal filtering:
Arsenic
Asbestos
Bacteria
Chloride
Chromium (Hexavalent)
Chromium (Trivalent)
Cyanide
Fluoride
Lead
Mercury
Nitrate and Nitrite
Phosphates
Sodium
Sulfate
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
Viruses

 

[EvanHinkle]

Would this work in reverse? For instance, many whole home filters run through carbon, and then it might be easier to run that water through a countertop distiller. I’ve seen whole home distillers before but they don’t seem to be highly regarded by “water people” for whatever reason, I’m not sure-never inquired.

Do you and your husband distill and then run through something like a Berkey?

 

[Dave Clark]

Isn't nickel, carried over by the stainless steel {SS} distillers, a problem, especially for those that are nickel sensitive? That would be the only negative I would have on distilled water. I have yet to find a home distiller that isn't made of stainless steel, especially low nickel SS. I saw where one guy tested his water after distilling and there was no nickel found in the sample. I am guessing the 'grade' of stainless might have much to do with it. But, I doubt most of those units are high carbon, low alloy SS, since they they don't want the units to corrode or discolor for the consumer.

 

[GTW]

Would this work in reverse? For instance, many whole home filters run through carbon, and then it might be easier to run that water through a countertop distiller. I’ve seen whole home distillers before but they don’t seem to be highly regarded by “water people” for whatever reason, I’m not sure-never inquired.

Do you and your husband distill and then run through something like a Berkey?

Carbon filter alone removes the same contaminants as it does post-distillation as marked with asterisks. Therefore could say yes.

 

[tasfarelel]

I have also decided 5 years ago to go with a distiller + carbon filter system and proceed the following way: discard the first ~300ml that come out of the distiller (to get rid of the majority of organic substances) and pass the rest through a filter from zero-water in a large glass container. This way I keep using the same zero-water filter for several months. Personally, I love the taste of pure water that comes out of this and dont add anything to it.

 

[Sphagnum]

I agree with others that suggested one use the carbon filter first.

-Depending on how airtight your system is, I imagine you could be rapidly releasing the boiled off chloramines and whatever other organic compounds into the air. Not any more dangerous than boiling tap water, but if you’re avoiding these things than there are more complete ways

-a regularly used carbon filter could potentially begin to harbor various fungus from airborne spores, or bacteria from handling if the installation process and encasement aren’t 100% sanitized and air tight. If you distill after carbon filtering, you don’t run these risks

The only upside I can think of for carbon filtering after distillation is that it could extend the life of the filter some, but given their general affordability and work life, I don’t see it as being that much of a positive financial impact.

Two more notes:

-a proper UV filter is also effective against viruses, and they have travel versions in case you’re ever somewhere that you can’t bring your larger system

- the smallest virus known is .02 micron, and an RO filter pore is generally around .0001 micron, so an RO filter should handle viruses just fine (the graph in the OP is using smilies instead of actual figures….)

 

[LA]

Do you and your husband distill and then run through something like a Berkey?

After the tap water goes through the distiller it goes into a tank with a faucet. We use the faucet to fill up one of our Brita Water Pitchers, which have replaceable carbon filters. We change the carbon filters periodically

 

[TurboTime]

Isn't nickel, carried over by the stainless steel {SS} distillers, a problem, especially for those that are nickel sensitive?

Yes. Suddenly it became unbearably noticeable to me after a year so I had to fix it. There is a "surgical grade" 316 stainless distiller on the market but the condenser coil is still the same 304 as the rest so it's pointless. My solution to the nickel is to filter it out post distillation with KDF and activated charcoal. I fill 2 small cotton/muslin bags, one with KDF55 and the other with coconut charcoal, and cram those in the spout where the ordinary filter sachets go. Works beautifully, no more metal taste. I asked some others if they could taste the difference but they couldn't taste either, presumably because they hadn't been drinking nickel for a year. Also the distiller is unusable with the provided container with its aluminum lid. I just sit a porcelain dinner plate on top of the glass jar to keep dust out. Also I let the the water boil without the condenser lid on for the first 30 minutes until it's boiling to let the chlorine boil off. Otherwise I can taste that in the water too.

 

[LA]

Everyone is different. We all have different needs, strengths and weaknesses. The most important tactic anyone can use is to critically examine what works "for them" and what keeps them (the individual) healthy.

 

[biggirlkisss]

one naturepath paid for very expensive labs that showed that reverse ominouis takes out 80% of floride. Some filters of RO have uv filtering. That may kill viruses.

 

[LA]

Distilling removes all Fluoride and a distiller is easier to maintain

 

[GTW]

Yes. Suddenly it became unbearably noticeable to me after a year so I had to fix it. There is a "surgical grade" 316 stainless distiller on the market but the condenser coil is still the same 304 as the rest so it's pointless. My solution to the nickel is to filter it out post distillation with KDF and activated charcoal. I fill 2 small cotton/muslin bags, one with KDF55 and the other with coconut charcoal, and cram those in the spout where the ordinary filter sachets go. Works beautifully, no more metal taste. I asked some others if they could taste the difference but they couldn't taste either, presumably because they hadn't been drinking nickel for a year. Also the distiller is unusable with the provided container with its aluminum lid. I just sit a porcelain dinner plate on top of the glass jar to keep dust out. Also I let the the water boil without the condenser lid on for the first 30 minutes until it's boiling to let the chlorine boil off. Otherwise I can taste that in the water too.

