Yet another water distiller thread

[steevo]

http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/files/images/products/large/511.jpg

This is the distiller that I am probably gonna buy from here (http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/home/m/Shop/id/511/page/1/). It costs £259 with free postage.

Has anyone on the forum got this particular model cos I want your opinions ?

[chris]

I have a lot of distilling experience and even if your distilling in a glass vessel with spheres to let the vapour seperate and a vigaraux column to trap havier particles and push them back, you're still not going to get a perfect distillate.

I would say the best and easiest way to get clean water is to collect rain (after about 10 minutes of rain so the pollution is washed out) and then put it through a berkley and if you want, boil it afterwards.

But then again, the distiller does look fancy:D

[thirdwave]

http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/files/images/products/large/511.jpg

This is the distiller that I am probably gonna buy from here (http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/home/m/Shop/id/511/page/1/). It costs £259 with free postage.

Has anyone on the forum got this particular model cos I want your opinions ?


If I am not mistaken somone had a smiler one like that it is was not very long lasting... started to rust....

not sure though, it looked like that one...

£259 looks pretty steep...

I got this a while ago and am happy with it..
http://www.smartstill.com/

you can get them for about £130...

I have been useing it and the water is great, I ran out of carbon filters last week so got a bottle of "highland spring" to tie me over and did not like it as much, I preferred the distilled water... very clean tasting.. tap water will never be the best but I think its one of the better options of a poor selection. I am thinking about collecting rain water and distilling it... want to read up more on it...

you just got to make sure you drain the water through some carbon as the water can be a bit acidic.... there are other methods as well...

not sure if the one you sent has a filter with it...

[lookfar]

Hi steevo

I looked into getting that one before I got my Pure Water Mini Classic II. I was interested in it because you can use it with any fuel, but then decided against it for now as it had too many bits & was faffy to have on top of my cooker, so ended up with this one instead which sits nicely on the worktop & doesn't need assembling every time :) I would definitely consider getting it though, it looks good from what I read up about it.

[steevo]

I have a lot of distilling experience and even if your distilling in a glass vessel with spheres to let the vapour seperate and a vigaraux column to trap havier particles and push them back, you're still not going to get a perfect distillate.

I would say the best and easiest way to get clean water is to collect rain (after about 10 minutes of rain so the pollution is washed out) and then put it through a berkley and if you want, boil it afterwards.

But then again, the distiller does look fancy:D

Unfortunately Chris I dont have a garden so I cannot easily get rain water which is a shame cos that is IDEALLY what I would like to do. Thanks for the info especially the 10 minute thing :)

If I am not mistaken somone had a smiler one like that it is was not very long lasting... started to rust....

not sure though, it looked like that one...

£259 looks pretty steep...

I got this a while ago and am happy with it..
http://www.smartstill.com/

you can get them for about £130...

I have been useing it and the water is great, I ran out of carbon filters last week so got a bottle of "highland spring" to tie me over and did not like it as much, I preferred the distilled water... very clean tasting.. tap water will never be the best but I think its one of the better options of a poor selection. I am thinking about collecting rain water and distilling it... want to read up more on it...

you just got to make sure you drain the water through some carbon as the water can be a bit acidic.... there are other methods as well...

not sure if the one you sent has a filter with it...

Hi TW, I hope it doesnt rust cos stainless steel aint supposed to rust.
With regards to filters, it says on the website that a filter isnt required at all for this distiller (assuming I read it correctly).
That smartstill that you have got sounds like it works very well and I was thinking of getting one but dont think that I could afford the electric bills cos I would probably use it AT LEAST every other day. That is why I want the non-electric distiller cos in the long run it would be cheaper I think. I would actually like to have an electric one AS WELL though ideally.

