How to Make Distilled Water

Co-authored by Water.org

Distilled water has so many uses—drinking, watering plants, filling humidifiers, topping off fish tanks, and more. It’s also very easy to make at home with a few basic supplies. You actually have a few different methods to choose from depending on how much distilled water you’re trying to make. This wikiHow will walk you through all of them, step-by-step, so you can start making your very own distilled water right at home!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Distill Tap Water with a Glass Bowl

1
Fill a 5-gallon (18.927 L) stainless steel pot about halfway full with tap water.
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
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3
The water in the pot must be boiling before going to the next step. This is to boil off chemicals such as methanol and ethanol.
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
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
Watch the water collecting in the bowl. This bowl water will be hot but should not boil. If the bowl water begins to boil, turn down the heat on the stove so that just the pot water is boiling.
7
Remove your pot from the heat and take off the lid.
8
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.
9
Allow the distilled water to cool before storing it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Distill Tap Water with Glass Bottles

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
Fill 1 bottle with tap water. Stop filling about 5 in (12.7 cm) from the top.
3
Join the 2 bottles together at the neck and secure them tightly with duct tape.
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
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
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
Continue the distillation process until you collect enough distilled water in the bottle for your needs.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Convert Rainwater to Drinking Water

1
Put a large, clean container outside to catch the rainwater.
2
Leave the container outside for 2 full days to allow the minerals to dissipate.
3
Store the distilled water in clean jugs. Note: While this method can produce drinkable water, it's possible for pollutants and harmful bacteria to remain in the water. It's always safest to filter, boil, or chemically treat rainwater before drinking, unless you know it's safe otherwise.

Warnings

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.

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Make sure that certain glass bowls and bottles can withstand boiling water.

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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.

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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.

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In some legal jurisdictions, it can be illegal to collect rainwater, even on private property. This is more common in drought-prone areas. Be sure to check if you plan to use this method for making distilled water.

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