300 stainless is called chrome nickel and roughly 18-8 content. 316 has greater corrosion resistance in some but not all environments. Surgical grade? Disingenuous lie from the industry. Titanium is certainly more costly but much better for implants. Three pins were put in my femur after a fracture. They should have been removed after 6 months. After a few years they extruded an inch out of the bone into the IT band. I insisted they be removed rather than hip replacement. The surgeon claim did not know their composition. Specific gravity showed iron alloy/stainless.

 

[LA]

Three pins were put in my femur after a fracture. They should have been removed after 6 months. After a few years they extruded an inch out of the bone into the IT band. I insisted they be removed rather than hip replacement. The surgeon claim did not know their composition. Specific gravity showed iron alloy/stainless.

This 'sort-of' happened to an internet friend of my husband who was given bad metal that was ALSO contaminated with mold. It took at least 2 more operations for him to heal - Stay healthy

 

[LA]

A Vital Necessity

Painful thirst has been experienced by very few Americans. We take for granted that we will always have enough water to drink. Most of us think of "food and water" in that order, when we think of survival essentials that should be stored. But if unprepared citizens were confined in a shelter, they soon would realize that they should have given first priority to storing adequate water. Therefore, having an ample supply of clean water is a top priority in an emergency. A normally active person needs to drink at least two quarts (half gallon) of water each day. People in hot environments, children, nursing mothers, and ill people will require even more. You will also need water for food preparation and hygiene. Plan for at least 1/2 gallon of water per person per day for basic hydration. If you want to cook grains and legumes, increase that to one full gallon per person per day. With an additional two or three gallons per person per day, you can be clean. On a limited supply of water, watch for signs of dehydration including: dark urine with a very strong odor; dark, sunken eyes; low urine output; fatigue; loss of skin elasticity; emotional instability; thirst; a “trench line” down center of the tongue; and delayed capillary refill in the fingernail beds. If you are in a survival situation without other sources of water, digging a well for water is not usually worth the energy and sweat.

For the purpose of emergency planning, the water you use on a daily basis should be categorized by the quality and quantities you actually require. For example, water for oral hygiene or drinking requires the highest quality, but the lowest quantity; water for cleaning your body or your clothes requires the lowest quality, water for cooking falls somewhere in-between. The differences among these three applications are important to understand, because if your community cannot furnish clean water to your home, you will have to furnish it for yourself; however, not all of your water has to be good enough to drink. You certainly do not need to flush your toilet with drinking water, yet all of the water that is piped into your home is clean enough to drink.

Drinking alcohol or salty foods will increase your water requirements and should be avoided. Also, if you have extremely little to drink, consider minimizing your protein intake, as protein takes water to digest. If you have no water, you should not eat at all. When one is sweating heavily and not eating salty food, salt deficiency symptoms especially cramping are likely to develop within a few days. To prevent this, 6 or 8 grams of salt (about 1/4 oz, or 1/2 tablespoon) should be consumed daily in food and drink. If little or no food is eaten, this small daily salt ration should be added to drinking water. Under hot conditions, a little salt makes water taste better.

For the kidneys to eliminate waste products effectively, the average person needs to drink enough water so that he urinates at least one pint each day. (When water is not limited, most people drink enough to urinate 2 pints. Additional water is lost in perspiration, exhaled breath, and excrement.) Under cool conditions, a person could survive for weeks on 3 pints of water a day if he eats little food and if that food is low in protein. Cool conditions, however, would be the exception in crowded belowground shelters occupied for many days. Under such circumstances four or five quarts of drinking water per day are essential in very hot weather, with none allowed for washing. Even minimum hydration rations for one person for one month take up a lot of storage space, so after you have obtained a six-month supply of drinking water for everyone in your family, any additional storage of water for cooking and cleaning may not be practical. With a bit of planning and a good supply of containers, you can safely postpone storage of your drinking water rations until several days after a pandemic has been declared; however, you may eventually need an alternate source of water for cooking and cleaning. For example, it does not really matter how dirty the water is if you only need it for flushing a toilet.

Remove as much silt as possible. This will extend the service life of your filter cartridges, if you do not have a proper water filter, you can remove most of the sediments from collected water by pouring it through a few coffee filters or layers of cloth. Filter the water down to 0.2 microns to remove organisms such as cryptosporidium and giardia lamblia, which cannot be killed with small amounts of bleach. Consider the purchase of a high quality, portable, water filter like the Katadyn Gravidyn, for treating the water you collect. Be sure that the device you purchase is easy to use by everyone and will meet the needs of your entire household for at least one full year. (The Gravidyn produces one gallon of 0.2 micron filtered water per hour, has no moving parts, requires no power, does not have to be attended, is good for 10,000 gallons, and costs about $160). Add a chemical treatment to the water to kill as many organisms as possible. A filter can remove viruses, but they are easily killed with a small amount of sodium hypochlorite, also known as ordinary laundry bleach (unscented Clorox or Purex). . .read more . . .

 

[Pete Rey]

Distilling removes all Fluoride and a distiller is easier to maintain

Old thread with debate on this: Water Supply

Personally I have been distilling all cooking and drinking water for years. I run it through a faucet carbon filter first because the carbon filters for the Mini Classic tend to shed little paper fibers into the water- my one complaint about an otherwise excellent machine.

 

[LA]

Old thread with debate on this: Water Supply

Personally I have been distilling all cooking and drinking water for years. I run it through a faucet carbon filter first because the carbon filters for the Mini Classic tend to shed little paper fibers into the water- my one complaint about an otherwise excellent machine.

yes that is what we do and it works and is easy. We drink, cook and make tea or coffee with our distilled water and have not been sick since we started the routine. It is very easy; sorry to learn about the paper fibers. You might find a way to improve it