A : Distilled water is water that has been heated to the boiling point so that impurities are separated from the water, which itself becomes vapor or steam. Steam is then condensed back into pure liquid form. The impurities remain as residue and are removed. Steam Distillation Systems remove waterborne biological contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, organic and inorganic chemicals, heavy metals, volatile gases, cysts and other contaminants. Distilled water contains virtually no solids, minerals or trace elements. It is clean, natural and healthy. Steam distilled water is the standard by which all other waters are measured.

1. Groundwater : Water contained in underground aquifers that reach the surface through springs, deep wells, or artesian wells.
2. Surface Water : Water collected as rain and snow runoff as well as groundwater seepage which is collected in reservoirs, lakes and rivers.
3. Spring Water : Groundwater that rises to the surface through a natural opening.
4. Artesian Well : Groundwater that is reached by drilling and then flows to the surface naturally.
5. Mineral Water : Bottled water containing not less than 250 parts per million total dissolved solids may be labeled as mineral water. Mineral water is distinguished from other types of bottled water by its constant level and relative proportions of mineral and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source. No minerals can be added to this product.
6. Sparkling Bottled Water : Water that after treatment and possible replacement with carbon dioxide, contains the same amount of carbon dioxide that it had at emergence from the source.
7. Deep Well Water : Groundwater that is reached by drilling, and then pumped to the surface.
8. Hard Water : Water high in calcium and magnesium.
9. Soft Water : Water low in calcium and magnesium. Soft water can occur naturally or be achieved through ion-exchange wherein calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged for sodium ions.
10. Water through Reverse Osmosis : A process to reduce the mineral content of water by forcing the water through a semi permeable membrane.
11. Water through Carbon Filtration : A method of removing organics and chlorine by use of carbon's natural ability to absorb such chemicals.
12. Water through Deionization : A method to produce purified water, utilizing the fact that inorganic impurities possess ionic charges, and can be removed from water utilizing that charge.

A : Distillation is the single most effective method of water purification and can be used throughout the world on all types of incoming water. Unlike other treatment methods such as carbon filters and reverse osmosis, our systems are effective on virtually all contaminants and are not dependent on water pressure, water temperature, pH, or chlorine and can even be used on water containing bacteria and parasites and still produce safe, 99.9% pure water.

A : Practically anywhere. It requires an electrical outlet and a level, ventilated location. Access to a water supply is required for the automatic refill units. With the addition of the accessory demand pump, the unit can be placed in a remote, out-of-the-way location and distilled water can be pumped out of the storage tank to the kitchen faucet, refrigerator or any location of your choice.

A : The units are designed for little maintenance in normal situations. Once per week the boiling tank should be drained to dispose of the contaminants which have been removed from your drinking water (the automatic drain units do this automatically). The boiling tank should be cleaned once per month, although this may vary depending on water conditions in your area. Each unit also incorporates an activated carbon post filter which requires changing every three months.

A : UltraPure Water Systems can provide you with any parts or service your unit may require. UltraPure is Chicagoland's only Pure Water Authorized Service Center.

A : Distillation systems use about 3 kWh of electricity for each gallon of water that is distilled. The national average cost of electricity per kWh in the US is 6¢ which means each gallon of distilled water costs about 18¢, a fraction of the cost of buying bottled water! You can find your personal cost per gallon by multiplying 3 times the kWh rate in your area.

A : Some articles have been written about distillation systems being unable to remove volatile organics (organic chemicals that have a boiling point lower than water). They claim these gases carry over with the steam. To ensure this does not happen, Pure Water, Inc. units are equipped with patented twin volatile gas vents on the condensing coil, which remove virtually all of these contaminants. For even further protection, each Pure Water, Inc. unit is equipped with an activated carbon post filter to provide you with high quality distilled water with a 99% removal rate of virtually all contaminants.

A : Absolutely, not...in fact just the opposite has been found to occur in cellular research studies. It is a mistaken belief that drinking pure distilled water reduces valuable minerals from living human tissues.

There are two types of minerals, organic and inorganic. Human physiology has a biological affinity for organic minerals. Most organic minerals for our body functions come from dietary plant foods. A growing plant converts the inorganic minerals from the soils to a useful organic mineral.

Tap water presents a variety of inorganic minerals which our body has difficulty absorbing. Their presence is suspect in a wide array of degenerative diseases, such as hardening of the arteries, arthritis, kidney stones, gall stones, glaucoma, cataracts, hearing loss, emphysema, diabetes, and obesity. What minerals are available, especially in "hard" tapwater, are poorly absorbed, or rejected by cellular tissue sites, and, if not evacuated, their presence may cause arterial obstruction, and internal damage. Even if the human tissue suddenly developed the ability to absorb inorganic minerals from tap water, it would take an enormous amount of tapwater to supply the bare minimal mineral quantities for human life functions. If (for example) the rich inorganic mineral content of the tap water in Reno, Nevada were modified so that it would convert the daily Calcium requirement (RDA) from its inorganic calcium solutes, you would have to drink 7.4 gallons of their tap water!

When inorganic minerals are "removed" from tapwater, by converting it into pure distilled water, the result is a remarkable biological mineral absorption for health.

A : There is no doubt that the body needs minerals. This issue is perhaps the 'hottest' one regarding the use of distilled water. It is easy to find an equal number of 'authorities' or 'experts' on both sides of this controversial issue.

In short, virtually all nutritional and medical authorities agree that the body assimilates organic minerals from the daily food cycle. Where the authorities disagree is whether or not the body directly extracts any nutritional value from the minerals found in an inorganic source such as dissolved rocks, dirt, and stone found in tap or mineral waters.

Perhaps the best way we have found to sort out this problem is to evaluate various tap and mineral water sources around the world and determine the amount of inorganic minerals (by weight) which would be consumed by drinking an average of two liters of tap water daily. Then, we compare this number to the amount of minerals (by weight) found in a normal daily diet. Dr. Jon Kirschmann's Nutritional Almanac is one of several good sources for this data.

When these two sources of minerals are compared, the results are real eye-openers. On the average, over 95% of the major and trace minerals ingested daily (by weight) come from food (fruits, vegetables, animal products) - and less than 5% from drinking water.

The distilled water 'mineral issue' then can be focused into a much clearer question: Is it really smart to ingest all types of heavy metals, bacteria, chemicals used in water treatment processes, industrial and agricultural chemical residues, etc. simply to get that little additional percentage of daily mineral intake from water sources. We don't think so!