Before Considering Purchasing Filtration Type
Is Your Water Safe For Drinking?
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Water Testing
Before you buy a water purification or filtration unit, you should know what impurities are in your water supply. To determine the types and amounts of impurities in your water, you should have it analyzed by a certified laboratory. The results of the water test will help determine the best water treatment system to use.
If you obtain water from a private water supply (you supply your own water), you also make the final decision about water testing. However, it is recommended that testing be done on a regular basis. When problems do occur, more frequent testing may be required until a solution is found.
Community water supplies are monitored and treated to protect users from health threatening water impurities. Ask your water supplier for a copy of the latest water test results
Before Considering Purchasing…
Impurities Removal Properties: Water Distillation
What impurities will distillers remove?
The distillation process removes almost all impurities from water. Distillers are commonly used for removing nitrate, bacteria, sodium, hardness, dissolved solids, most organic compounds, heavy metals, and radionucleides from water. Distillers remove about 99.5 percent of the impurities from the original water.
What impurities are not removed?
Distillers can allow 0.3 to 0.5 percent of water impurities to exist in the storage container after distilling.
Some volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), certain pesticides and volatile solvents, boil at temperatures very close to water (207-218 degrees Fahrenheit). These types of contaminants will not be substantially reduced in concentration by distillation. Properly equipped distillers can reduce VOC concentrations effectively.
Although bacteria are removed by distillation, they may recolonize on the cooling coils during inactive periods. Maintain proper cleaning to avoid potential bacteria recolonization.
Before Considering Purchasing…
Advantages/Disadvantages Water Distillers
What are the advantages of distillers?
Distillers remove almost all of the impurities found in water, produce sodium free water, and are relatively easy to maintain. Most distillers are mechanically simple.
Distillers have small capacities and use considerable energy to process water. Because of the small capacities, distillers are limited to point-of-use systems. Distillers without gas vents, fractional columns, or ACF units will not remove VOCs. Heat generated by a distiller must be dissipated into the surrounding environment.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED: This is the case with any water purification systems, and AFC, gas vents, and fractional columns cannot remove VOC’s iether individually, or in combination. Distillation (in combination with VOC removal devices) is the process used in laboratory studies where the need for the purest form of water is neccassary.
Before Considering Purchasing… Proper Maintenance
Proper Maintenance
Minerals and other residues accumulate in the boiling chamber as water is boiled away. These minerals and compounds need to be removed occasionally. The boiling chamber of a distiller should be emptied about once a week. When distillation is continuous, the boiling chamber should be emptied more often. If these materials (scale and sediment) are not removed periodically, a distiller becomes inefficient. Read More…
Before Considering Purchasing… Pricing and Operational Cost Calculations
Cost of Distillation Equipment Purchase Price
Distillers cost from $200 to $1500 for home use models. Counter top distillers will range from $200 to $500 and automatic models from $600 to $1500. In addition to the purchase cost, there are yearly operation costs. These include electricity, chemical cleaners, and possibly replacementACFs. Yearly operation costs depend on how often a distiller is used. Read More…
Before Considering Purchasing…
About VOC’s “volatile organic compounds” and (VOC) removed
What Are VOCs?
How are volatile organic compounds (VOC) removed?
Distillers can remove VOCs by three methods: 1) gas vents, 2) fractional columns and 3) activated carbon filters (ACF). Distillers that use a combination of VOC removal methods are more efficient than one single method.
Gas vents are small holes drilled into the passage leading to the cooling coils. Gas vents allow VOCs to escape the distiller before they enter the cooling section coils. These holes (one or two) are usually from .045 inches to .065 inches in diameter. Read More…
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