Water Distillers

Water distillers are one of the important types of water purifiers. They work on the principle of distillation for removal of impurities and contaminants from the water. A water distiller consists of a boiling chamber in which water is boiled till steam is produced, which is free from all types of pollutants, like bacteria, germs, chemicals, minerals, waste products, etc. The water vapor is captured, cooled, and condensed back into liquid form.

Water distillers are capable of removing the five major contaminants found in water. They can remove:

• Organic Chemicals
• Inorganic Salts and Minerals
• Waterborne Biological Contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, etc.
• Radioactive Contaminants
• Heavy Metals

Types of Water Distillers
Water distillers can be classified on the basis of the way they are connected to water supply.

• Manual Water Distillers: They can produce only one gallon of water at a time due to limitations of the distiller's boiling chamber size.
  
  
• Automatic Water Distillers: They are connected directly to the water line and are able to continually produce distilled water.
  
  
• Semi-Automatic Water Distillers: They are a combination of both types. They may act as manual type and also have the option of connecting to the water supply as well.

Distillation: Distillation is a physical process of separating, concentrating or purifying a liquid by boiling it, and condensing the vapor into a cleansed liquid form. It is used for the production of some alcoholic liquors, and is also a popular and efficient water purification method. Distillation is a water purifying method, distinctive from others, where instead of removing contaminants from water, water is removed from the contaminants. The materials, which have higher boiling points than water will not vaporise with water. Most of the contaminants have a higher boiling point than water, therefore will not rise with the steam.

However chlorine is such a substance, which has a lower boiling point than water and it changes to a gas and are carried with the steam. To remove chlorine, an inexpensive carbon filter is used within the distillation system.

It is just like the natural water cycle. Naturally, distillation occurs when the sun-rays heats the water on earth's surface. As the water is heated, it evaporates and rises to form clouds leaving behind a lot of contaminants. As the vapor rises the temperature drops, and the vapors cool and is changed back to water, which is pure and free from contaminants.

Water Distillation Process
The water distillation process goes through a number of processes before producing pure water. The sequential processes include:

• The ordinary contaminated water is heated to 100° C ( 212° F ), in a boiling chamber, killing microbes, like bacteria, cysts, viruses, etc that may be present in water.
  
  
• Water boiling at such temperature produces steam leaving behind dead microbes, dissolved solids, salts, minerals, heavy metals and other substances.
  
  
• The low boiling light gases are ejected through a gaseous vent.
  
  
• Now the vapor, in pure form, is condensed.
  
  
• After condensing, vapor changes into liquid water. The distilled or purified water is then passed through a coconut shell carbon filter (or charcoal), thus enhancing the quality of water by aeration, de-gasification, and adsorption of volatile organic compounds.
  
  
• The water available is 100% pure and safe for drinking and cooking.

Why Water Distillers?
Water distillers are the most effective solution of water purification used today. As the result of distillation, the water produced is very high quality. Water distillers are highly effective on almost all contaminants, unlike other water treatment methods such as carbon filters and reverse osmosis. They can even be used on water containing bacteria and parasites and still produce 99.9% pure water.

• They are independent of water temperature, water pressure, pH, or chlorine.
• They also produce extremely consistent results.
• There is no drop in quality of water productivity over time and the grade of distilled water always remains exceptionally good.
• Since there are no physical barriers to break down or fail, good water distillers are very reliable and serve for long time.

Buying Guide For Water Distillers
When you are going to buy water distillers, there are certain points which should be kept in mind.

• Brand Name: While buying the water distillers, the reputation of company and brand should be considered. It is good to buy a water distiller from a renowned company with several brand names. A high quality water distiller from a good company will last many years, with only minor upkeep and maintenance. Buying water distiller from unknown or relatively new companies, often go out of business. Water distillers from such companies have a common problem of not finding spare parts of your water distiller.
  
  
• Production Rate: Production rate specifies the rate at which water is produced through the water distiller. Water distillers from different companies have different production rates. It range from 3 gallon per day to 12 gallon per day and even more for commercial application water distillers.
  
  
• Types of Water Distillers: Water distillers are mainly of three types, Manual, Semi-Automatic, and Automatic water distillers. All of them follow different connectivity to the water supply. Manual water distillers produce one gallon of water at a time, while automatic water distillers are connected directly to the water line.
  
  
• Water Purity of Water Distillers: Water purified by the water distillers are almost 99% pure. The quality of water depends on the distance between the boiling chamber and condensing coil, along with the construction material.
  
  
• As water is boiled, it first change to wet steam and then to dry steam. Contaminants rise up with wet steam, but not with dry steam. The longer the distance, between the boiling chamber and the condensing coil, more the production of dry steam resulting in purer distilled water. The quality of water also depends on the material of distiller construction. Surgical quality stainless steel is the best construction material. The best materials for water distiller storage is glass and stainless steel. Glass maintains a high level of water purity but it is not as durable as stainless steal.