How Long Does It Take to Distill Water?

Distillation is a process that occurs when a liquid is boiled and the steam is cooled, condensed and collected. The resulting liquid is considered more pure and is free of the heavier solids that remain in the liquid rather than floating away in the steam. The amount of time something takes to distill varies from substance to substance. The amount of time it takes to distill water can vary as well.

Types

Distilled water contains few impurities such as salts, bacteria, or heavy metals. However, because distillation is not a sure way to rid water of 100 percent of these impurities, water may also be double distilled. That is, distilled water can be distilled twice, which may remove any impurities still found in the water after single distillation.

Features

The first step in distilling water is to boil it. The boiling point of water is an important factor in determining how long it will take to distill water. Thus, factors that change the amount of time it takes to boil water will affect the amount of time it takes to distill water.

Considerations

Salts increase the boiling point of water. Thus, water containing a lot of salts and minerals will not boil as quickly as more pure water and water containing these compounds will take longer to distill.
The amount of energy put into boiling the water will determine how quickly it begins to boil and, therefore, how quickly it will distill. Containers with a hot heat source will boil (and distill) more quickly.
The size of the apparatus used to distill the water is a factor in the length of time it takes to distill water. A small container of water will boil more quickly than a larger one, and therefore will distill more quickly.
Water boils at different temperatures depending on altitude. The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature of the water before it reaches a boiling point. So, the higher the altitude, the sooner steam is produced and the more quickly water can be distilled.

Benefits

Using distilled water is advantageous in small home appliances like steam irons and coffee makers. When tap water is used in these appliances, the minerals are left behind and will eventually clog them if they are not properly maintained. Distilled water can also be ingested, fed to plants or pets or used to mix baby formula.

Warning

There are those who believe that it is unhealthy to drink distilled water. The fact that there are no minerals in distilled water have led people to believe that drinking distilled water will remove minerals stored in the body, as well as strip teeth of minerals. There are no scientific facts to back up these claims.