HOW TO MAKE DISTILLED WATER FOR CPAP MACHINES
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea is when you stop and start breathing during the night. As a result, you end up with poor oxygenation and the most common symptom is waking up with a headache.
Other symptoms include:
- making gasping, snorting or choking noises
- broken sleep (waking up a lot
- snoring
- tiredness
- lack of concentration
- mood swings
There is a lot of information available online about Sleep Apnoea, there are also sleep clinics available (via the NHS) where you can go and be clinically assessed for sleep apnoea.
What causes sleep Apnoea?
The most common causes of sleep apnoea include:
- excess weight/obesity
- having a large neck - people with thicker necks might have narrower airways.getting older – although children and young adults can also get it
- family history - having other family members with sleep apnoea
- smoking
- drinking alcohol
- having large tonsils or adenoids
- sleeping on your back
- being male - men are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than are women. It is estimated 13% of adult men
Sleep Apnoea Treatment
The most common and effective solution is called CPAP (Constant Positive Airway Pressure). With a CPAP machine, you put a mask on over your face and it blows humidified air onto your face. It is a bit like sticking your head out of a car window while it is driving along.
The air needs to be humidified otherwise you dry out your airways. And the water used in CPAP machines to achieve this is distilled water.
Other, less common treatments for sleep apnoea include a gum shield-like device that holds your airways open while you sleep (mandibular advancement device) and surgery to help your breathing, such as removing large tonsils. It is proven that these treatments don't work as well as a CPAP machine.
Distilled water for CPAP machines
There are two ways to get distilled water for a CPAP machine.
The first way is to simply buy distilled water which comes in big plastic containers. This is the most expensive way to buy distilled water but many people who are trying CPAP for the first time may or may not get on with the machine. So, when you try CPAP for the first time, we would recommend buying a container of distilled water to use with the machine.
Once you are up and running with CPAP you can reduce your costs by investing in a Megahome water distiller. These distillers are the market leader for producing absolutely pure drinking water.
The water produced is pure enough to also be used in scientific machines like autoclaves and CPAP. You will have to buy a machine initially which is about £150 but, after that, the cost of the water is about 21p a litre for the electricity.
Using a water distiller is very simple. You simply fill the distiller up with tap water, put the top on and press the button and it starts an automatic cycle which turns off automatically. You may also find you like drinking distilled water - many do.
HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD I DRINK WHILE EXERCISING?
50-75% of the human body is made up of water and, as humans, we are fighting a constant battle to keep our water levels topped up. The average person loses around 2 – 4 litres of water per day just through their everyday activities such as sweating, urinating, bowel movements and even breathing.
That’s right, you are even losing water when you are breathing. Have you ever noticed that little cloud of steam come out of your mouth on a cold day? That cloud is made up from the moisture in our bodies. Water is the major component of most of our body parts and does all of the following and more in our bodies:
· Helps the brain to manufacture hormones and neurotransmitters
· Regulates body temperature
· Acts as a shock absorber for the brain and spinal cord
· Aids in digestion
· Helps to deliver oxygen throughout the body
· Flushes body waste
· Encourages healthy cell growth
· Lubricates joints
It is suggested by the health experts that we should drink around 2 litres of water per day (or eight 8-ounce glasses, known as the ‘8x8 rule’). However there are various other theories. Some believe we should be sipping on water constantly all day while others say the amount your drink depends on your weight (e.g. 30ml per Kg every 24 hours). However, this does not take into account those who regularly exercise.
Health and nutrition experts suggest you should ensure your body is properly hydrated well before you start exercising. Two hours before your workout, you should drink 2-3 cups of water, then another 1-2 cups just before your workout.
This will ensure you have a fully effective workout as your body will be appropriately hydrated. You need water to sweat and cool your body during exercise, to initiate the chemical reactions in your body which activate muscles and to boost your blood circulating volume so it is easier for the heart to pump and transport nutrients and oxygen around the body. During your workout you should then drink 1-2 cups every 15 minutes, however this depends on how hard you are working, how hot it is and how sweaty you are. The more you are sweating, the more you need to drink!
It is easy to tell if you are properly hydrated during exercise by looking at the colour of your urine. It should be a pale yellow colour like straw. If it is clear like water you are over-hydrated and if it is a strong yellow you need to drink more.
