Megahome MH943TWS 4L Countertop Water Distiller with Polypropylene Collection Bottle

Pour deux raisons, l'eau distillé et la rendre potable

[SIX YEAR UPDATE: 2/6/2016 - Our water distiller is still going strong after six plus years of use. When we wrote the original review we had no expectations of this appliance, that's been run daily distilling either one or two gallons of water, to last this long - with no repairs or replacement parts. We were pleased with the distiller back then, and now, in this era of planned obsolescence and "mean average time to failure" equipment, we are beyond amazement at this well made appliance. Perhaps we are just lucky at the longevity of our distiller, but we felt it was worth mentioning.]Original Review:Where we live the water is bad looking and bad tasting, and our home has old galvanized piping and copper with joints that are lead soldered. We've been buying bottled drinking water for the past couple of decades.The cost of bottled water keeps going up in price. Pulling out the calculator, we estimated that our family's bottled drinking water consumption, at current bottled water prices, is costing around six hundred dollars a year!The economics of the matter was quite clear; despite the initial cost and the electricity to run the appliance, a water distiller would save us money and effort over buying and hauling water from the store.Enter the distiller.We bought a water distiller and have been making a couple of gallons of distilled water a day since it arrived. The distiller works very well with little oversight or interaction needed, though it needs occasional descaling and rinsing, and you must be careful when working with the appliance when it is hot.The method for using the distiller is dirt simple: Fill the tank with water to the line, place the cooling/steam recovery tower on top of the boiler tank, put the water collection bottle under the water drain, plug the appliance in, and walk away. Then, come back later to pour the freshly distilled water into your water storage container of choice.Other reviewers have noted the problem with large amounts of scale residue left in the boiler tank after distillation, and we noticed the same thing especially with the crappy water we start with. We partially solved the problem of scale residue by buying a "pitcher style" water filter and using that as a quick "pre-filter" to remove much of the sediment, chemicals, and other impurities, and then pouring the filtered water in the distiller. We now filter the water before we add it to the distiller.(Note that "pitcher style" water filters are only rated for removing a portion of the contaminants found in the average municipal water supply, and for us is no substitute for the purity of distilled water. Using a pitcher type water filter as a "pre-filter" for your distiller adds to the final cost per gallon of distilled water when you factor in the replacement cost of filters.)We noticed that the "pre-filtered" distilled water tastes better, as the pitcher style water filter uses activated charcoal to filter water before it goes into the distiller. The "pre-filter" method has cut down on most of the baked on sediment and residue that coated the bottom and sides of the distiller, making boiler tank cleaning a much more infrequent necessity and saving us time and trouble.(Even after filtering the water with a "pitcher style" water filter like those advertised on television, the quantity of residue left in the distiller tank is amazing.)We also followed the advice of other reviewers and now use a heavy duty appliance timer to turn off the distiller after five hours of running, and that leaves about a half inch of water in the bottom of the tank so the sediment and residue remains dissolved and doesn't cook to the tank.One caution: Wait a good half hour or more after turning the distiller off (pulling the plug) before removing the top "cooling tower". A distiller is nothing more than a boiler, and it gets very hot and contains lots of high temperature steam that can burn you quickly. Wait for the machine to cool before handling.We have the distiller on a kitchen counter and we don't find the fan noise obnoxious or disturbing, but it does make a noticeable sound.The best advantage of the water distiller is we no longer have to haul gallons and gallons of drinking water home every week from the store! We have arrived in the twenty-first century; finally, we have clean drinking water on tap.=============================Two (2) year update:Our distiller is still going strong with constant use, distilling at least one, and often two gallons of water a day and it still works as good as new. We're very pleased to the point where we are adding this update with our latest observations about this excellent appliance.Before we made the purchase two years ago through Amazon, we factored in all of the costs in a spreadsheet to see if buying a water distiller made economic sense, and at the time we determined it would take two years of use for the distiller to work out being cheaper than buying store-brand distilled water in gallon containers. If you break down the costs for the distiller unit based on the number of gallons you use per year divided by the cost of the unit, then add in the electrical cost (distiller wattage times number of hours to distill a gallon of water, times cost per watt hour charged by your electric company), you will arrive at a cost per gallon of distilled water.We determined that the distiller's cost per gallon was around seventy-one cents per gallon, after two years producing two gallons per day. Two years ago, distilled water was selling for around eighty-three cents a gallon at