Distilled water
definition
Distilled water is normal water that has been freed of impurities, especially ions, through the chemical process of distillation.
You can produce distilled water from spring water, tap water or previously purified water. Normal water also contains a lot of salts, so-called "anions or cations", as well as trace elements, microorganisms and organic molecules.
As Distill is the term used to describe the process in which one does this Water strongly heatedso that it evaporates and then lets the evaporated water condense. The salts and trace elements do not evaporate with and stay behind. In order to obtain particularly pure water, this process can be repeated as often as desired. What remains is pure, distilled water that is not contaminated by any other chemical substances.
Uses it will above all in science, for example in chemistry, medicine or pharmacy, as a solvent for chemical reactions.
Can you drink distilled water?
You can also drink distilled water. In some countries around the world it is bottled and offered as particularly pure drinking water. As a persistent myth, there is a rumor that drinking distilled water can quickly burst cells due to the lack of salts. But that's not true.
Cells can actually burst, and a severe lack of salt can be very harmful to the body. Because the cells always maintain an equilibrium of salts via their membrane, if the equilibrium shifts sharply, the cell would fill with water in order to equalize the salt distribution and could burst.
However, this can only happen if a severe lack of salt present and the body at the same time is excessively hydrated. The amount of salts in the water is not decisive for the body's salt balance. A lack of salt arises mainly from a particularly one-sided, unbalanced diet.
Drinking distilled water alone leads so no lack of salt and therefore does not involve any more risks than normal drinking water. Distilled water may be drunk in the same quantities like normal drinking water. However, neither distilled nor ordinary drinking water should be administered intravenously to the body. The body needs the digestive process to balance the salt balance. Therefore, intravenous liquid solutions always have to be mixed with a proportion of electrolytes.
Both with normal drinking water and with distilled water, it can theoretically be threatening low-salt hyperhydration come, which are also called "Water poisoning" referred to as. Water poisoning can be particularly dangerous if the body also loses salt, which is the case, for example, with profuse sweating, vomiting or malnutrition. If you drink excessive amounts of low-salt water in this situation, this will result in water poisoning. dizziness and nausea are the consequence. In the worst case it can be severe Organ damage and Water retention come in the body. It can also Brain edema arise that have serious consequences Brain dysfunction to lead. However, the amount of water added must be more than 10 liters, as a healthy person can compensate for a lot of fluids.
Many people consider distilled water to be particularly healthy because it is free from pathogens and trace elements. However, for everyday use, experts recommend drinking normal, slightly salty drinking water.
The following topic may also be of interest to you: What happens if you drink too much water?
pH of distilled water
Distilled water is also called "Aqua pH5" designated. Of the PH value of a liquid indicates how acidic or basic the substance is. The scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 describing a neutral solution. Smaller numbers indicate that the liquid contains more acid than base. The closer the number is to zero, the more acidic the solution. PH values above 7 thus describe basic solutions.
water generally has one neutral pH, of the between 6 and 8.5 lies. Also distilled water originally has a neutral value of about 7. As soon as however the containerwhere the water is located is opened, it comes in Contact with the carbon dioxide from the ambient air and partially reacts to carbon dioxide. The also changes the pH and he sinks on about 5 from.
Conductivity of distilled water
As conductivity is called the possibility of any chemical substance, energy or particles to pass on. Materials with particularly good conductivity for electrical charge or heat are metals. Metals are also referred to as "Superconductor". Silver has the highest conductivity among metals. The unit for conductivity is Siemens per meter, abbreviated S / m. Silver has a conductivity of 63x10 ^ 6 S / m. Water in its pure form is not a good electrical conductor.
The conductivity in the water arises just through the dissolved saltswho have favourited Ions. You can conduct the electrical charges through the liquid. Water itself has no conductivity. Completely pure water, however, only exists in theory, since dissolved particles will still be present in the water even after repeated distillation. Even pure water has the property due to the so-called "Autoprotolysis“To create two ions from two water molecules. This owns itself purest water approximately a conductivity of 5x10 ^ -6 S / m. Drinking water however, has a conductivity of about 0.01 S / m.
So that means that distilled water is a enormously lower conductivity possesses than conventional drinking water, but cannot completely cancel it out.
