Tap vs distilled water

[SarcasticDave94]

I'm still doing distilled. Our water mineral content is too high for me to deal with the EXTRA cleaning.

FYI John Candy was just big. He was a funny and favorite actor though.

[richb]

I am also in the tap water camp. I have a water softener that removes most of the minerals and I rinse out the humidifier and clean my mask every night.

Rich

[MitchS]

I use distilled water to keep mineral deposits down. At a dollar a month, it's cheap enough.

[Sleepster]

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So, the non-distilled humidifier water may address OSA satisfactorily,  but can seriously compromise your health.

Doctors routinely instruct patients to irrigate their sinuses with warm tap water and salt.
If the water is safe to drink, it's safe to use in your CPAP machine.

Manufacturers of CPAP machines recommend or insist on distilled water here in the US because it is cheap and readily available and will not cause the mineral deposit build up you can get from hard tap water. In most European countries distilled water is available only as the very expensive chemically pure type.

[PaulaO2]

At $0.87/gal switching from distilled water would not save me much. I only use a little over a gallon a  month. I prefer that to cleaning the mineral deposits from my reservoir.

And that is what it comes down to. Cost and effort.

I'd rather not mess with a gallon jug I have to recycle but I don't mind cleaning out my humidifier tank. I have a spring, not a well, and the mineral amount is small. Simple vinegar solution rinse or soak is all I need. However, I do replace it every 6 - 8 months.

[Melman]

And that is what it comes down to. Cost and effort.

The important point that I hope everyone understands is that it only comes down to that and risk that risk of infection is not an issue.