[thirdwave]

Unfortunately Chris I dont have a garden so I cannot easily get rain water which is a shame cos that is IDEALLY what I would like to do. Thanks for the info especially the 10 minute thing :)



Hi TW, I hope it doesnt rust cos stainless steel aint supposed to rust.
With regards to filters, it says on the website that a filter isnt required at all for this distiller (assuming I read it correctly).
That smartstill that you have got sounds like it works very well and I was thinking of getting one but dont think that I could afford the electric bills cos I would probably use it AT LEAST every other day. That is why I want the non-electric distiller cos in the long run it would be cheaper I think. I would actually like to have an electric one AS WELL though ideally.


Mmmmm I think they all need a filter.... unless you use another method... Im not sure about the whole science of it... but basicly the water is so clean it can be a bit acidic... and long term use of it could not be good... so you just need to take the edge of it... I would watch that..

regarding the electricity bill.... Mine makes up about 5.5 L a go.... and I have heard they are not to bad with the electric.... will let you know when the bill comes!

mind you will you not be useing gas anyway with this?..

I just thought I was spending about £6 a week on water now I just spend about £2 a month on charcoal filters and a bit more on electric.

[steevo]

Hi steevo

I looked into getting that one before I got my Pure Water Mini Classic II. I was interested in it because you can use it with any fuel, but then decided against it for now as it had too many bits & was faffy to have on top of my cooker, so ended up with this one instead which sits nicely on the worktop & doesn't need assembling every time :) I would definitely consider getting it though, it looks good from what I read up about it.

Hi Lookfar, yeah that is the same reason that I want this one cos it can be used on a gas cooker (and it takes less power) and also maybe in the future on a wood stove. Hmmm yes I forgot that that it maybe could get faffy with all the bits. How much power (in watts) does that ones of yours use ? Yours is one of the more expensive ones I wish i could afford that lol and it doesnt look as if they are available in the UK but I could be wrong.

[steevo]

Mmmmm I think they all need a filter.... unless you use another method... Im not sure about the whole science of it... but basicly the water is so clean it can be a bit acidic... and long term use of it could not be good... so you just need to take the edge of it... I would watch that..

regarding the electricity bill.... Mine makes up about 5.5 L a go.... and I have heard they are not to bad with the electric.... will let you know when the bill comes!

mind you will you not be useing gas anyway with this?..

I just thought I was spending about £6 a week on water now I just spend about £2 a month on charcoal filters and a bit more on electric.

Thanks TW I will bear that in mind about the acidicy of the water and check out the ph balance when i get started.

[lookfar]

Hi Lookfar, yeah that is the same reason that I want this one cos it can be used on a gas cooker (and it takes less power) and also maybe in the future on a wood stove. Hmmm yes I forgot that that it maybe could get faffy with all the bits. How much power (in watts) does that ones of yours use ? Yours is one of the more expensive ones I wish i could afford that lol and it doesnt look as if they are available in the UK but I could be wrong.

Yeah it looks the best model for multi-fuel that's for sure. I almost wish I had that one sometimes, especially with camping season coming up, but I'm happy with mine. It was a bit more expensive but I had some shares to sell from work so treated myself:)

I don't know how many watts it uses I'm afraid, bit too techie for me, lol! I did get it from a supplier in the UK who import them from the US, I think this was the one http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/home/m/Shop/?k=distiller&x=0&y=0

[steevo]

Yeah it looks the best model for multi-fuel that's for sure. I almost wish I had that one sometimes, especially with camping season coming up, but I'm happy with mine. It was a bit more expensive but I had some shares to sell from work so treated myself:)

I don't know how many watts it uses I'm afraid, bit too techie for me, lol! I did get it from a supplier in the UK who import them from the US, I think this was the one http://www.wholisticresearch.com/shop/home/m/Shop/?k=distiller&x=0&y=0

Oh that is the same place that I might be getting my non-electric one from. Yours is 800 watts and it's on offer for £369 at the moment. I jsut read that page quickly and it doesnt mention that filters are required. Is that true Lookfar ?