the grocery store, so it made sense to buy the distiller if it would last at least two years, and we are please to report that the distiller has indeed lasted two years and is still going strong.You should be aware that your distiller might require special maintenance (beyond regularly descaling the interior boiler compartment with white vinegar), as described below:The upper section, the removable top of the unit which is the steam recovery area, has a small fan to draw outside air through a series of fins attached to a long curved water tube that captures the steam and then cools and condenses it back into water to drip into the glass collection container. The closely spaced cooling fins can collect dust when air is pulled through the upper unit by the fan. To remove the dust build up, there are three (3) screws that can be unscrewed to remove the outer plastic cover of the upper unit, giving access to the interior fan and water cooling section with the attached fins.It is quite simple and easy to clean the upper section: Remove the three screws (gently pry back the rubber sealing ring to expose the screw heads), and take the two sections apart. Then rinse the solid plastic cover to remove any accumulated dust. Be careful with the section containing the water cooling fins and the electric fan - we used a small dusting brush with soft bristles to successfully remove all of the built up dust that had worked its way into the upper system and into the fins surrounding the cooling tube. Once all of the dust was removed we screwed the unit back together and put the distiller back to work.Our distiller sits on a section of kitchen counter close to an outside window, and we were surprised to find that after a couple of years use there was a substantial amount of dust build up inside the upper cooling tower. Possibly our unit is pulling dust from the outside that's being captured in the cooling fins, but this is something you might want to monitor to ensure there's no dust build up in your machine. Dust build up along the cooling fins will reduce the efficiency of the water recovery tower.We recommend this appliance to anyone looking to save their back and their wallet by processing their own pure water at home.

I haven't used this alot yet, but I figured I't throw my 2 cents in as a first and second time user since I've ran it twice so far.It isn't quiet, but it's not loud enough to hear in the living room from my kitchen. Pretty straight forward. I didn't use the carbon filter and the water tasted good but i'm going to see the difference after a couple of cycles and try it with the carbon filter put in.It's basically fill the water to the 'fill' line inside, put the top on. make sure the spout is pointing into the glass pitcher and plug it in, then wait 4-5 hours.It turned off automatically last night after it was complete. No issues, I'm happy. If I had more money I'd buy two so I could have more water but for now it's good for drinking and coffee water.EDIT 4/27/2017:After using this many times and making it a part of my water use in the kitchen and for drinking, I am very glad I purchased it. I use "Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops" to add trace minerals back into the water when complete, and the "metallic taste" that most people refer to is mostly from the lack of trace minerals. I usually end up making a gallon a day since I'm only one person but it honestly feels idiot-proof. I don't even use the carbon filter, there's never been a need to since it's basically purified from evaporation anyway. Cleaning the water canister is simple, I just scrub it a bit each time with a plastic brush. I'll use some vinegar and leave it stand for a bit after another month or so to break up the crud.I'm very impressed by this, it's been a great addition to the family.EDIT August 24th 2017:I've been using this every 1 to 2 days since I bought it, and it works without any issues. I clean out the container every week since that's about when it's time. Other than that, it's been a trustworthy appliance I've had on my counter to use when my 2 gallon glass water canister in the fridge gets low. This saves me worries about bottled water service or going to a water store. I didn't think that would be a big thing until I got this and after a while felt the burden lift off of me. Only thing is I'm finding myself timing my use of large amounts of purified water instead of just doing it. Not a big deal since I'm a single guy in a home of my own, but I can imagine if I had a family it'd be a big harder.EDIT June 21 2018:My first one is still going great, no issues at all. I need more water since I've started using distilled water for everything I do now that I can make it... so I bought a second one of this. My second one came in today and was purchased in "used" status, which basically was completely reconditioned. When I opened it, there was no difference from "new" status really. It looks perfect, and everything works wonderfully. I put everything together, and made my first pitcher of water next to my first distiller. The Megahome brand distiller has worked better than I ever thought they would, and the quality of the glass is not thin either. All in all, I'll probably end up buying another in a year or two when I need more made at a time, as well.EDIT June 19, 2019:This has become a major piece of my, and my pet's lives. I have two of these that I use daily or every other day depending on needs, and they have worked without any issues whatsoever and I love it. Of course, the Concentrace trace mineral drops needed to be replaced three times over the years ;) I'm glad they're so durable, that's mostly all I have to say.

