Distillation is the process
of boiling and condensing water. The amount of electrical energy you use
to operate the unit depends on it's size and whether you have been diligent in
it's maintenance. Efficient distillers use about 3 KWH of
electricity for each gallon of water that is distilled. You can calculate the
approximate cost
per gallon by multiplying 3 times the KWH rate in your area.
Consider energy consumption.
The heat generated by the
unit spills into your home. A medium size distillation unit is like
having a kettle boiling in your kitchen, ...all the time. When sizing an
air conditioner for your home the HVAC experts use tables to determine heat
load. A 10 cup coffee maker requires an additional 1/2 ton of air
conditioning.
Consider heat load.
The process of distilling
water will leave a residue of inorganic compounds such as calcium and
magnesium which will coat the area where the water was boiled-off. This
scale eventually needs to be removed, usually by hand scrubbing or by an
application of acid.
Regular maintenance by scrubbing and chemicals or vinegar is required. Un-evaporated pollutants remaining in the boiling chamber need to be regularly
flushed. Consider maintenance.
Distillation does not remove all harmful organic
compounds and may need to be supplemented with carbon filtration for this
purpose. Some contaminants carry over with the steam in the distillation
process. Some contaminants have lower boiling points than that of
water which is why distillers are equipped with a volatile gas
vent, a design feature which removes most of these contaminants. For even
further protection, each distiller is also equipped with a carbon post-filter
to provide you with the highest quality distilled water with a 99% or higher
removal rate of contaminants.
The process of distillation
is not fast. Water is first brought to a boil then the vapour is condensed
back to water. Distillation is slow. Typically, 2 gallons of input water
yield about 1 gallon of distilled water after 4 to 6 hours. Large counter top
distillers can distill up to a gallon of water per hour. Small units produce
less than 1 quart of water per hour. You do not want to
store Distilled water longer than a day as the tank of processed water is vented
and open to the air. Distilled water like RO water is very soft and relatively pure. Pure
water is frequently termed as the universal solvent because it
"wants" to pick up or dissolve many of the things it comes in
contact with. Consider the amount of purified water you need.
Efficiency,
many
smaller, slower units and less expensive counter top units are more effective
at removing organic matter from the water because they heat the water more
slowly. Quickly heating water can allow compounds to be tossed from the
water into the steam allowing these compounds to either coat the walls of the
distillation coils or be transported into the distilled water.
Consider
efficiency.
Both Distilled Water RO water
have been implicated in the leaching of nutrients from the body. Our
investigation of this while definitely not as thorough as the reseach
done by the WQA on this topic has not found scientific proof of this.