Does it Have a Shelf-Life?
You are cleaning your storage shelves and you just found a few bottles of distilled water tucked away from last year. You may immediately wonder does distilled water go bad? Does it have a shelf life? Does it expire? The answer to these questions depends on the purpose you’re using it for.
Whether you drink distilled water every day or only buy it every now and then for your steam iron, you probably have wondered: does distilled water go bad? Perhaps you only use distilled water to refill your CPAP humidifier or any other home appliance that needs it. Over time, you started to wonder if that half-full bottle of distilled water you bought at the store was still good. You don’t intend to drink that water, but you care about your appliances and want to keep them in top shape. Either way, this article will help you find out about the storage, shelf life, and “going bad” of distilled water.
Vapor distilled water by Aquapap comes in different sizes, ensuring freshness that you won’t get with gallon jugs used over several days.
What is distilled water?
Distillation is an effective method to purify water, alongside osmosis, filtration, and deionization. The distillation process turns water into water vapors by boiling. These vapors are then condensed back to water in a new container. The two types of impurities in a substance are volatile and non-volatile impurities. The process of evaporation can remove the first set of contaminants. However, non-volatile impurities are left behind as soon as the container is changed for condensation. What’s left behind is pure distilled water.
Does distilled water go bad?
If you’re distilling water at home using a steam distiller or you use bottled distilled water, you probably considered storing some water in case of an emergency. Like other types of water, distilled water does go bad when it gets contaminated or there is some microbial growth in the water.
Water purity can be significantly affected by environmental factors, such as pollutants in the air and packaging processes. When the water gets contaminated, it is not distilled water anymore. This contaminated water is unsafe for consumption. Even if you want to use distilled water for purposes other than drinking, contaminated water should not be used. In order to keep distilled water in its purest state, proper storage is crucial.
How long does distilled water last?
You now know that distilled water does go bad. But when does distilled water go bad? When stored properly, store-bought distilled water lasts pretty much forever. Distilled water easily lasts a few years when it is sealed.
There’s no point in getting worried that the water for your steam iron will somehow “spoil” and damage the appliance. If you’re distilling water at home, its quality is best for probably a week or so if it is stored in proper sterile conditions. After that, there might be a possibility of some microbes growing inside it because you cannot keep it in sealed bottles when you are making it at home. In that case, you might want to get rid of it and go with a fresh batch.
Estimates for the best quality of distilled water
| Water Condition and Use | Shelf- Life |
| Bottled distilled water (unopened) | 5+ Years |
| Bottled distilled water (opened) for appliance and aquarium use | 1+ years |
| Bottled distilled water (opened) for CPAP humidifier | 2-4 days |
| Bottled distilled water (opened), for drinking | 5-7 days |
| Home-made distilled water | 5-7 days |
Distilled water does go bad. Aquapap has the solution for this.
We have established that distilled water does go bad but not if the bottle is sealed. You can use the bottles you found on the shelves but don’t forget to check if the seal is opened or not, or if the bottle appears to have been compromised in any way. Vapor distilled water by Aquapap comes in different sizes for your convenience and to increase its shelf life. Use a small bottle when you need less water and a larger size when you need more. That way, you can finish a bottle in one go and you will not have to store a bottle with an opened seal, risking it becoming contaminated. Try Aquapap today!
