The best substitutes for distilled water are:

• Mineral Water
• Spring Water
• Deionized Water
• Osmosis Purified Water

Why do people ask –
What can I use instead of distilled water?

Cooking with distilled water is becoming more and more typical over time. The “purified” composition with no bacteria or minerals makes it ideal for recipes that need to be utterly clean.

But finding distilled water is not an easy job. Some places are experiencing a distilled water shortage that’s making it possible to find or just too expensive in some cases. This is when you may need to find a substitute for distilled water.

Luckily, you can always use some substitutes and receive a similar result with your cooking. Here, we’re going to talk about those alternatives and how they compare to distilled water.

Care to learn more about its substitutes? Then come and find out!

What Is Distilled Water Exactly?

Distilled water gets its name from a process of distillation the water goes through. This process removes all impurities, including minerals, germs, bacteria, and more. So it ends up in cleaner water than before.

The distillation process consists of boiling the water at a perfect temperature, so it becomes steam. Of course, the steam is captured with special tools and then transformed into H2O once again.

As you can guess, the distillation is all about boiling water at a high enough temperature, so it gets rid of bacteria and other impurities. The H2O that comes from this has about 1 PPM or parts-per-millions of total dissolved solids. At this point, it can be used for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and more.

Distilled Water Shortage? These can be delivered to your home:

Table could not be displayed.

These were our top water distillers and now moving towards the four substitutes for distilled water, we have:

Substitute for Distilled Water – Top 4 Options

As you’re already familiar with the distillation process, let’s now go directly into the substitutes.

1. Mineral Water

The first alternative to distilled water is mineral water. This is the most common type of water you’ll find for drinking. It contains a lot of minerals, including magnesium, iron, sulfate, calcium, and potassium.

In fact, mineral water tends to contain between 200 and 250 PPM of total dissolved solids. That’s a lot more than distilled water. So, this water is not necessarily the cleanest for cooking. But it is way cleaner than tap water and those of rivers and lakes.

If you need something cheap for your cooking that offers cleaner water than the one coming from the tap – mineral water works well enough. And sure enough, the minerals it has will keep your body healthy.

2. Spring Water

Then, you’ll find spring water. In contrast with mineral water, this one has its source from underground lakes and wells. That means it contains lots of minerals but way fewer contaminants like bacteria or germs.

The advantage of spring water is that because of its source, it is useful for cooking and drinking directly. There’s no need to use additives to make it cleaner. But it undergoes a simple filtering process that removes any potential danger but does not remove all of them. So it is nowhere close to being as clean as distilled water.

This is a natural substitute for distilled water, and one of the best you can get.

3. Deionized Water

Also known as demineralized water, this type of H2O has not a single ion of minerals. As its name says, its whole purpose is to eliminate mineral ions from the water. The liquid goes through a chemical process called deionization that uses resins.

These resins capture all the mineral ions from copper to chloride, sulfate, sodium, calcium, and iron. This will leave a similar result to distilled water, and that takes less time.

The only problem with deionized water is that some molecules like bacteria, germs, and viruses are not taken out of the H2O. So, while it is clean of minerals, it may still contain some impurities.

On top of that, deionized water can be somewhat corrosive. It may not cause direct damage to tissues, but it could in the long term. So it is not precisely the best substitute to distilled water.

4. Osmosis Purified Water

Finally, we find purified water made with osmosis. Many people refer to it as osmosis water, as it goes to an osmosis process. This process makes the water go through membranes, heat, and pressure processes that remove minerals, lead, and contaminants.

The water that results is demineralized, safe for drinking, and useful for almost anything. It is so clean that it has less than 10 PPM of total dissolved solids.

This is the best substitute you will find for distilled water. It is clean and easier to produce with that anyone can buy. If you want a great alternative, this would be your best bet.

Is Distilled Water Purified?

Yes, there’s no difference between any water that’s called purified water and distilled water. In fact, other processes of purification that are pretty common include reverse osmosis and deionization. And we explained both above.

Mineral water is sometimes also considered purified water, as it usually goes under a filtration process that gets rid of most contaminants. And the same happens with spring water, which is often heated and sand-filtered.

But to really get purified water, it should have less than 10 PPM of total dissolved solids. And not many spring or mineral waters come this clean. But distilled, reversed-osmosis and deionized water do – so they’re indeed considered purified waters.

Is Purified Water Truly Healthy?

Distillation, deionization and reverse osmosis remove minerals and contaminants from water. While getting rid of bacteria, viruses, and germs are always safe, eliminating all minerals is probably not.

There’s yet no proof that demineralized water is actually better than mineral water or even spring water. So it isn’t beneficial for direct consumption.

Luckily, when it comes to cooking and cleaning, purified water can be an excellent option. It is probably not the healthiest when it comes to consuming directly, but it will still be cleaner than any other type of water.

If you choose reverse-osmosis water or distilled water, you’re doing yourself a big favor. As long as you remember to take your minerals from other sources, then there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

So, is purified water genuinely healthy? Yes, it is. If you want to avoid the risks that regular mineral water and tap water come with, then using distilled or reverse osmosis water will be your best option.

What Water Should You Use from Now on?

If finding distilled water is too hard for you – then you can always get a reverse osmosis filter at home and make your own purified water.

Still remember, mineral and spring water are not bad choices. They still have tons of positive things to offer, especially in terms of minerals. But of course, forget about deionized water if you’re using it for personal consumption.

In the end, it all comes down to your personal preference. Distilled and reverse osmosis waters are the purest you can find for cleaning and cooking – but mineral and spring water are not bad choices either and this is our personal recommendation:

Last update on 2023-03-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API. WaterFilterly is user-supported. We might receive a commission on any purchase you make through clicking links on this page.