[lookfar]

Oh that is the same place that I might be getting my non-electric one from. Yours is 800 watts and it's on offer for £369 at the moment. I jsut read that page quickly and it doesnt mention that filters are required. Is that true Lookfar ?

Yeah must be the same place honey, there aren't many distributers in the UK for distillers (they obviously don't want us getting our hands on them easily eh:rolleyes:). I use the round charcoal filter with mine, it does have a little pully outy tray for it, just before the water drips into the bottle.

[steevo]

Yeah must be the same place honey, there aren't many distributers in the UK for distillers (they obviously don't want us getting our hands on them easily eh:rolleyes:). I use the round charcoal filter with mine, it does have a little pully outy tray for it, just before the water drips into the bottle.

Thanks luv :)

[steevo]

Does anyone know if this thing can be used as a cheap alternative to a distiller ? At school (a long time ago) we used equipment like this to distiller water but I cannot remember 100% how we did it. :confused:
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/7/2/1/4/9/1/webimg/111493141_tp.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lab-Glassware-Graham-Condenser-160mm-Type-1-NEW_W0QQitemZ130203130857QQihZ003QQcategoryZ11812Q QrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQ cmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Here is a better picture of one but this one is from the US :-
http://www.frontiernet.net/~rtfuss/ebay3/condenser2_5097.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRAHAM-250mm-Coiled-CONDENSER-Lab-Glass-distillation_W0QQitemZ160230653873QQihZ006QQcatego ryZ11812QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem?_trk sid=p1638.m122#ebayphotohosting

[steevo]

I ended up getting a Smartstill from a homebrew shop. Not sure how good it it cos not used it yet. I wanna wash it first :-

http://smartstill.com/assets/images/SmartStill_home_distiller.jpg

http://www.smartstill.com/

[arty2000]

had a flouride removal system installed bout 3yrs ago from a company called crystal quest..def. noticed a diff. in the taste of the water...good luck:)

[steevo]

had a flouride removal system installed bout 3yrs ago from a company called crystal quest..def. noticed a diff. in the taste of the water...good luck:)

Thanks Arty :) I wish that I could afford something like that in my home. How can we NOT afford it though:cool:

[arty2000]

Thanks Arty :) I wish that I could afford something like that in my home. How can we NOT afford it though:cool:

not really compared to what you are talkin bout I think it cost me $169.00 and I had it installed for about $69...best wishes:)

[steevo]

not really compared to what you are talkin bout I think it cost me $169.00 and I had it installed for about $69...best wishes:)

Wow that is pretty cheap. They dont like us having stuff like that in this country. I might think about getting one of those systems fitted somehow. But i better do it quick before they put the fluoride in.

[arty2000]

also you can add a booster to your water which will raise the ph of the water dont think it will remove the flouride but it will def oxidize the water:)

[steevo]

I ended up getting a Smartstill from a homebrew shop. Not sure how good it it cos not used it yet. I wanna wash it first :-

http://smartstill.com/assets/images/SmartStill_home_distiller.jpg

http://www.smartstill.com/

I am just testing this out now and I would have to say that I have been conned. It has taken nearly 3 and a half hours at 375 watts and it has only done 1 litre. DO NOT BUY A SMARTSTILL. I might take mine back to where I bought it. The instructions says that it is 335 watts and that it takes between 3 and 4 hours to do 4 litres. They are lying bastards :mad:

[tom93]

I have a lot of distilling experience and even if your distilling in a glass vessel with spheres to let the vapour separate ...


I didn't realize that anything except water vapor rose from the boiling water to be distilled. Do the impurities bond in some way with the water molecules that make up the vapor ? Is rain water best because there's a few miles of distance wherein gravity can help to separate the heavier water-bonded-to-impurity molecules from the pure water ?

How about multiple distillations - that is, pouring the distilled water back into the machine and distilling it again, but only keeping the first half or something ?

This is interesting - can you post a link or a book about this ?