While boiled and distilled water are both subjected to heat, there are distinct differences between the two products.
Boiled water refers to water that’s simply been heated to boiling point. Although this kills potential pathogens that can be harmful to humans, it’s not considered purified.
Distilled water, however, is a much purer form of water that’s had all of its impurities, minerals, and microorganisms removed.
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Does boiling water make it distilled?
Although heating water is an important step in the distillation process, simply boiling water in your kettle won’t make it distilled. That’s because the boiling process alone doesn’t make water ‘pure’. Purified water refers to water that’s been mechanically processed and physically separated from its impurities.
It’s true that boiling water, whether in a kettle or by other means, kills a host of germs and bacteria. However, it doesn’t remove the impurities; their organic but inert components remain in the water along with minerals, dissolved air and other impurities. Therefore boiling water will not make it distilled because it does not make it pure.
Is boiled water the same as distilled water?
No, boiled water is not the same as distilled water. As the name suggests, distilled water is water that’s undergone the process of distillation, whereas boiled water has simply been heated to its boiling point of 100°C.
Although many microbes are killed during the boiling process, impurities like minerals and organic matter are not. Boiled water is generally suitable for drinking and is sometimes used for surface sanitation.
While boiling water takes a matter of minutes, distillation is a more complex and lengthy process that involves special apparatus, as shown in the diagram below.
Distilled water is produced by heating water well past its boiling point so that it begins to evaporate into gaseous (water vapour) form. The vapour is then cooled and collected as distillate in a separate container, leaving behind the inorganic and organic impurities in the original container.
As distilled water is a very pure form of water, it’s commonly used in industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing. Unlike boiled water, it’s generally not suitable for drinking because it’s devoid of important minerals like calcium, potassium, and sodium. Drinking distilled water with high purity can therefore lead to health problems and even dehydration.
Basics of water purification
Water purification is about removing the impurities in water.
There are various ways to do this, but the main methods are deionisation, demineralisation, and distillation. Each of these processes has different applications but they’re all important both for scientific and industrial-economic purposes.
Deionisation
This is usually a two-stage chemical process in which ions are removed from water. During the first stage of deionisation, water passes through charged ion resin beds. The unwanted ions in the water are exchanged with hydrogen and hydroxyl ions.
In the second stage, the mineral ions in the water are extracted through the equivalently charged ion exchange resin. This requires two types of resins and chemical processes. The negatively-charged ions or anions are attracted by the positively-charged resin beads and exchange hydrogen into the water.
Meanwhile, the positively-charged ions or cations are attracted by the negatively-charged resin beads. The cations in the water are exchanged with hydroxyl. As the hydrogen and hydroxyl combine, pure water is produced.
Demineralisation
The process of demineralisation uses similar techniques as deionisation to remove inorganic mineral salts in the water. This is made possible by ion exchange. Strong acid cation resin in hydrogen form is used to convert dissolved salts into their corresponding acids. Conversely, strong base anion resin in hydroxide form is used to remove the acids.
Distillation
As we’ve already explained, distillation involves the application of heat to a sealed container (evaporator) that’s filled with unpurified water. When the water exceeds its boiling point, it becomes water vapour.
The vapour then passes through a coiled tube or series of tubes where it cools down and condenses into liquid form in a separate container. The impurities do not vaporise and are therefore left behind in the first container. This is because they have a higher boiling point than water.
Understanding boiled water
As previously mentioned, boiled water is not classified as pure or distilled water. This is because most of the water remains in the same container, such as when boiling water in a kettle. A small portion of the water escapes the container as water vapour, while another small portion is circulated back into the kettle as the water vapour cools down.
Certain microorganisms can’t live above 48°C, so by simply boiling water you can remove some organic contaminants like bacteria and germs. However, the boiling process does not affect other impurities like minerals, and so these remain in the water.
Although its mineral content means boiled water can’t be used in the ways distilled water can, it is safe for human consumption. In fact, boiled water will generally have a higher concentration of minerals than it did before boiling because some water will always escape as vapour.
Summary
Boiled water is not the same as distilled water. Although they both undergo a similar initial heating process, boiling water does not purify it. The process merely kills the microbes but the organic and inorganic impurities remain in the water. Distilled water, however, is a much purer form of water that’s produced through a more complex distillation process. During distillation, condensed water vapour is collected in a separate container and the impurities are left behind in the evaporator container.
ReAgent sells high-purity distilled water in a range of pack sizes. We also supply deionised, demineralised, and ultrapure water so that we can meet all of your business needs.