I recently wrote another Amazon product review for the Baby Brezza Temperature Controlled Water Kettle, which I use to keep water at body temperature for nasal irrigation. Shortly after I started using that product, I realized that I was growing tired of worrying about the possibility, albeit a remote one, of getting an infection of the amoeba "Naegleria fowleri" from my well water, and was also tired of always running out of gallon jugs of distilled water from the store just when I needed it. Besides occasional nasal irrigation, I also have some backup sump batteries that need topping off with distilled water in the colder and dryer months, and I also run some chemical processes in my home laboratory that require distilled water for best results. I started looking for a small distiller intended for home use, and Google searches led me to this MegaHome unit. It had mostly good reviews so I bought one from Amazon.The product comes with the boiler/condenser unit, a glass pitcher of about 1 gallon capacity, a box of six activated charcoal packets, and a jar of citric acid pellets. The product arrives in a box that at first seems to have only the boiler/condenser inside, but on closer inspection it reveals a sort of Russian doll scheme where the glass pitcher, with handle removed, is inside the boiler tank, the handle parts, citric acid and charcoal filters are inside the pitcher. You need to assemble the handle to the pitcher, which involves wrapping two stainless steel straps around the pitcher (they fit into recessed grooves in the glass), then screwing the handle onto nuts that are welded to the straps. A plastic cover snaps onto the handle to cover the mounting hardware. You also need to assemble the condenser which is comprised of a small glass funnel and a plastic housing for the funnel, and this snaps onto the discharge end of the condenser. One packet of activated charcoal fits wadded up inside the glass funnel, and it removes any residual chemicals that might have been distilled along with the water; in practice this makes distilled drinking water taste better. The assembly snaps off to change the packet.The boiler/condenser is in two parts. The boiler rests on the counter top, shelf, or other suitable flat surface. It consists of a stainless steel tank that holds a bit more than one gallon, with an electric heating underneath. An integrated circuit breaker/thermostat on the side of the boiler turns off the heater when all the water in the tank is boiled off, and also protects against overloads or other faults. It does not work as an on/off switch.The condenser rests on top of the boiler, and stays in place because a lip along the edge keeps it centered on the boiler. A gasket seals the two together, although it is only gravity at work and no hardware is used to latch it in place. The condenser consists of a stainless steel dome that collects the steam created from the boiling water below, and the steam exits the dome through a hole that leads to a double coil of stainless steel tubing that wraps around inside the condenser. An electric motor with a fan is mounted in the middle of the coils of tubing, and draws in cool air through side vents, past the coils (cooling the steam inside and condensing it back to water), and exhausts through vents in the top. An electrical cord runs down from the condenser and plugs into a socket near the base of the boiler, right next to where the power cord comes in. This makes it easy to unplug and detach the condenser from the boiler for cleaning.The citric acid is used to clean the stainless steel when it gets funky from minerals and other impurities bake onto the surfaces after some use. You just make a batch with some citric acid in it, then drain and wipe clean.In practice, you lift the condenser from the boiler and lay it down next to the boiler. Then fill the boiler tank to the 'FULL' line, replace the condenser on top, and plug it into the electrical outlet. The electric heater starts and the fan also starts. It takes at least half an hour for the water in the tank to reach a good boil, but the insulated boiler keeps the outside from getting more than just a bit warm to the touch. Once the water is boiling, you will notice that the air exiting the top of the condenser is now pretty warm, since it is removing heat from the steam. Distilled water begins to drip out of the discharge nozzle on the side (it passes through the activated charcoal inside the glass funnel on its way out), and into the glass pitcher. The discharge nozzle fits right into the pouring spout of the pitcher, so that the plastic pitcher cover can remain in place during distillation. This keeps dust, bugs, cats, etc; out of your pure distilled water. When all the water is boiled off, the temperature inside the boiler rises sharply and this causes the thermostat to pop and turn the electric heater and fan off. Now you have a full gallon of distilled water in the pitcher ready for use. I pour it directly into an empty plastic jug that 'store-bought' distilled water came in. You can then leave the distiller alone, or you can immediately refill the tank, reset the thermostat, and make another batch right away.The distiller works at a rate of about one gallon per every six hours, so you can distill up to four gallons in a 24 hour period.I use my distiller on well water that has a number of impurities, including iron, magnesium, calcium, 'sludge', and other trace elements. After a few batches of water, the inside of the boiler