# Distilled vs Spring vs drinking water



## masterspark

?


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## CrackbottomLouis

Spring is better. Distilled not so much. Purified also better than distilled.


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## SlobberToofTigger

They are all water so in a disaster whatever you have or can get is the best option. If you are buying ahead do not buy anything in the standard 1 gallon milk jug format as the plastic the jugs are made from has a short shelf life. AKA some number of the jugs will start to spring leaks after a few years. If you can find the jugs that look like clear plastic they will last a very long time. Both distilled and purified have had the minerals removed and with out them people start to deteriorate over the long term (think years). Spring water has been filtered and ozonated to kill and/or remove organisms from the water.

The best plan is to buy a good filter and bunch of large storage containers and just store filtered city water. And then every once in a while just dump and refill the containers. Even old flat city water is better than no water at all.


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## Sentry18

For my short term rotation I buy the Walmart spring water. My long terms storage is similar to what SlobberToofTigger recommended via several 5 gal water storage containers.


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## BillS

Spring water is better than distilled because it has minerals. It should taste better too.


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## mosquitomountainman

BillS said:


> Spring water is better than distilled because it has minerals. It should taste better too.


Depending upon the minerals it might taste worse. Also, it's a good idea to have at least some distilled water on hand for refilling batteries or other applications where it's needed.

STT has the best plan though.


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## SlobberToofTigger

If you are looking for a slow (~ 15 gal/day) but cheap filter check out this one.
http://shop.monolithic.com/products/just-water-ceramic-drip-filter

I am in no way related to them and receive no benefit from your purchase. It is the filter I use. Also if you are wondering why their filter is only rated for 6 months it is because that is the practical lifetime of the charcoal they use to remove things like lead and arsenic versus the maximum flow rate for the filter over that period of time. It will still filter bacteria and viruses indefinitely just not remove the heavy metals. As for viruses, according to the various standards bodies a .45 micron filter is all that is required to produce a sterile fluid. The Monolithic filter is a .2 micron filter so you are probably safe.

On a personal note I use the filter and chlorine so that I take advantage of both physical filtration and chemical sterilization.


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## ComputerGuy

STT. I bought 2 of those filters I build my own drip system with 2 5 gal buckets. Works great.

Still looking at the Berkey Royal based on these observation by LDSPrepper:


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## pawpaw

*Stupid question about chlorine tablets...*

I've been buying bleach in bottles since time began- then learned through this & other sites that they definitely have a limited useful storage life. So... I've recently started getting the 3 ounce pool tablets, figuring I'd just 'shave a tad off' when needed for water purification.
This is NOT something I want screw up on. I await all the replies about how preposterous an idea this is, but they're already bought now. Is there a safe formula or rule of thumb I might glean from the more enlightened here?
I live close to a LOT of fresh clear creeks here, but I still want to treat it before use. Of course, these tablets are good for a 15,000 gallon pool,so...


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## UncleJoe

ComputerGuy said:


> STT. I bought 2 of those filters I build my own drip system with 2 5 gal buckets. Works great.


I bought the same thing about 2 months ago but haven't put it all together yet. Thanks for the review.


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## ComputerGuy

UncleJoe said:


> I bought the same thing about 2 months ago but haven't put it all together yet. Thanks for the review.


You are most welcome. I am glad I was able to finally contribute a REAL preparedness post.


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## GrinnanBarrett

Spring is fine but remember distilled water can be used in devices where you cannot afford to have mineral build up. An example would be a breathing machine or a battery. GB


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## SlobberToofTigger

ComputerGuy said:


> STT. I bought 2 of those filters I build my own drip system with 2 5 gal buckets. Works great.
> 
> Still looking at the Berkey Royal based on these observation by LDSPrepper:


Do some searches on Berkey issues. It appears that they have been having some quality issues.

Have you measured your flow rate using 2 of the filters to see if the published rates are accurate? I have not and would love to know the real flow rate.


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## SlobberToofTigger

pawpaw said:


> I've been buying bleach in bottles since time began- then learned through this & other sites that they definitely have a limited useful storage life. So... I've recently started getting the 3 ounce pool tablets, figuring I'd just 'shave a tad off' when needed for water purification.
> This is NOT something I want screw up on. I await all the replies about how preposterous an idea this is, but they're already bought now. Is there a safe formula or rule of thumb I might glean from the more enlightened here?
> I live close to a LOT of fresh clear creeks here, but I still want to treat it before use. Of course, these tablets are good for a 15,000 gallon pool,so...


