Poland Spring sells "Natural Spring Water" and "Distilled Water". Which is better for drinking and why?

and since I had a stone I have been advised to drink distilled water.  Others may benefit from distilled water  as the minerals are said to be good for the heart.  Some see distilled water as dangerous because it may carry off minerals from the body.  There are several views on the subject.

If you are concerned, it is best you talk to a physician who knows your medical needs and history.

Spring water is exactly that.It’s water from a naturally flowing water source.Along with trace amounts of minerals there could also be trace amounts of toxins.

Distilled water on the other hand has been completely purified to contain only water.This is most commonly done by evaporating the water and catching the vapors.leaving everything else behind.This is the most logical choice whilst fasting for detoxification,as you’re not putting anything but the fluids in.

Distilled water:

In chemical and biological laboratories, as well as industry, cheaper alternatives such as deionized water are preferred. However, if these alternatives are not sufficiently pure, distilled water is used. Where exceptionally high purity water is required, double distilled water is used.

Distilled water is also commonly used to top up lead acid batteries used in cars and trucks. The presence of other ions commonly found in tap water will cause a drastic reduction in its lifespan.

Using distilled water in steam irons for pressing clothes can help reduce mineral build-up build-up and make the iron last longer. However, many iron manufacturers say that distilled water is no longer necessary in their irons.^{[citation needed]}

Some people use distilled water for household aquariums because it lacks the chemicals found in tap water supplies. It is important to supplement distilled water when using it for fishkeeping; it is too pure to sustain proper chemistry to support an aquarium ecosystem.

[edit] Drinking distilled water

Drinking distilled water is most common in ships, especially nuclear powered ones which require a large supply of distilled water as coolant. The water is produced by distilling seawater. Distilled water may also be used as drinking water in arid seaside areas which do not have sufficient freshwater, but plenty of seawater. The drinking water is produced in desalination plants, although it is very expensive due to the large amount of fuel needed to boil water. Alternative technologies, especially reverse osmosis are becoming increasingly important in this regard due to greatly reduced cost.

Distilled water is sometimes bottled and sold as well, especially where tap water is not suitable for consumption without boiling or chemical treatment.

Some people drink distilled water for its purity and for its improved taste. Municipal water supplies may have trace contaminants at levels which are scientifically believed to be safe, but some people feel safer drinking distilled water. It also has no minerals, which may make it taste better.

[edit] Pros and cons

The drinking of distilled water has been both advocated and discouraged for health reasons. The purported effect of drinking water in its pure form is a ’more powerful solvent’ that helps cleanse toxins from the body. From a chemist’s point of view, however, this statement is at best an incomplete description.

Detractors argue that it robs the body of essential minerals in this way and also deprives it of minerals normally acquired from drinking water. While there is no evidence to suggest that drinking distilled water is harmful or leaches minerals from the body, the World Health Organization has assembled considerable research which shows a relationship between drinking water containing naturally-occurring minerals and lower rates of certain diseases.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the perceived benefits, the cost of distilling water (about 0.04 to 0.10 Euro or USD per liter in 2005) prohibits its use by most households worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

It has been suggested that because distilled water (like reverse osmosis produced water) lacks fluoride ions that are added by many governments (such as most municipalities in the United States) at a water treatment plant for its effect on the inhibition of cavity formation, the drinking of distilled water may conceivably increase the risk of tooth decay due to a lack of this element.^[1] Regardless, most people continue to cook with tap water as treated and delivered by their government, and in cases of fluoridized water this is thought to potentially provide sufficient fluoride to maintain normal prophylaxis in many cases. Studies funded by the World Health Organization and others seem to show a clear relationship between minerals in tap water such as calcium and magnesium and a decreased rate in certain diseases.

In many other developing countries, government water treatment is necessary for health, but distilled water, if affordable, can be even safer by eliminating risks caused by variations from standards. An argument against shunning distilled water for displacing government-treated water is that governments treat water because it is much more economical than individual households treating it. Therefore, people who can afford it may choose distilled water for their drinking, and that does not deprive them of an overall health and caries plan, nor does it deprive governments of making changes informed by new knowledge (such as providing a caries prevention plan that includes distilled drinking water).

[edit] Myths

A popular myth about distilled water is that it has the dangerous property of being more easily heated above its normal boiling point without actually boiling in a process known as superheating. When the superheated water is disturbed or has impurities added to it, a nucleation center for bubbles form. These bubbles formed are new nucleation centers, and a sudden, explosive boil occurs, possibly causing serious injury to anyone near it.

In fact, superheating of plain tap water, for instance in the microwave, is just as great a danger as when heating distilled water. In the popular Discovery Channel show Mythbusters, an experiment was conducted where distilled water was placed in a microwave oven for several minutes long enough to boil, but no convection (boiling bubbles) took place. When a contaminant (a sugar cube) was added to the superheated water, it had an explosive effect. However, this effect also occurs with normal tap water, as macroscopic impurities (especially those which carry air bubbles) are needed for boiling to start. The dissolved impurities in tap water are not enough to inhibit the superheating.

[edit] Unproven cleanliness of bottled distilled water

A second criticism of distilled water supplies as used around the world (in 2006) is that individual bottling is often used for economic distribution. Some distributors sanitize and seal the bottle with each filling; however, many households and companies (who keep water dispensers for employees and customers to drink) re-use their bottles. While municipalities and government-organized water services treat and measure contaminants in water, bottled distilled water, while assumed to be contaminant-free (as with piped government supplies where the pipes are not tested), is not necessarily proven to be as safe as assumed, or safer. For example, even though instructions like the ones below are often given by bottled distilled water suppliers, few standards are available for knowing the effect of using a bottle a long time between washings, for knowing how many people follow the instructions correctly, what happens when they do not follow them at all, or for knowing that the washing is not leaving soap or bleach, or that cracks in the bottle are not harboring bacteria. Although this risk is small enough to be thought negligible, studies are needed to prove it and measure the effect in individual households, and to compare this supply with government-delivered water supplies.

Instructions for keeping water bottles and dispensers clean, as given to public consumers:

• Every 2-4 months, empty the bottle (through normal use).
• Fill it with 2-4 liters of distilled water.
• Add 1-3 ml of household bleach.
• Close the bottle and shake vigorously for 30 seconds to cover all inside surfaces.
• Let the bottle sit closed for 10 minutes.
• Empty the bottle and rinse it twice with 2-4 liters of distilled water.
• Re-fill the bottle with distilled water for use.
• Routinely wipe all surfaces of the water storage tank and dispenser above the water without introducing soaps or bleach that cannot be thoroughly rinsed.
• Clean the dispenser by running 2-4 liters of distilled water with 1-3 ml of household bleach completely through the dispenser.
• Rinse the dispenser by running 2-4 liters of distilled water through all portions.
• At all times, keep stored water bottles sealed closed in a cool, dry storage room, out of direct sunlight (Leave water in the hot trunk of a car for no more than 20 minutes for delivery), because heat from sunlight over time promotes bacterial growth.
• Dust off bottles before inverting into a dispenser, and wipe them without introducing chemicals to the water supply.
• Discard bottles after 2-5 years of use, and never use water or a bottle that develops any detectable smell.
• Re-cap empty bottles while being stored (other sources say leave them open to air dry).
• When re-filling empty bottles, pour in a liter of distilled water and swish it around to rinse the inside of the bottle, then pour it out before filling the bottle.

[edit] See also

• Deionized water
• Atmospheric water generator (Make distilled water from air)
• Heavy water