Just before Christmas we were asked to review a home water distillation unit from JD Harris.
I was brought up in an area with really clean tasting water but since moving to Glasgow I noticed the water wasn’t quite as nice, especially if there were old pipes in the building but no matter where you are in Glasgow the tap water certainly smells of chlorine. We also have the problem here of having a water tank at the top of the flats so I’m always a bit wary of what’s near, or possibly in that tank!
We have tried regular jug filters that you can buy in the shops but they only hold small amounts of water at a time, so what if you want something to purify a larger amount of water?
That’s when one of those becomes a necessity – the unit itself is not small, I was surprised at the size and weight but then again it is sturdy and well-made and can process up to 4 litres of water (just under a gallon) at a time!
It was still easy to use, simply fill the main unit to the marker point, pop on the top, plug the wire into the wall and leave it alone – the water is boiled first and then passes through a charcoal filter and it switches itself off when completed, so no worries there.
It’s a more involved process than a regular water filter so it makes more noise and takes longer but the results are far superior. I left it to do its work with a gentle hum in the background. The video below shows a brief snippet – we had the washing machine on at the same time so you can hear that it doesn’t generate much extra noise.
Water distiller test from Food and Drink Glasgow on Vimeo.
The water at the end was almost 100% pure H2O, crystal-clear and with no off-putting smell or taste. Perfect! The jug has a cap and fits straight into your fridge for ease of serving chilled water later.
Thankfully the lack of limescale in Glasgow means that scum isn’t left behind in the unit after one use, however after repeated uses a sweet-smelling green-brown fluid and white residue built up (fluoride?) Eew! Have a look at this Youtube video for likely gunk build-up from more southern parts of Britain. Bear in mind that the distiller will remove good minerals too, but if you are concerned about fluoride or any other chemicals in your water supply water then you’ll need one of these rather than a filter system. For removing the residue the box comes with cleaning stuff to keep the distiller in tip-top shape.
Overall, the unit was sturdy & well-made and easy to put together & use, with the added benefit of the auto switch off when it finished, so you can leave it running over night and have fresh pure-tasting water ready for each morning.
Use code WATU to get free UK shipping on a Megahome Deluxe Water Distiller.
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Deluxe Water Distiller kindly provided by JD Harris for the purpose of review. I have not been paid to provide a positive review.