If you are not properly hydrated for your workout, you will not have a fully effective workout. A 2% loss in fluid body weight can result in a 25% decrease in performance. Dehydration can also cause dizziness, lethargy, cramping and poorly functioning muscles. This highlights the importance of hydration when exercising. Furthermore, it is important that you are drinking pure water.
Regular tap water contains several organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals and biological contaminants which decrease the water purity levels. To hydrate your body in the healthiest way, use a water distiller to create pure distilled water for optimal hydration.
At Megahome Water Distillers, we supply a Deluxe Water Distiller which produces the purest possible drinking water to give you a pure, healthy hydration for your workout.
If you are concerned about electrolyte loss during exercise then Megahome Distiller's Formula 78 is a mineral supplement specifically designed for creating isotonic drinks from distilled water.
If you have reached this page you have probably been researching water distillers and distilled water drinking. You have probably read conflicting arguments. You may well have read about distilled water having almost magical properties - like being able to cure cancer or flush out toxins from the body.
You may also have read about negative effects like distilled water lacking minerals or "leaching" minerals from your bones. This article sets the record straight.
What is distilled water?
Distilled water is the purest water you can drink. It contains no bacteria, pesticides or other contaminants. Distilling process removes all those impurities.
Distillation also removes minerals, but you can get these from food. We have a great article about minerals and how to replace them if you drink distilled water here.
Distilled water also has many other uses which are listed here.
Drinking distilled water
Distilled water is not magic water - it does not cure cancer, flush out toxins or leach minerals from the body.
Distilled water is simply pure water. Rainwater is pure water. Human beings evolved in rainforests where the main water source is rainwater.
Is distilled water safe to drink?
Distilled water is safe to drink. It's a pure water with no ill effects. Human beings effectively evolved distilled water drinking.
Can you drink distilled water?
Yes, it is natural and normal for us to drink distilled water.
Benefits of distilled water
The main health benefit of distilled water is that you are avoiding the nasty contaminants that end up in tap water. A lot of these contaminants are actually unwanted minerals as well as complex chemicals like pesticides and herbicides and potential biological contamination like viruses and bacteria.
Distilled water also helps to:
- prevent kidney stones
- improve your bodily functions
- help to protect your teeth from too much fluoride which can cause tooth discolouration
- reduce the risk of disease - distillation removed waterborne pathogens. Most of the waterborne diseases don't survive distillation.
Here is a list of all the potential contaminants available in tap water: 79-common-drinking-water-contaminants-and-their-effects
The human body is made up of around 70% water, so it is important to choose the type of water you drink carefully. Tap water and bottled water both contain chemicals that are out of your control. All bottled water in plastic bottles contains microplastics. The only way to really know what you are putting into your body is to use a water distiller.
Water distillers provide water purity superior to any other method. Water distillers create water that is purer than any bottled water, reverse osmosis and any filtration method.
Distilled water means you avoid unwanted chemicals
By using a water distiller, you will be avoiding potentially harmful chemicals in tap water such as pesticides, nitrates, fertiliser and contamination from copper or lead pipes.
Many of the contaminants and chemicals in our tap water can cause harm to the human body if we are exposed to them over a long period of time (this process is called bio-accumulation) so it is important to prevent exposure.
Distilled water means you protect your teeth from excess fluoride
Distillation removes fluoride from your water; fluoride is now found in most toothpaste. Fluoride was originally added to local water supplies to help strengthen teeth, however too much exposure leads to fluorosis, which leaves a brown staining effect on young teeth. There is also a link between Fluoride and cancer.
The problem with drinking Fluoride in water is that it is being added to your entire body. Your teeth need fluoride to maintain hardness and the easiest way to do this is with a toothpaste with Fluoride in it.
In this way it is being added just to the teeth where it is needed and not to the whole body system. There is also a civil liberties issue - is it morally right to medicate a population via the water supply? By distilling your water you remove any fluoride and you have a choice about how and in what way you use fluoride.
