Distilled Water vs. Tap Water: A Clear Guide to Purity, Uses, and Whether You Should Drink It
April 28, 2026
What is distilled water? If your business relies on high-quality water, whether for staff hydration, hospitality, or day-to-day operations, it’s worth understanding the differences between distilled, tap and purified water. Here’s a guide to distilled water: its uses, benefits, and what your business should know before considering it as part of your water solution.
Understanding Distilled Water: Process and Purity
Distilled water is high-purity water that has been through a distillation process. The distillation process involves boiling water into steam, then condensing it back into liquid. During this process, the water is stripped of its non-volatile impurities, meaning that distilled water is incredibly high-purity – nearly 100% pure, in fact.
How Distillation Works: Boiling, Steam, and Condensation
Distillation is one of the oldest forms of water purification and is achieved through the following process:
- Water is heated in a chamber, reaching a rolling boil, at which it becomes steam.
- The steam is evaporated in stainless-steel condensers, leaving behind non-volatile particles.
- The steam is cooled with fans and returns to liquid.
- The water droplets are collected and filtered, removing all remaining contaminants.
- The filtered water is collected and ready to use.
What Distilled Water Actually Removes
The distillation process is incredibly effective at removing nearly every impurity from water, including heavy metals, chlorine, nitrates, bacteria, viruses and parasites. However, the process also strips the water of its naturally occurring minerals, including calcium, magnesium and potassium. Not only does this remove the health benefits of these micronutrients, but it also removes flavour. There are also impurities that aren’t removed in the distillation process, including certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Practical Uses for Ultra-Pure Water at Home and Work
Due to its high levels of purity, there are certain non-drinking applications of distilled water. This includes medical purposes, such as dialysis and other treatments that require ultra-pure water that’s free from contaminants. If you’re using a kidney dialysis machine at home, you’ll likely use distilled water to run it. Similarly, distilled water is ideal in wound treatment due to its level of purity. And, if you have a fish tank in your home or office, distilled water can be ideal because you can adjust pH and salinity levels to suit the needs of your fish.
Protecting Household Appliances from Mineral Buildup
As the distillation process strips minerals from the water, distilled water is recommended for use in household appliances that require water. Using mineral-free distilled water prevents the mineral build-up, scaling, clogging and corrosion that can develop when tap water is used in appliances such as humidifiers, steam cleaners, irons and sleep apnea (CPAP) machines. By using distilled water, you can extend the lifetime of your appliance.
Applications in Medical and Laboratory Settings
Ultra-pure distilled water is frequently used in medical and laboratory settings, more so than in the home or office. In fields with high-precision needs, distilled water is invaluable. In the medical sector, you’ll find distilled water used in instrument sterilisation, wound cleaning and, ins some cases, the preparation of patient food and drink. Cosmetic and pharmaceutical manufacturers rely on distilled water, as high levels of purity must be maintained and reactions avoided in the creation of products. This same precision is also required in other laboratory settings, whereby distilled water is essential because reagent purity and consistency are critical in analysis.
The Drinking Debate: Should You Choose Distilled Water?
While distilled water is safe to drink, it’s not recommended for long-term consumption as it won’t hydrate you as effectively as water. Through its removal of essential micronutrients, distilled water not only lacks the flavour of a quenching glass of water, but it also doesn’t include the same health benefits.
Why Taste and pH are Different
As distilled water is stripped of salts and minerals, it can have quite a bland or ‘empty’ taste. The process of distillation and the loss of these minerals means distilled water has a total dissolved solids (TDS) score of 0.5 ppm or less, which is incredibly low. Though it’s often assumed that distilled water has a pH of 7 (neutral), it’s actually closer to a pH of 5.8, which is more on the acidic side. While it’s not a major health concern, it’s another reason why distilled water is said to taste a bit ‘flat’.
The Role of Minerals in Daily Hydration
Our bodies source most minerals and essential nutrients from food, but water is an important source of electrolytes. The distillation process’s efficiency in removing all impurities strips the water of beneficial, naturally occurring salts and minerals that provide our bodies with essential micronutrients. Water delivers small amounts of calcium, magnesium and potassium, and, if you drink distilled water long term, it could impact your electrolyte balance, particularly if you’re undertaking a lot of strenuous activity. This is why relying solely on distilled water is discouraged.
Distilled Water Compared to Other Purification Methods
Distilled water is one example of purified water. You’ll also find spring water, which is naturally sourced and rich in minerals, though not completely free of impurities. Then there’s filtered water, which achieves a great balance between purity and nutritional value. Filtered water removes impurities while retaining the naturally occurring nutrients and minerals in water, meaning you get the best of both worlds. Distilled water, however, removes all the impurities and nutrients from water.
Distillation vs. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Distillation and reverse osmosis (RO) are both processes for purifying water with differing results. While distillation removes all minerals and impurities, including bacteria and heavy metals, from water, many contemporary RO systems can add minerals back into water, thereby increasing health benefits and enhancing the flavour. Not only favoured for their re-mineralisation capabilities, RO systems are also more energy-efficient than distilling water, as they rely on porous membranes to remove impurities.
Distilled vs. Purified Bottled Water
While distilled water is a type of purified water, it’s different to purified bottled water. Purified bottled water goes through filtration processes, including UV filtration, and has essential minerals added for taste and health benefits. This separates purified bottled water from distilled water because the distillation process removes all impurities and minerals.
Clean, Safe Water Solutions for Your Business
If your business requires the highest-quality drinking water, Culligan’s water dispensers are specifically designed to deliver just that. Powered by Firewall® UVC purification technology, Culligan dispensers purify water and eliminate up to 99.9999% of waterborne pathogens, ensuring the highest quality drinking water.
Take the Next Step for Better Water with Culligan
Culligan water systems offer comprehensive benefits, including advanced filtration that removes impurities, chlorine, and odours for better-tasting water. If you’re ready to learn more, contact Culligan for a free quote or ask our team to discuss which water system or Culligan range suits your workplace the most.
To discover the perfect water solution for your needs, contact your local Culligan water expert today.