tank has a film of this stuff baked on. As confirmed by the users manual, this is OK to leave there, as it does not affect the quality of the distilled water coming out. But eventually, I want to clean it and this is where the citric acid comes in. I put in a gallon of water and some acid, bring it to a boil, then drain and rinse, then wipe the inside surfaces, rinse once again and I'm ready for more distilling.One 'trick' to reduce how fast the mineral film builds up inside the boiler is to never allow all the water to be boiled off. I try to arrange it so that I stop the process when about 1" of water remains in the boiler tank. I use a digital electrical timer to turn the power on for 5 hours and 30 minutes, and this setting seems to reliably do the trick. Unfortunately, finding a suitable timer that was easy and accurate to set, with repeatable resolution of not greater than 10 minutes and a timing length of at least 6 hours was difficult. Most timers out there, at least those readily available to consumers, have either short duration of less than an hour, or else they are difficult to set accurately and you will either have them running for too long or not long enough. Some timers such as this one:http://www.amazon.com/15079-7-Day-Plug-In-Digital-Timer/dp/B002HEO7N8/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1359170269&sr=8-16&keywords=digital+electric+timer+countdownmight work, but you would need to make sure that the one you choose can be operated WITHOUT being cyclic, in other words it will not turn the distiller back on a while after turning it off at the end of a distilling batch. I chose a rather pricy one by Borg General (digital interval count down timer series 650, originally made by Diehl) that costs about $100 and is available online. This works brilliantly but needs to be mounted in something since it does not have an enclosure of its own. By the time you put it in a box, add a power switch and power cord and outlet for plugging in the distiller, you will have spent $150 on it.I am very pleased with the quality of this product, and it works well for me.The

[+] THE REVIEW:I like this distiller and would recommend buying it. The only flaw is the plastic cap on the pitcher. They were smart enough to make a glass insert in the spout so the hot water would not pick up chemicals from the plastic and then they went ahead and made a plastic cap for the pitcher. All during the distillation process, the water collecting in the pitcher is hot enough that steam rises up and collects on the plastic cap and then falls back down into the pitcher. The fix was simple. I went to a glass company and for about $5 I had them cut a 6"x6"x1/8" plate. I use that to cover the top of the pitcher while I am using the distiller. I still like this pitcher better (even with the flaw) because it has a wide mouth for easy cleaning if needed. Buying the glass didn't break the bank and it was an easy fix.It makes a gallon in about 5 1/2 hours. I use a timer to shut the distiller off at 5 hours 20 minutes which leaves about 8 oz of water in the chamber. This 8 oz contains condensed impurities. Better to throw it out than to boil it further. It also makes cleaning easier. I had a distiller a while back, and the noise from the fan is a little quieter than the other one (but not by much).I am able to distill water down to less than 0.2 ppm. I use a PWT (pure water tester) instead of a traditional TDS meter. The difference is that it is more precise in the lower ranges (0.0 - 99.9). Traditional TDS meters do not read in the tenths. Just a note that the end result does fluctuate up to 0.4 ppm, which I am assuming has to do with other variables (i.e., water, how clean the chamber is before use, etc.) Also, I filter my water with a zerowater pitcher before distilling (I do not use tap water in the distiller).I am going to try a few experiments to see if I can distill down to 0.0 ppm. I'll let you know if I succeed. [update] I did get it down to 0.0 ppm once, but for the most part I could only get down to 0.2 on a consistent bases. It was all just to see if I could do it because the difference of 0.2 ppm is so negligible that it is irrelevant. I'm guessing that the distillation of 0.0 ppm happened because all the variables happened to be perfectly aligned.[+] A NOTE ABOUT DISTILLED WATER & MINERALS:There is no down-side to adding liquid minerals to the distilled water. I add vitamin-c, magnesium and calcium to mine. I am not a doctor; however, this notion that drinking distilled water leaches minerals from the body has just got to stop. You do not (repeat - do not) get enough minerals from regular water to supply nutrition to the body. If you were fasting and you drank distilled water, then your body would start to deplete itself of minerals since nothing is being consumed. Guess what, the same thing would happen if you fasted and drank regular water. Water just does not hold enough minerals to make a difference on a grand scale. As far as trace minerals, you could add liquid minerals or better yet you should get them from consuming sea salt in your diet. Trace minerals are minerals the body utilizes in very, very small amounts. As a side note, most bottled water and tap water do not contain trace minerals. I hope that clears things up. I'm not a doctor - only someone with common sense.