Purified Water VS. Distilled Water: Understanding the Difference

Both purified water and distilled water are forms of treated water, significantly cleaner than standard tap water, but they achieve their purity through distinct methods, leading to key differences.

Purified Water:

• Process: This is water that has been treated to remove impurities like chemicals, contaminants, bacteria, and sometimes minerals. Common purification methods include reverse osmosis (RO), deionization (DI), carbon filtration, and microfiltration. It often starts as tap water or groundwater.

• Purity: It meets specific purity standards (like those set by the EPA or pharmacopeias), removing the vast majority of impurities. However, the exact level of purity depends on the specific filtration method(s) used.

• Minerals: Purified water may retain some beneficial minerals naturally present in the source water or added back after purification, depending on the process (especially RO often removes minerals, but some are sometimes reintroduced).

• Taste: Often tastes "clean" and neutral, similar to many bottled waters.

Distilled Water:

• Process: This is water that has been boiled into steam. The steam is then cooled and condensed back into liquid water in a separate container. This process, called distillation, effectively leaves behind virtually all impurities, contaminants, minerals, bacteria, and viruses, as most have a higher boiling point than water or don't vaporize.

• Purity: It's considered one of the purest forms of water available, as distillation removes almost all dissolved solids and microorganisms.

• Minerals: It contains no minerals whatsoever. It is essentially "empty" H₂O.

• Taste: Often described as very "flat" or tasteless due to the complete lack of minerals.

• In essence: All distilled water is a type of purified water (it's extremely pure!), but not all purified water is distilled. Distillation is a specific, intense purification process resulting in mineral-free water, while "purified water" uses various filtration methods and may retain trace minerals. Choose purified for general drinking and cooking, and distilled when mineral-free water is critical for appliances or specific scientific/medical applications.