Distilled water facts for kids
Distilled water is a special kind of water. It's made by boiling water until it turns into vapor (steam). This steam is then collected and cooled down, turning it back into liquid water in a different container. When water boils, any dirt, minerals, or other things that don't boil easily are left behind in the first container. This makes distilled water a very pure type of water.
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History of Distilled Water
People have been making distilled water for a very long time! We know that people were distilling drinking water from seawater as far back as the year 200 AD. A person named Alexander of Aphrodisias clearly wrote about how to do it. Even before that, the famous thinker Aristotle mentioned water distillation in his writings.
Later, in 1797, a ship captain named Israel Williams found a clever way to distill water on his ship, the Friendship. He wrote about his method in his journal.
What is Distilled Water Used For?
Distilled water is super useful because it's so pure. Regular tap water often has tiny bits of minerals or other things dissolved in it. These can sometimes cause problems.
For example, in science labs or factories, very pure water is needed. If water isn't pure, it can mess up chemical reactions or leave behind mineral stains when it dries.
- Car Batteries: The water in car batteries needs to be very pure. If you use regular tap water, the minerals in it can damage the battery and make it stop working quickly.
- Cooling Systems: Cars also use pure water in their cooling systems. Minerals can cause rust and stop the special liquids that prevent rust from working well.
- Humidifiers: Small humidifiers, like those used for cigars, use distilled water. This stops white mineral dust from building up inside the machine and in the air.
- Medical Machines: Machines like continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, which help people breathe, use distilled water. This is important because the water evaporates, and you don't want any impurities going into someone's lungs.
- Steam Irons: Many people use distilled water in their steam irons. This helps prevent limescale (hard mineral deposits) from building up inside the iron, which can make it break faster, especially in areas with hard water. Some newer irons have filters, so they can use tap water.
Distilled Water and Living Things
When you add distilled water to an aquarium, it removes any unknown things that might be in tap water. However, living things like fish need certain minerals to be healthy. If you only add distilled water, it can lower the amount of these important minerals. Fish and other creatures do best when the water has the right amount of minerals, like in their natural homes (lakes or oceans).
How is Distilled Water Made?
Making fresh water from seawater used to be quite difficult and expensive. People used to say, "It takes one gallon of fuel to make one gallon of fresh water!"
During World War II, a scientist named Dr. R. V. Kleinschmidt invented a new machine called a compression still. This machine made it much easier and cheaper to get fresh water from seawater or dirty water. It could make about 175 gallons of fresh water for every gallon of fuel! This invention became very important for ships and armies.
Today, large ships often use a method called flash-type evaporators. They heat seawater to about 70 to 80 degrees Celsius (158 to 176 degrees Fahrenheit) in a vacuum. This makes the water evaporate quickly, and then the steam is collected as pure water.
You can also make distilled water using simple Solar stills. These use the sun's energy to evaporate water and collect the pure steam.
When water is distilled using special equipment, almost all minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sodium are removed. This makes the water very pure. Regular tap water can conduct electricity easily because of the minerals in it, but distilled water hardly conducts any electricity at all.
Distilled water is also slightly acidic, with a pH of about 5.8. This is because it absorbs a tiny bit of carbon dioxide gas from the air, which forms a very weak acid.
Drinking Distilled Water
You can often find bottled distilled water in stores or pharmacies. You can also buy machines to distill water at home. Distilling water is especially helpful in places where the regular tap water isn't safe to drink without boiling or other treatments.
Most city water supplies have tiny amounts of things in them that are considered safe to drink. Distillation removes almost all of these, including things like fluoride that regular water filters don't remove.
In dry areas near the sea, people sometimes drink distilled water that has been made from seawater through a process called desalination.
Health Effects of Drinking Distilled Water
When water is distilled, all the minerals are taken out. This means it's "demineralized" water. Scientists are still studying if drinking demineralized water is healthier than regular water.
The World Health Organization (WHO) looked into this in 1982. Their studies showed that drinking demineralized water made people pee more and lose some important body salts, like potassium.
Minerals like magnesium and calcium found in regular drinking water can be good for your health. Experts suggest that drinking water should have at least 10 milligrams of magnesium per liter and 20 milligrams of calcium per liter. These minerals can help protect against not getting enough nutrients.
Some people believe that drinking distilled water is good for you, while others don't. Distilled water doesn't have minerals like calcium that are important for your body's functions, especially for your nervous system.
A study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine looked at the minerals in different waters in the US. It found that many drinking water sources have good amounts of calcium, magnesium, and sodium. The study suggested that people should check the mineral content of their water and choose what's best for them. If you drink distilled water, it's important to get these minerals from your food instead.
Some studies also suggest that drinking "hard" water (water with minerals) might be good for your heart.
See also
In Spanish: Agua destilada para niños
- Atmospheric water generator
- Deionized water
- Heavy water
- Ultrapure water
