Why you shouldn’t rely on distillation why traveling….
Water distillation will kill and remove bacteria, viruses, cysts, heavy metals, and particulate. For all intents and purposes, distilled water comes closest to the definition of pure drinking water, and the distillation process removes the broadest range of contaminates of any point of use system.
Distillation can be a wonderful answer for pregnant women, iodine sensitive individuals, or long term travelers. Just like any other purification process, however, distillation does have its drawbacks.
First of all, it requires a reliable source of electricity. Most distillers process about a gallon of water every eight hours or so, which leaves little leeway in between outlets.
Distillers are the heaviest and bulkiest of water purification systems - definitely not something you can pack in your carry-on bag.
Water distillation requires planning. You can’t just plug it in and have your liter of water a few minutes later. It takes many hours in some case to begin producing water.
Most importantly, distilled water does not taste good. Nobody that drinks distilled water is doing it because they like the flavor. While it is important to have clean water, there are better ways.
The easiest and most effective solution is a personal water filter bottle. There are lots of different levels of filtration available. If you believe you are traveling to a second or third world country get the highest level of filtration. A biological filter bottle that uses a submicron rate filter will protect you from parasites, bacteria, and bad taste. If you suspect the water to have been virally contaminated use iodine or chlorine tablets.