Distilled water generally improves bodily function
Medical professionals say that tap water (particularly hard tap water with a lot of calcium carbonate in it) contributes to arteries hardening and blood vessels calcifying. This calcification of the veins and arteries causes all sorts of problems including high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.Distilled water prevents kidney stones
In addition to calcification in the brain and arteries, tap water can also contribute to hard crystalline masses commonly called kidney stones. Kidney stones do not generally pose a risk to life but they can be excruciatingly painful. Distilled water is free of these minerals, so drinking distilled water reduces the risk of the most common types of kidney stone forming.FLUORIDE AND DRINKING WATER - USES, DANGERS AND SIDE EFFECTS
FluoriNe is a highly reactive chemical (similar to chlorine) and fluoriDe is the metal ion when fluorine is bound to another element in a compound. Fluoride is often added to water supplies as a way to reduce tooth decay in the local population.
However there are concerns regarding fluoride'seffect on health; especially problems with bones, teeth and neurological development.Fluoride is protects your teeth from decay that results from demineralisation. That is why it is often added to toothpaste. When added to toothpaste it is being applied locally, direct to teeth where it is needed. When it is added to drinking water it is being administered systemically to your whole body.
Fluoride Health Risks - three major ones:
1. Dental fluorosis
A fluoride content of 0.7 ppm is generally thought to be best for dental health. Concentrations above 4.0 ppm are thought to be potentially hazardous.
Exposure to high concentrations of fluoride during childhood, when teeth are developing, can lead to dental fluorosis. You can see it because it creates white streaks or specks in the enamel of the teeth. The health of the teeth is unaffected but the discolouration is noticeable.
By breastfeeding infants or making up formula milk with fluoride-free water you can help protect your children from fluorosis.
Children below the age of 6 years should not use (https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/f/fluorosis) a mouthwash that contains fluoride. Children should also be supervised when brushing their teeth to ensure they do not swallow toothpaste.
2. Skeletal fluorosis
Excess exposure to fluoride can lead to a bone disease known as skeletal fluorosis. Over many years, this can result in pain and damage to bones and joints.
The bones may become hardened and less elastic, increasing the risk of fractures (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/173312). If the bones thicken and bone tissue accumulates, this can contribute to impaired joint mobility.
3. HYPERPARAThyroidISM
In some cases, excess fluoride can damage the parathyroid gland. This can result in hyperparathyroidism, which involves uncontrolled secretion of parathyroid hormones.
This can result in a depletion of calcium (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248958) in bone structures leading to a higher incidence of fractures and higher-than-normal concentrations of calcium in the blood which can lead to feelings of tiredness and lethargy.
4. Neurological problems
In 2017, a report was published suggesting that exposure to fluoride before birth could lead to (https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp655) poorer cognitive outcomes in the future.
The researchers measured fluoride levels in 299 women during pregnancy and in their children between the ages of 6 and 12 years. They tested cognitive ability at the ages of 4 years and between 6 and 12 years. Higher levels of fluoride were associated with lower scores on IQ tests.
In 2014, fluoride was documented as a neurotoxin that could be hazardous (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4418502/) to child development, along with 10 other industrial chemicals, including lead, arsenic, toluene, and methylmercury.
Other health problems
According to the International Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), an organization that campaigns against the use of added fluoride, it may also (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319500) contribute to the following (https://files.iaomt.org/wp-content/uploads/IAOMT-Fact-Sheet-on-Fluoride-and-Human-Health.pdf) health problems:
* acne (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107146) and other skin problems
* cardiovascular problems, including arteriosclerosis and arterial calcification, high blood pressure (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159283), myocardial damage, cardiac insufficiency, and heart failure (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156849)
* reproductive issues, such as lower fertility and early puberty (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156451) in girls
* thyroid dysfunction
* conditions affecting the joints and bones, such as osteoarthritis, bone cancer (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171372), and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)
* neurological problems, possibly leading to ADHD (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323667)
One review describes fluoride (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21288074/) as an "extreme electron scavenger" with an "insatiable appetite for calcium." The researchers call for the balance of risks and benefits to be reconsidered.
Exposure to Fluoride in the United Kingdom
There are two main ways in which you could be exposed to Fluoride in the UK. The first is via toothpaste, most toothpastes have Fluoride in and quite frankly, because this is a local application of Fluoride directly to teeth there is less risk of harmful exposure, people generally rinse after brushing too. You only need a very small amount of Fluoride to protect teeth. It is usually present in low concentrations in toothpaste and most people rinse after brushing.
