Best Water Distillers Compared | Manual & Automatic

While being so crucial for our existence, unpurified water carries multiple dangers ranging from contaminants to bacteria. Water distillation is a tried-and-true, efficient, and easy way of purifying water for both drinking and household uses. This technology works by separating a liquid from other substances. Distilled water is first boiled into vapour and then condensed back into liquid.

Unlike other methods, distillation kills any microorganism in the water as well as removes debris, heavy metals, and sediment. For comparison, filtration can only block bacteria and parasites while oftentimes being ineffective against smaller viruses. Chlorination eliminates bacteria and viruses of all sizes but does not work against parasites with a protective shell. Boiling water kills any type of microorganism but does not remove sediment. Water distillation eliminates all contaminants and is the best universal solution so far.

According to scientists from Colorado State University, the advantage of distillers is that they produce high-quality, sodium-free, and “almost pure water”. On top of that, they are more convenient and cost-efficient. Distillers consist of a reservoir, a container, and some electronic features like timers and switches.

Typically, the unit has a single stainless steel reservoir with a capacity varying from 4 to 57 litres. Storage containers can be made of glass, plastic, or metal. Depending on the size, the device can distill just one litre or two litres of water per hour. Keep in mind that any distiller should be Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed.

Different Types of Water Distillers

There are three main types of water distillers: household, plumbing, and commercial.

Household or countertop water distillers, such as the H2o Labs Best-In-Class Stainless Steel Water Distiller, are the most common type. Their main advantages are convenience and ease of use. This option is particularly handy when you want to distil water quickly. You will only need to plug the device into an outlet and pour water into the container.

Once you turn on the unit, it will steam and distill the water. Another strength of household water distillers is their portability, which makes them a popular choice among travelers. On the other hand, there are essential downsides compared to other types. Namely, countertop water distillers have low capacity and work slower when a large amount of water needs to be distilled.

The other two types of water distillers are less widespread. Plumbing water distillers are a more advanced system that needs to be connected directly to the plumbing system. On the one hand, they are much pricier and more complicated to install. On the other hand, they are more convenient because you do not have to fill water in the container whenever you need to distill it. Commercial distillers are industrial-grade systems designed for processing large amounts of water — up to millions of gallons daily.

How Water Distillers Differ

Now, let’s see the most important features to consider when buying a water distiller.

Manual vs. automatic water distillers

Household distillers can be manual or automatic. For example, this water distiller has a manual power switch, a stainless steel inner tank, a glass filter, and an activated carbon filter. You can easily cut off the power without the need for plugging in and plugging out the device.

Or you may go with the 4-litre Stainless Steel Distilling Pure Water Machine that automatically cuts off the power supply when the temperature exceeds 160℃.

Capacity

Home water distillers come in different capacities from 4 litres and up.

Depending on your needs, you may choose a 4-litre Eco-Worthy Water Distiller, a 6-litre Water Distiller, or other options. If the capacity is higher or lower than you need, the device will overwork or not meet your needs.

Flow rate

The flow rate is the quantity of distilled water measured in gallons per minute (GPM). The recommended rate ranges from 14 to 40 GPM.

Design

Any distiller consists of the inner body, outer body, and containers. The body can be made from stainless steel or plastic material. While stainless steel units are sturdier and more durable, plastic ones are more lightweight and travel-friendly. Stainless steel interior is always used in automatic water distillers so the device can shut down when water reaches the set temperature.

A good example is the All-in-One Distiller System. The appliance features an entirely stainless steel interior and exterior as well as a borosilicate glass collection bottle. Apart from high-quality materials, it offers extra features such as the included TDS meter allowing for measuring the distilled water quality.

Test Run of 38L Stainless Steel Distiller for making distilled water

There is also a water distiller using an open-type cooling method with copper coils for home brewing. Depending on the model, they can distill from 12 to 38 liters of raw material by heating to boil selectively and then cooling to condense the vapor. It may be used for distilling and purifying water, distilling fruit wine, or brandy.