You are on to something quite good. As you mentioned that bleach goes bad over time and it is very hard to find bleach that has not had all sorts of stuff added to it. The issue with the chlorine tablets is that most of them have binders and other chemicals designed to modify the chlorines behavior. Some of those additives may be fine to consume but others may not. Rather than the tablets just look for granular pool shock that is calcium Hypochlorite with no extra stuff in it (think WalMart at the end of summer and on sale). Then use a chlorine test kit to bring your water in the range of 1 to 3 PPM. The reason for the test kit rather than me providing a formula is that the state of your water will determine exactly how much chlorine you really need.


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## Tweto

We only buy distilled water for use in the coffee maker and humidifiers. As long as we use distilled, we never need to clean water deposits out.

Distilled water does not have any minerals but that is not an issue, because assuming you never eat food and received all your minerals from water you would still not get enough to stay alive unless you could drink 40-100 gallons a day.

Only distilled water is free of all contaminates, Drinking and Spring water will still have dangerous benzene and other chemicals that are smaller then water molecules and will easily pass any filtering agent. You can count on drinking and spring water to have these chemicals because the government allows it to levels not considered dangerous to your health.


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## SlobberToofTigger

Tweto said:


> Distilled water does not have any minerals but that is not an issue, because assuming you never eat food and received all your minerals from water you would still not get enough to stay alive unless you could drink 40-100 gallons a day.


I also originally thought this. But if you do some research on the issues that areas are having that are using distillation as their sole source of clean drinking water you will find that the micro nutrients in the water are actually quite important for overall health. Also if you are buying your water in plastic containers you are not getting the level of purity you are expecting. What you are actually getting is water that has picked up pollutants from the plastic container it is being stored in. And the longer you store it in the plastic jug the more pollutants it picks up.

I should say that I am not one of those people who thinks that plastic is evil and that consuming anything that has been packaged in plastic will cause men to grow boobs and children to hit puberty much earlier and immediately be drive them to have wild orgies. But I do have some concerns over the long term effects that consuming leached chemicals from plastic can have on health.


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## SlobberToofTigger

masterspark said:


> "...consuming anything that has been packaged in plastic will cause men to grow boobs...."
> Watch it, you're hitting close to home with us 50ish portly types. lol


Well if you go to far down that path you might never go outside.... Grin.


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## Tweto

SlobberToofTigger said:


> I also originally thought this. But if you do some research on the issues that areas are having that are using distillation as their sole source of clean drinking water you will find that the micro nutrients in the water are actually quite important for overall health. Also if you are buying your water in plastic containers you are not getting the level of purity you are expecting. What you are actually getting is water that has picked up pollutants from the plastic container it is being stored in. And the longer you store it in the plastic jug the more pollutants it picks up.
> 
> I should say that I am not one of those people who thinks that plastic is evil and that consuming anything that has been packaged in plastic will cause men to grow boobs and children to hit puberty much earlier and immediately be drive them to have wild orgies. But I do have some concerns over the long term effects that consuming leached chemicals from plastic can have on health.


Interesting point which I will agree with. When the water is delivered in any container then whatever is in the container will be in the water. All of the containers for distilled, spring or drinking water, would have been prepped for water with the same methods, which would mean that the distilled will still be the cleanest.

The issue with the lack of nutrients in distilled is compensated for by the the poor diet that Americans have. I don't know any one that just drinks distilled water. Any soda pop, flavored water, juice drinks, etc. use RO (reverse osmosis) water which does have minerals in it. I drink about 4 soda pops for every drink I have with distilled water. And I have researched this.:wave:


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## LongRider

*Something to keep in mind*

Well or spring water are the only reliable sustainable sources of water. Stock piling containers of water limit your life expectancy to the number of containers you can store.


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## LincTex

LongRider said:


> Well or spring water are the only reliable sustainable sources of water. Stock piling containers of water limit your life expectancy to the number of containers you can store.


People stockpile water because:

1) They believe the water shortage is temporary, and the stockpiles will get them through until the water supply system has been restored (but no one can predict when restoration occurs)

2) They believe the water stored will get them through until they can find another reliable sustainable source.... river, existing well, dig a well, etc.

Stockpiling is great if you feel a 5 day blizzard will stop your water for just those 5 days, and then life is back to normal again.

Alternative long-term water supply sources should be thought of as well.


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## Tweto

I maintain a 5 day supply of stored water, even though I have 2 shallow wells. I store water to give me time to analysis that reason for the SHTF scenario and the make the decision weather to start pumping with my generator (if no EMP) or in stall a hand pump. If I think that grid power will be back then I wait.


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## LongRider

LincTex said:


> Alternative long-term water supply sources should be thought of as well.


As you know my focus is long term sustainability. That way events like Katrina and Sandy are bumps in the road that can be taken in stride. While short term prepping will not get you through TEOTWAWKI. So my posts will always focus on long term sustainability options. Others better qualified can post on short term preps.


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