How to Collect Distilled Water From a Steam Boiler

Having an available steam boiler puts you most of the way through the water-distillation process. Distilled water is condensed water vapor. In capturing a portion of the steam from the boiler and collecting it as distilled water, safety must be your primary concern.

Things You'll Need

• Brass or stainless steel Tee (sized to match your boiler pressure gauge connection).
• Brass or stainless steel cut-off valve sized to match your Tee and rated for 400 degrees F or greater
• Soft copper tubing sized to match your cut-off valve (at least five feet of tubing)
• Brass or stainless steel compression fittings sized to couple your tubing to your cut-off valve
• Wrenches for tightening your fittings
• High temperature gloves
• Clean glass water jug(s)
• Roller tray (in painting department, for use by paint rollers)
• Water

Instructions

Collection Line

1. When the boiler is cool (not in operation for an hour or more), remove the pressure gauge.

2. Connect your brass or stainless steel Tee section to the port where the pressure gauge was attached to your steam boiler.

3. Connect the pressure gauge to the Tee section where the gauge is easily visible to the operator once again.

4. Connect your cut-off valve to the remaining end of the Tee section.

5. Using the compression fittings, connect one end of your soft-copper tubing to the open end of your cut-off valve.

Condensation Line Preparation

1. Start your steam boiler, with the distilled water cut-off valve shut. Operate normally for 30 minutes to allow the boiler to stabilize temperature.

2. Put on your high temperature gloves and keep them on for the next steps.

3. Point the open end of the copper tubing away from people or equipment.

4. Carefully open the cut-off valve to allow a small amount of steam to exit the end of the copper tubing. Monitor the boiler pressure so your steam "bleed" does not interfere with normal boiler operation.
   Limit the steam flow to a plume comparable to an exhaled breath on a cold day.
   Allow this flow for ten minutes to purge any oils or other impurities from your copper tubing.

5. Fill the paint tray with cool water and place it near your copper tubing.

Distilled Water Collection

1. Carefully bend the copper tubing to place it in the water-filled paint tray. Avoid copper contact with the plastic paint tray as this will melt the tray and allow the cooling bath to drain.

2. Bend the copper tubing to place the open end into the mouth of your glass collecting jug.

3. Condensation will occur in the copper tubing as steam is cooled in the paint tray. Condensed steam will flow from the open end of the tubing and collect in your glass jug.

4. Monitor the collection rate in the collecting jug and replace with empty jugs as needed.
   Note: Be careful as the newly-condescend water will be hot and steam will still flow from the tubing.

5. Close the cut-off valve when you have collected as much distilled water as you wish.

Tips & Warnings

• The steam, newly collected distilled water, copper tubing and cooling bath will all be hot.

• Exercise caution when working near steam.

References

• How does water distillation work?