No…it is not recycled motor oil.
It is the distillation residue from 1 gallon of Richmond, IN tap water.
Article Dedication
in Honor of
Alfred Eisenstaedt & Andreas Feininger
Selection from Piercing Darkness artist’s book by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
Infrared flash photo (Candid)
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NOTICE
If any photo looks fuzzy, click on it to see if there is a hi-res version. When the original theme of this blog was changed to a zine format, the size and spacing of the photos were changed from the original post. I don’t have the time to go back and fix thousands of photos used in hundreds of old posts…but I’m sure you will still get the message.
Scope of Testing
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Municipal Tap Water:
Wheeling, WV (tap)
Pittsburgh, PA (tap)
Martin’s Ferry, OH (tap)
St. Clairesville, OH (tap)
Steubenville, OH (tap)
Cadiz, OH (tap)
Woodsfield, OH (tap)
Moundsville, WV (tap)
Bridgeport, OH (tap)
New Martinsville, WV (tap)
Beech Bottom, WV (tap)
Detroit, MI (tap)
Morgantown, WV (tap)
Dallas, TX (tap)
Knoxville, TN (tap)
Richardson, TX (tap)
Cambridge, OH (tap)
Thornville, OH (tap)
Chillicothe, OH (tap)
Charlotte, NC (tap)
Cleveland, OH (tap)
New York City, NY (tap)
Jersey City, NJ (tap)
Harrisburg, PA (tap)
Bethlehem, PA (tap)
Philadelphia, PA (tap)
Myrtle Beach, SC (tap)
Walton, KY (tap)
Troy, IL (tap)
Oak Grove, MO (tap)
Topeka, KS (tap)
Oklahoma City, OK (tap)
Wright City, MO (tap)
Brazil, IN (tap)
Allentown, PA (tap)
Chicago, IL (tap)
Los Angeles, CA (tap)
Malibu, CA (tap)
Riverside, CA (tap)
Newport Beach, CA (tap)
Palm Springs, CA (tap)
Las Vegas, NV (tap)
San Diego, CA (tap)
Greenfield, IN (tap)
Rochester, MN (tap – home soft water treatment)
Peru – Rochelle, IL (tap)
La Crosse, WI (tap)
Madison, WI (tap)
Richmond, IN (tap)
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Well, Spring, Rain, Snow and River Water Tests:
Melted fresh snow water (Ohio Valley)
Rain water (Ohio Valley)
Smithfield, Ohio (well water unfiltered)
Ohio River (raw river water)
Woodsfield, Ohio (spring water unfiltered )
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Bottled Water:
Tyler Mountain (spring)
Kroger (purified)
Kroger (purified) