Distilled water vs demineralised water

[BHappy]

My auto cpap arrived yesterday and the manual says to use distilled water for humidification. I am finding it impossible to search distilled water in Darwin, Au. Is demineralised water exchangeable for distilled water in cpaps ? The educational videos PR made about the dreamstation said 'use clean water' So am thinking what could go wrong if I just used tap water ? 

Cheers,

[PaulaO2]

Distilled is water that has been turned to steam. The steam is captured and allowed to turn back into water in another container. This means that the minerals are left behind. So it is "demineralised".

If your tap water is drinkable and not full of minerals (turns the sink brown), then yes, you can use it in your CPAP.

They allegedly advise against it because the humidifier essentially distills the water again. Any minerals in your tap water are left behind in the humidifier tub. The theory is these minerals can cause the tub to heat unevenly.

Frankly, I use tap water and then use a vinegar/water solution to clean it. At some point, the tub has too many mineral deposits for me to clean off so I toss it and get another. My tap water comes from a spring.

[E.W.]

I believe the primary reason to use distilled water is that 
with regular tap water the minerals may leave a deposit
in the humidifier.  Some people freak out about this but 
if you do get some mineral build up most of the time soaking
the humidifier for a few hrs in a 10% vinegar solution will
desolve these deposits.  Personaly I just use tap water and
don't worry about the mineral buildup.  But if it worries you
you might just use demineralised water .   Heck 50 % of the 
time I don't even use the humidifier.

[Sleeprider]

I also use tap-water; however, I would not hesitate to use demineralized water, which is basically purified water passed through an ion exchange or reverse osmosis process.

[xxyzx]

tap water bad

distilled best
demineralised would approximate that but still not fully free of minerals

you dont want those little particles clogging up the machine
and i had a humidifer that caused breathing problems when i did not use distilled

so i guess you could risk lung irritation or nose/sinus too if you used tap 

try demineralised but if you have problems then realise why

[eseedhouse]

Tap water is safe (free of bacteria) in most developed countries. If you have "soft" water from your taps it's probably all you need. I live in a city whose water supply is "soft" because it's mostly from rainwater drain-off into lakes. If you have "hard" water it's hard because it has lots of minerals in it and when your humidifier evaporates the water it doesn't take the minerals with it so they are left behind and can stain the humidifier.

I do use distilled water because it's cheap and available close by. Also it gives me extra exercise when I walk back up the hill to my home.

[AshSF]

I have been using acquafina - a drinking water from PepsiCo sold in most countries, for over a year now. It is a water with TDS of 4. Its virtually identical to distilled water.

My humidifier chamber has not had any deposit so far. I do wash my humidifier chamber with mild soap once a month.

I have previously used distilled water which worked as well.

On vacation, I have used demineralized water bought from gas stations in Greece. That worked well too.

[Melman]

Demineralized water is probably equivalent to supermarket distilled water, perhaps even more pure. The production of highly purified distilled water requires several phases of distillation after the water is first demineralized by ion exchange or reverse osmosis. The process requires very expensive specialized equipment. Such water would cost much more than the the less than $1/gallon most of us pay.

Also, there should be no problem using tap water. The mineral deposits will be minimal if it is not allowed to evaporate to dryness, and has been pointed out can be removed with vinegar solution.

Bacterial counts are not an issue. Neither tap water or supermarket distilled water are sterile.

[BHappy]

Thank you for your replies

[JamesW]

I am down in Sydney, bloody horrible place, and use Refresh branded distilled drinking water in my machine. Woolies sell it if you have one around. But anything similar will be alright.

James