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{{Short description|Water that has had many of its impurities removed through distillation}}File:Aqua-distillata.jpg|thumb|Bottle for distilled water in the Real Farmacia in Madrid]]Distilled water is water that has been boiled into vapor and condensed back into liquid in a separate container. Impurities in the original water that do not boil below or near the boiling point of water remain in the original container. Thus, distilled water is a type of purified water.

History

{{See also|Distillation#Desalination by distillation|Desalination#History}}Drinking water has been distilled from seawater since at least about AD 200, when the process was clearly described by Alexander of Aphrodisias.JOURNAL, 10.1080/00033794500201451, 0003-3790, 5, 3, 186, Taylor, F. Sherwood, F. Sherwood Taylor, The Evolution of the Still, Annals of Science, 1945, Its history predates this, as a passage in Aristotle’s Meteorologica refers to the distillation of water.WEB, Aristotle, Meteorology – Book II,ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/meteorology/book2.html, dead,ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/meteorology/book2.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20100426031024ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/meteorology/book2.html,">web.archive.org/web/20100426031024ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/meteorology/book2.html, 2010-04-26, 2010-06-14, The University of Adelaide, II.3, 358b16, PDF, Captain Israel Williams of the Friendship (1797) improvised a way to distill water, which he described in his journal.BOOK,archive.org/stream/cu31924028839152/cu31924028839152_djvu.txt, The old shipmasters of Salem, Trow, Charles Edward, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905, New York and London, 178ff, Chapter XVI, 4669778, Short of Fresh Water Causes Alarm — Captain Williams’s Invention to Make Salt Water Fresh — His ‘Still’ Described by him,

Applications

In chemical and biological laboratories, as well as in industry, in some appliances, deionized water or reverse osmosis water can be used instead of distilled water as a cheaper alternative.If exceptionally high-purity water is required, double distilled water is used.In general, non-purified water could cause or interfere with chemical reactions as well as leave mineral deposits after boiling away. One method of removing impurities from water and other fluids is distillation.For example, ions commonly found in tap water would drastically reduce lifespans of lead–acid batteries used in cars and trucks. These ions are not acceptable in automotive cooling systems because they corrode internal engine components and deplete typical antifreeze anti-corrosion additives.www.hazardouswaste.utah.gov/SWBranch/Adobe/P2Factsheets/AntifreezeRecyclingFactSheet.pdf" title="web.archive.org/web/20100701012047www.hazardouswaste.utah.gov/SWBranch/Adobe/P2Factsheets/AntifreezeRecyclingFactSheet.pdf">Pollution Prevention Fact Sheet Antifreeze Recycling & Disposal. Utah Department of Environmental Quality, USAny non-volatile or mineral components in water are left behind when the water evaporates or boils away. Water escaping as steam, for example from a boiler of heating system or steam engine, leaves behind any dissolved materials leading to mineral deposits known as boiler scale.(File:Steam water distiller.JPG|thumb|A boiling water distiller. Boiling tank on top and holding tank on the bottom.)Low-volume humidifiers such as cigar humidors can use distilled water to avoid mineral deposits.WEB, 2020-06-19, Distilled water {{!, Empire City Auto Parts|url=https://empirecityautoparts.com/products/parts/distilled-water/|access-date=2021-09-22|language=en-US}}Certain biological applications require controlled impurities, especially in experiments. For example, distilling water to be added to an aquarium would remove known and unknown non-volatile contaminants. Living things require specific minerals; adding distilled water to an ecosystem, such as an aquarium, would reduce the concentration of these minerals. Fish and other living things that have evolved to survive in lakes and oceans should be expected to thrive at mineral ranges found in their original habitat.WEB,www.dfg.ca.gov/caep/r3/docs/basic-aquarium-set-up.pdf, Basic Aquarium System Set-Up Trout-in-the-Classroom, 2015-01-03, dead,www.dfg.ca.gov/caep/r3/docs/basic-aquarium-set-up.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20150923214044www.dfg.ca.gov/caep/r3/docs/basic-aquarium-set-up.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20150923214044www.dfg.ca.gov/caep/r3/docs/basic-aquarium-set-up.pdf, Department of Fish and Game, 2015-09-23, Controlled impurities as well as equipment reliability are critically important in medical applications where, for example, distilled water is used in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to humidify air for breathing. Distilled water will not leave contaminants behind when the humidifier in the CPAP machine evaporates the water.WEB, Distilled Water And CPAP Usage,www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber, cpap.com, live,www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber," title="web.archive.org/web/20140705042850www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber,">web.archive.org/web/20140705042850www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber, 2014-07-05, WEB,www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber, CPAP Humidifier Frequently Asked Questions - CPAP.com, cpap.com, live,www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber," title="web.archive.org/web/20140705042850www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber,">web.archive.org/web/20140705042850www.cpap.com/cpap-faq/Humidifiers.html#why-do-i-need-to-use-distilled-water-with-in-my-humidifier-chamber, 2014-07-05, It is also possible for brewers to blend distilled water with hard water to mimic the soft waters of Pilsen.WEB,www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html, How to Brew – By John Palmer – Reading a Water Report, howtobrew.com, live,www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20091005195150www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html,">web.archive.org/web/20091005195150www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html, 2009-10-05, Another application was to increase the density of the air to assist early airplane jet engines during takeoff in ‘hot and high’ atmospheric conditions, as was used on the early Boeing 707.Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake by John H. Brubaker, Jack Brubaker – page 163

Use in steam irons

Distilled water can be used in steam irons for pressing clothes to minimize the build-up of limescale in hard water areas shortening the lifespan of steam irons. Some steam irons have built in filters to remove minerals from the water meaning standard tap water can be used.

Equipment to distill water

(File:Double Distilled Water Unit.jpg|thumb|Typical laboratory distillation unit)Until World War II, distilling seawater to produce fresh water was time-consuming and expensive in fuel. The saying was: “It takes one gallon of fuel to make one gallon of fresh water.“{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} Shortly before the war, Dr. R. V. Kleinschmidt developed a compression still, which became known as the Kleinschmidt still, for extracting fresh water from seawater or contaminated water. By compressing the steam produced by boiling water, {{convert|175|gal|abbr=on}} of fresh water could be extracted from seawater for every gallon ({{convert|1|gal|disp=out}}) of fuel used. During World War II this equipment became standard on Allied ships and on trailer mounts for armies. This method was in widespread use in ships and portable water distilling unitsBOOK,books.google.com/books?id=2yADAAAAMBAJ&q=popular+science+February+1946&pg=PA89, Popular Science, Bonnier Corporation, February 1946, during the latter half of the century. Modern vessels now use flash-type evaporators to boil seawater, heating the water to between {{convert|70|and|80|C}} and evaporating the water in a vacuum; this is then collected as condensation before being stored.Solar stills can be relatively simple to design and build, with very cheap materials.WEB,www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm, Solar Water Distiller, 2009-09-03, dead,www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090819050013www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20090819050013www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm, 2009-08-19, thefarm.org, Distilling water with commercial equipment will almost completely remove all dissolved minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, fluoride, potassium, iron, and zinc leaving a TDS of