Testing & Customers Reviews

We found reviews from YouTube bloggers who tested the products from our TOP list. One uses it to make pure water for drinking, another to prepare distilled water for his CPAP machine.

rhandsom: "I've been using H2o Labs Water Distiller for a few months, and I must say that It's a good system. It's a good buy. The reason I bought this thing was one night I wanted to drink some water and started drinking the water and it tasted bad it tasted funny and I just needed to do something. Now I have been using filters, and you know these things are great for filtering out impurities in our water system and things of that nature. But they are not very good at filtering out bacteria or anything like that. And sometimes tap water can taste bad if you got well water or your pipes are rusty or something like that.

But with this distiller, I got to tell you this is like the best water that I've ever tasted if you get my meaning. It has no taste, but it tastes I mean it's great. It's really refreshing. I don't have to worry about impurities, viruses bacteria. It's pure water. I drink this, you know, my wife drinks this, my mother-in-law drinks this, and they really enjoyed it."

andrewesquivel: "I got CO-Z 4L Water Distiller because I use a CPAP machine and the CPAP machine requires that I use distilled water in the humidifier so instead of going out and buying 1-liter jugs of distilled water every few weeks, I would rather just have the ability to make it here at home. The distiller does work. It really is making the water as pure as it can be now. It takes about 4 or 5 hours or so to fill out that entire little jug. It comes with a special cleaner to clean the distiller to make sure that the water remains nice."

My Alabama Farm Life: "I'm going to pull out my VEVOR Still. I'm gonna do a test run and see if i can make a gallon of distilled water today. It was probably the cheapest one i could have bought off of Amazon. So, i'm not expecting a whole lot but we're gonna put it through its paces and we're gonna see how she goes.

So, this setup came with the large boiler. It also has a thumper keg and the condenser, but today i'm only going to be using the boiler and the condenser. I have read through the instructions and it really doesn't seem like it's that difficult. So, i'm going to get started putting it together since the lid was very handy i decided to go ahead and pull out the lid and get it put together. This comes with a thermometer which was really easy to install.

It's time to get down to business. This came with two corrugated pipes, but I only need one for this setup. I actually like how these little caps kept everything together and you didn't lose any parts. So, I'm going to take this one in and I'm going to go ahead and attach it to the condenser. Now remember I've never put together a still before and this is okay to do. But it probably would have been a smarter thing, if i put it on the copper bend on the boiler first and then attach the condenser to it, because it was a little awkward. I managed to do it, but it probably would have been easier the other way.

I discovered that i had a problem. I had to turn it down to a lower temperature and it stopped the shaking, but this was a problem throughout the process. So, as the boiler was heating up, I went ahead and pulled out the pump system and got it all set up and ready to go. I discovered very quickly that there was no way to balance out the intake and outtake of the water and I was constantly adjusting it trying to make sure that it did not overflow it did overflow twice during this process. I wanted to try to figure out how I could get a steady in and out going. I constantly had to watch the levels. I feel like it took forever to reach 200 degrees, but once we got some steam going i finally started producing some distilled water.

So, for me this was really a project that I could not walk away from. I was constantly monitoring the water levels in the condenser and also trying to make sure that the water itself was cold that was going into the condenser. I had two bottles of water that I had in the freezer that I used in the sink to keep my water nice and cold, but those melted really quickly. So, in hindsight I need to make sure that I have more ice. So, that this water stays cool in this condenser and of course I had to make sure that that boiler wasn't rocking on the stove.

So, not a crucial piece of equipment, I think I can deal with it. So, I'm going to call this a successful test run of the VEVOR Still although it is very light and definitely not a heavy duty piece of equipment. I did exactly what i needed to do, I was able to produce a gallon of distilled water. It did take a long time, but i did it."

Expert Opinion: Susan E. Brown, Certified Nutritionist