Any of you guys have your own water distiller?

[slashmaster]

I don't want to pay for bottles of distilled water anymore. Do any of you guys have a good distiller setup? I'm open to any suggestions...

[Mmechanic]

Had one, an English product. About 2500 W power and nice constant dripping of distilled water. But the acids you employ to dissolve the lime also attack the chromium plating of the heating element.

Installed something of my own, a cast iron kitchen pot on a tripod, Bunsen burner underneath. On top the condensor of the English distiller which is made from glass, the two parts clamped together with a packing ring between the glass dome and the pot. Works, yet less efficiently because the heat is applied from outside. The electric distiller takes the heat directly into the water.

A sunlight collector would be great, something like a rugged glass bulb in the focus of a dish. Heliostat that follows the sun. Would not need any energy input besides the sunlight. Never stop dreaming!

[slashmaster]

I have distilled water myself right now at the house if I would just get in the car and drive home. doesn't matter if it is 2am

[aj]

I have distilled water myself right now at the house if I would just get in the car and drive home. doesn't matter if it is 2am

Why post the question then?

BTW You can't win anything with machine and paying for the wasted energy. 5 liter containers are already so low in price.
Otherwise try barrels of osmose-water. Which window cleaners use. There are not particles or anything else in that either.

[slashmaster]

I have distilled water myself right now at the house if I would just get in the car and drive home. doesn't matter if it is 2am

Why post the question then?

BTW You can't win anything with machine and paying for the wasted energy. 5 liter containers are already so low in price.
Otherwise try barrels of osmose-water. Which window cleaners use. There are not particles or anything else in that either.

Thank AJ, by the way, my girlfriend logged into my account and wrote that after she got me a bottle. I'm embarrassed!...

[Angus]

The energy and water used by a still to produce a few litres is prohibitive if you are a private individual. I work in a school science department where we I run a still capable of producing 99.8% pure H2O....it pulls 3kW and produces a maximum of 3.8 litres per hour depending on the temperature differential between it's supply of cold water and the boiling steam. We use it to make at least 25 litres in one go normally, so it runs all day. We actually have 60 litres available at any one time. Bear in mind that during the 7-8 hours it runs, the 3kW heater is on constantly and there is a running supply of cold water constantly. That costs in electricity and water, assuming your water is metered.

Then factor in that in most countries you need your still licensed. Even as a school, we have a license from HMRC which states we may only distill water, and only for educational use. In theory they could come and check at any time what I'm doing with the still - though in 17 years in the job they have not. Also bear in mind that such a still costs in the region of £1000 to buy, needs it's own dedicated electrical socket/supply spur and a constant supply of cold water plus a drain. It also needs cleaning (usually with formic acid as hydrochloric and sulphuric damage the heating element) every 2-3 months at the rate we use it. As stills go, this is quite cheap. We have an older still which produce 99.9% pure H2O but at half the rate.

Not really practical for a home setup.

I suppose if you had a lieibig condenser lashed up to your kitchen sink with an electric heating mantle and a round/pear flask you could distill water...but again you're going to spend hours getting any decent quantity. Such a lash up would produce just drips of distilled water.

Unless you are using litres and litres (as we do) or cannot get bottled distilled water...it's probably not worth it.

[aj]

Thank you

Another option could be to collect rainwater, filter it for particles or leaves and on with it

[slashmaster]

The energy and water used by a still to produce a few litres is prohibitive if you are a private individual. I work in a school science department where we I run a still capable of producing 99.8% pure H2O....it pulls 3kW and produces a maximum of 3.8 litres per hour depending on the temperature differential between it's supply of cold water and the boiling steam. We use it to make at least 25 litres in one go normally, so it runs all day. We actually have 60 litres available at any one time. Bear in mind that during the 7-8 hours it runs, the 3kW heater is on constantly and there is a running supply of cold water constantly. That costs in electricity and water, assuming your water is metered.

Then factor in that in most countries you need your still licensed. Even as a school, we have a license from HMRC which states we may only distill water, and only for educational use. In theory they could come and check at any time what I'm doing with the still - though in 17 years in the job they have not. Also bear in mind that such a still costs in the region of £1000 to buy, needs it's own dedicated electrical socket/supply spur and a constant supply of cold water plus a drain. It also needs cleaning (usually with formic acid as hydrochloric and sulphuric damage the heating element) every 2-3 months at the rate we use it. As stills go, this is quite cheap. We have an older still which produce 99.9% pure H2O but at half the rate.

Not really practical for a home setup.

I suppose if you had a lieibig condenser lashed up to your kitchen sink with an electric heating mantle and a round/pear flask you could distill water...but again you're going to spend hours getting any decent quantity. Such a lash up would produce just drips of distilled water.

Unless you are using litres and litres (as we do) or cannot get bottled distilled water...it's probably not worth it.

Thanks Angus! Thanks AJ! So if someone else is paying for your electricity it could be worth it. How many gallons of water are typically used to make a gallon of distilled?

[Angus]

To be honest I do not measure how much water is used in the condenser, but the still I use produces a maximum of 3.8 litres per hour of 99.8% water. Give or take one US gallon per hour, when working at it's best. A quick Google suggests a tap running uses approximately 6 litres per minute...which would be roughly 360 litres in that hour, to produce one gallon of distilled water (or 95 gallons used to produce one gallon).

The above is all based on "average" flow of water from a tap, and on the still working at optimum conditions. I haven't measured flow from the supply I have hooked up to my still but it is probably in the ballpark.

[slashmaster]

To be honest I do not measure how much water is used in the condenser, but the still I use produces a maximum of 3.8 litres per hour of 99.8% water. Give or take one US gallon per hour, when working at it's best. A quick Google suggests a tap running uses approximately 6 litres per minute...which would be roughly 360 litres in that hour, to produce one gallon of distilled water (or 95 gallons used to produce one gallon).

The above is all based on "average" flow of water from a tap, and on the still working at optimum conditions. I haven't measured flow from the supply I have hooked up to my still but it is probably in the ballpark.

A lot of water and electricity. If I can get one portable enough maybe I can get more of my moneys worth next time I go to a hotel

[Angus]

Whether it is worth it depends on if your water usage is metered and how much your electricity costs...and your own views on usage of resources.

My personal view is that it's not worth it unless you're using industrial or educational quantities of distilled water.