[+] DRINKING DISTILLED WATER FOR HYDRATION:Drinking sea water actually dehydrates a person, which is the opposite of what one might think. How can drinking any water make a person become more dehydrated? The answer lies in how water acts across a porous membrane when each side of the membrane has a different saturation of salt. When the levels are different, that forms what's called a gradient. Water always flows toward the "higher" saturated end of the gradient. So, in the example of being out to sea and drinking sea water that has a high content of salt, the water actually flows out of the body into the GI tract because the GI tract is filled with a high saturation of salt in the sea water. This is why drinking salty sea water dehydrates a person. Now let's reverse that. If you drink distilled water, there is no saturation of salt. Therefore, the water (in this case the distilled water) flows from the GI tract into your body, which has a higher saturation of salt, that being saline solution in the blood stream. In reality, you can hydrate yourself faster with distilled water because of this gradient effect. The water molecules enter into your body faster and supply the much needed water for your body to function. Again, minerals in water are insignificant as a dietary source. I hope this helps![+] USING DISTILLED WATER TO ADD YOUR OWN MINERALS: (added June 2018)Distilled water is the best water to use if you want to add your own minerals, and here's why. Water cannot hold an unlimited about of minerals. At some point the water becomes saturated and the minerals just fall and collect on the bottom. You can try this by adding a small amount of minerals to water to see it absorb until the water is clear. Then, as you add more and more minerals the water stays cloudy, and if you let the water sit for a moment the minerals drop and collect on the bottom. So, knowing this, it is clear to see (no pun intended) that to absorb the most minerals of your choosing it is better to start out with water that lacks all minerals, hence, distilled water. I add powdered calcium, magnesium and Vitamin C to my distilled water. If I were to add these to regular tap water (i.e., tap water that already contains "other" possibly not-so-good stuff), then the water has less ability to absorb minerals because the water is already partially saturated with this other stuff. If your a person that does add certain vitamins and minerals to your water like I do, then distilled water is really the far superior water for this purpose. If interested, I add 1/4 teaspoon (1058mg) of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), 1/4 teaspoon (831mg) of Magnesium Citrate, and 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon (394-789mg) of Calcium Citrate depending on how much other calcium sources I have during the day. Here are the products I use to supplement with powder:BulkSupplements Pure Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) Powder (250 grams)BulkSupplements Pure Magnesium Citrate Powder (250 grams)BulkSupplements Pure Calcium Citrate Powder (250 grams)[+] ANSWER TO Just a Guy's Question: 2017Just a Guy wanted to know a little bit more about the timer I used. Here is my response:=> "Just a guy - You asked, "can you point us to the timer you use?" The timer I used is currently unavailable. It is:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018G86I08/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1I found a similar timer that looks identical to mine. It is:https://www.amazon.com/Programmable-Digital-Switch-3-prong-Appliances/dp/B0191ZGELS/ref=pd_sim_60_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0191ZGELS&pd_rd_r=Y9TJG6A11AZ4TJ76Q5E7&pd_rd_w=QUjP4&pd_rd_wg=EtPOH&psc=1&refRID=Y9TJG6A11AZ4TJ76Q5E7"Here's a link for your reference: 7-day Programmable Plug-in Digital Light Timer Switch with 3-prong Outlet, 15A/1800W (1 Pack)[+] ANSWER TO Janica's Question: 2018Janica wanted to know a little more details about the glass top I used. Here is my response to her:=> "Hi Janica, in reference to the glass top I bought. I measured the diameter of the container opening using a foot ruler, and I left enough room for a little overhang because I didn't want to have to futz with positioning it. Then I went down to my local glass company and asked them if they could cut the glass in the thinnest glass possible. He recommended 1/8". He also rounded the edges at no extra charge so the edges were smooth to the touch. It took all of 10 minutes and about $5. The glass balanced perfectly blocking out anything that otherwise would fall into the freshly distilled water. I did not bring the distiller with me. I only brought the measurements and explained my situation. Then I crossed my fingers. But I thought, what the heck, if it doesn't work it's only five bucks. In this case, it worked as expected."[+] COMMENT ADDED BY healthierme: (updated 7/12/2018)healthierme posted a comment about distillers boiling dry. Here is my response to her comment:=> "Hi healthierme, I never knew there was a distiller that had an auto shut off feature to prevent boiling dry - and here I thought I created something new, haha. You will find that once you use the timer a few times to get the precise length of time down, it works like a charm. It is little more crude than having it built in, but nonetheless, works flawlessly every time. One advantage that even the Waterwise doesn't have over using an external timer is that you can set both the start time and end time. For example, you can set up your distiller the night before and then let it start and finish distilling while you are at work. Set it and forget it! Thanks for the post!"