Treat Your Own Water

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Of course, New World's still must be precisely adjusted-by way of a sensitive valve that's located on the incoming water line-to do the job that it's capable of. It took our testers an hour or so to get the Distiller V operating at its peak level ... but once the still was "tuned in", we found that it could be run indefinitely (without readjustment) at an output of about half a gallon per hour.

PURE WATER M-6D AQUA STILL

Pure Water's M-6D Aqua Still is their best, most automated model. Like the two firms discussed above, this company offers other units for a wide range of prices. Butfor the individual who wants a device that will provide a constant source of distilled liquid with a minimum of bother-the Aqua Still is unbeatable.

In order to "fire up" the Pure Water model, a 114" tube (which includes an inline filter and a saddle tapping valve) is simply connected to any copper cold water line ... after that, the distiller pretty much takes care of itself. It monitors the water level in its boiler, condenses the steam in a length of fan-cooled finned tubing, stores the distillate in a chamber below, and even turns itself off when the five-gallon tank is full. An overheating protection switch is included to shut off the heating element if there should be some problem, and a glass tube provides an instant report on just how much water is held in storage.

However, the M-6D is so automated that the operator has virtually no control over the distillation temperature. That decision has been made by the Pure Water's designers and-judging by the firm's chemistry reports-seems to be attuned to the efficient removal of chloroform (which is one of the trihalomethanes). Because the unit lacks a column, the extraction of volatiles with vapor pressures other than those that the unit was designed to remove by heat is dependent upon a gas release hole located at the beginning of the condenser.

IN CONDENSATION

Each of the stills described above represents one segment of the water distiller marketplace ... and every specific type has advantages for particular applications. Our testers found all three units to be quite well made . . . reflecting the concern of the manufacturers for the quality of their products, the fact that the firm owners believe in the value of the goods they produce, and the relatively small size of the businesses involved. Therefore, the choice among the three styles of distiller is primarily a question of how much economy, convenience, and personal control the potential purchaser needs or desires.

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