How to Make Distilled Water

Steps

Method 1

Distill Tap Water with a Glass Bowl

1. 1

   Fill a 5-gallon (18.927 L) stainless steel pot about halfway full with tap water.

2. 2

   Place a glass bowl in the water.

   Be sure it floats. The bowl should not touch the bottom of the pot.

   • If the bowl doesn't float, remove it from the water and set a round baking rack on the bottom of the pot. Then place the bowl back in the water

3. 3

   Watch the water collecting in the bowl. This water should be hot but should not boil. If the water begins to boil, turn down the heat on the stove.

4. 4

   Create a condensation effect with a hot/cold barrier. You can do this by inverting the pot's lid and filling it with ice. When hot steam hits the cold lid, it will create condensation.

5. 5

   Boil the water in your pot. As the water continues to boil, it will cause steam to rise and condense on the pot's lid. The condensation will drip into the bowl. Allow the distillation process to continue until you have enough distilled water in the bowl for your needs.

6. 6

   Remove your pot from the heat and take off the lid.

7. 7

   Take the bowl of distilled water out of the pot of boiling water. Use caution when doing this so you do not burn yourself. You can allow the water to cool before removing the bowl, if you prefer.

8. 8

   Allow the distilled water to cool before storing it.

Method 2

Distill Tap Water with Glass Bottles

1. 1

   Get 2 glass bottles for making distilled water. This process works best if at least 1 of the bottles curves outward from the neck, preventing the distilled water from sliding back into the other bottle.

2. 2

   Fill 1 bottle with tap water. Stop filling about 5 in (12.7 cm) from the top.

3. 3

   Join the 2 bottles together at the neck and secure them tightly with duct tape.

4. 4

   Use a 5-gallon (18.927 L) stainless steel pot of boiling water to distill the water. You want just enough water to cover the bottle filled with tap water.

5. 5

   Tilt the bottles at about a 30-degree angle, leaning the top, empty bottle on the inside of the pot's rim. The angle makes it easier to collect the evaporated distilled water.

6. 6

   Rest an ice pack or a bag of ice on top of the bottle on top. This will create a hot/cold barrier, causing the evaporation of water in the filled bottle to condense into the cooler bottle.

7. 7

   Continue the distillation process until you collect enough distilled water in the bottle for your needs.

Method 3

Convert Rainwater to Drinking Water

1. 1

   Put a large, clean container outside to catch the rainwater.

2. 2

   Leave the container outside for 2 full days to allow the minerals to dissipate.

3. 3

   Store the distilled water in clean jugs.

Community Q&A

Add New Question

• How long can I store distilled water?

  wikiHow Contributor

  You can store distill water in glass bottles which are boiled and cleansed with distilled water and you can store it for a few years if not used medically.

• I thought just boiling water for a certain length of time distilled it. Am I wrong?

  wikiHow Contributor

  While boiling water kills any bacteria, it does not distill the water - it kind of does the opposite, by making some water evaporate, leaving behind an even higher concentration of mineral deposits. You *can* distill water by boiling water and collecting the evaporated water, however, as this article describes.

• Do the lid and bowl have to be made from glass?

  wikiHow Contributor

  Glass is preferred because it'll last forever, unlike plastic which may leak chemicals over time. If for immediate use or limited storage time, any clean container should do just fine. Extended storage should be reserved for glass or something similar.

• Can I use the distilled water right away?

• Can melted ice cubes produce distiller water?

  wikiHow Contributor

  The act of melting will not distill the water. If your water is frozen, then you will need to let it melt first before you distill it. If you'd like to make distilled ice cubes, then you'd have to distill the water first.

• Does the pot have to be made of stainless steel?

  wikiHow Contributor

  It doesn't have to, and that was probably a needlessly specific instruction. It's just one of the most durable, safe, and popular materials for cookware.

• Is distilled water healthy to drink?

  While distilled water is safe to drink, it's not necessarily desirable or healthy to drink long-term. The distillation process removes all the minerals in the water. Minerals give water from different sources a distinctive taste. Without minerals, the water will taste flat and not like what most people are used to. Plus, these minerals are very beneficial for keeping us healthy. It has a lot of beneficial uses, like in car batteries, household cleaners and any other application where you need to avoid mineral deposits/buildup though.

• Is the water collected in a dehumidifier distilled?

  wikiHow Contributor

  Dehumidifier condensate (the water the dehumidifier produces) can be loaded with biological contaminants and metallic residues that are not safe to drink. There are devices on the market that pull drinkable water from humidity.

• Can I buy distilled water from anywhere?

  wikiHow Contributor

  Most grocery stores and big-box stores carry it. Look in the drinking-water section.

• If the water contains pesticides, will distilling get rid of them?

  wikiHow Contributor

  If you have a pesticide that evaporates at lower than 212 F/ 100 C, then you could end up with that pesticide still in your water if you followed this process. Check the MDS sheet to find the boiling point of the pesticide you are concerned about.

Show more answers

Ask a Question

If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know.

Tips

• Lift the inverted lid occasionally to be sure that the steam water is collecting into the bowl.
• If you think the tap water is not pure enough, it is safer to use distilled water in your saltwater aquarium. You must mix the distilled water with a saltwater mix before adding the solution to your tank.

Warnings

• Only the water in the bowl or bottle will have distilled water. The remaining water will contain all the impurities you removed from the distilled water.
• You will need to add the appropriate chemicals to distilled water to support aquatic life before using it in your fish tank or aquarium. Without these chemicals, the distilled water will not be able to support life.
• Make sure that certain glass bowls and bottles can withstand boiling water.
• Drinking distilled water will over time strip the body of minerals and diminish health, so when distilling water for drinking, be sure to add mineral drops. Distilling water will remove thousand of contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and heavy metals, but it also removes the minerals that are essential to health.

Article Info

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,230,919 times.

Did this article help you?