Of more concern is the presence of Fluoride in drinking water. There are two aspects to this. The first is that the fluoride is being taken systemically, your whole body is being exposed just so that your teeth can gain a benefit. Doing it this way exposes you to greater risk because your whole body is taking in the flouride and not just your teeth. Also, fluoridation of water belongs to a bygone time when children had particularly poor health and before the NHS was created.
Additionally, it is the principle of the thing. It is medicating a population. Choice is being removed. You get Fluoride whether you like it or not. Natural justice suggests that people should have a choice about the medications they take. Fortunately not all water companies in the UK actually add Fluoride. You can check with your local water company to see if they do or not.
How to remove fluoride from drinking water?
Fluoride is typically found bonded to something else, for example Calcium as Calcium Fluoride. The most effective way to remove this is by steam distillation. Distillation is used in laboratories to purify water and it is the most effective method for water purification. A water distiller will remove all fluoride from contaminated water.
DO WATER DISTILLERS REMOVE CHLORINE & VOCS?
There are a number of water filter companies around at the moment suggesting that water distillers are inferior because they do not remove Chlorine or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). For the record, Megahome Distillers do remove both Chlorine and VOCs, here’s how:
Water distillers remove all Chlorine
The process of distillation involves heating the water to boiling point and then cooling it to recondense the steam. The process of doing this creates pure water. Chlorine however, which is often added by water companies to kill bugs, has a lower boiling point than water. It is actually a very volatile substance. If you leave tap water for 24 hours all the chlorine present will “off-gas” and simply enter the atmosphere. A quicker way to remove Chlorine is to boil the water for 15 minutes (distillers boil water for 4 hours). Doing this releases all the Chlorine and it is the reason why the condenser tube in Megahome Distillers has a small hole drilled into its upper surface to allow Chlorine gas to escape. There is no Chlorine in the water produced by Megahome Distillers; if you test for Chlorine you will not find it.
Volatile Organic Compounds are a bit different. There are pretty nasty chemicals: pesticides, fire retardants, solvents. See the table below, they actually have a range of boiling points. Anything with a boiling point above 100°C will be left behind with all the other nasties in the distiller after distillation. Anything with a boiling point below 100°C will go through the distiller and be caught by the activated charcoal filter that your Megahome distilled water has as the final stage of purification. VOCs are absorbed by activated charcoal filtration. If you test for VOCs in the distilled water produced by your Megahome water distiller, you will not find any. This is also why it is important to use the activated charcoal filter sachets you get with your Megahome water distiller and replace them regularly every 28 distillations.
Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds in drinking water
Volatile organic compounds are chemicals that come from things like: cleaning solvents, herbicides, pesticides, and fuel. Water leaks mean fuels and chemicals containing volatile organic compounds can find their way into the water supply. If they are found in large quantities in a water supply it calls for an immediate investigation and can even result in the water supply being cut off until the problem is fixed.
The problem is that the water supply cannot be checked at every output, there will always be places that go a long time without checks and there are places where the pipes will be particularly badly damaged. So these kinds of chemicals could be leaking into the water supply literally anywhere; affecting individual homes or an entire area.
The research on volatile organic compounds indicates these compounds can cause heart problems, cancers, neurological problems and birth defects in children.
In summary, Megahome Water Distillers and distillation in general is the gold standard for water purification - more effective than any water filter or reverse osmosis. And that is why Megahome distillers are used in laboratories and medical environments for the production of pure water.
Table 1. Boiling points for different classes of Volatile Organic Compound
| Description | Abbreviation | Boiling Point Range (°C) | Example Compounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very volatile (gaseous) organic compounds | VVOC | <0 to 50-100 | Propane, butane, methyl chloride |
| Volatile organic compounds | VOC | 50-100 to 240-260 | Formaldehyde, d-Limonene, toluene, acetone, ethanol (ethyl alcohol) 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol), hexanal |
| Semi volatile organic compounds | SVOC | 240-260 to 380-400 | Pesticides (DDT, chlordane, plasticizers (phthalates), fire retardants (PCBs, PBB)) |