Distillation is an efficient, inexpensive solution to making pure water. By heating contaminated water to boiling, bacteria and most biological contaminants are rendered harmless while their vapors condense back to liquid in a storage tank – not only does this remove nonvolatile organic chemicals from your supply but it can also remove many minerals and charged ions from it too, producing colorless, odorless and tasteless distilled water that’s great for your health! Home distillation units can even be purchased and are easy to operate!
Distillation alone cannot eliminate all contaminants; certain volatile organic compounds with boiling points lower than water (including some pesticides and herbicides ) will still vaporize along with it and may recontaminate purified products after distillation. Therefore, these harmful substances must first be addressed via another treatment method before distillation begins.
Distillation requires significant energy input: boiling large volumes of water to vapor requires considerable electrical power and most home distillers use propane burners as heat sources. Furthermore, its boiling chamber must be regularly cleaned out in order to eliminate minerals or impurities which could overheat and damage equipment.
Home water distillers must be carefully chosen based on the needs and wants of each family. Some include features like water level sensors that turn off the heat source when the boiling chamber is empty to help prevent bacterial contamination of distilled water, while others use activated carbon filters to filter volatile organic chemicals out (see this NebGuide on Drinking Water Treatment: Activated Carbon Filtration for more details). Whatever system you opt for, regular maintenance is key as any problems with either of these can reduce effectiveness significantly, or contribute to foul odors from being produced resulting in less effective distilled water or even cause.
