Types of Purified Water

Purified water is often seen for sale in grocery stores. There seem to be quite a number of different types but they all fall into three basic categories. These categories are distilled, deionized and filtered water. All three remove chemicals and bacteria from water but they do so in different ways and to different degrees.

• Purified water is water from which chemicals and other impurities have been removed. There are a lot of ways to do this, resulting in several kinds of purified water.


• Distilled water is the purest kind of water. The water is boiled, then the steam is captured and condensed in tubes. For good measure, the distillation process may be repeated. Distilled water is commonly used for scientific experiments and other situations that require extremely pure water. It is sometimes sold for human consumption.


• Deionized water is almost as pure as distilled water but made in a different way. Chemicals are added that bond to and draw out the various salts and impurities, with the resulting compounds easy to remove. This process also deals with most bacteria. However, deoinized water is seldom seen.


• Filtered water is what the majority of bottled water sold for human consumption is. Various methods exist, with reverse osmosis being one of the most common. Filtering tap water at home is common, with pitchers that contain filters being one method. Another is a filter that is attached to the faucet, filtering the water as it comes out. In some cases, filters may be designed specifically to soften hard (acidic) water.


• Filtered water may or may not be better for you than straight tap water, and people with some medical conditions should filter water. Distilled and deoinized water are both popular with people intent on improving their health but there is no evidence that drinking extremely pure water does so and in fact, filtering water can remove important trace elements vital to human health.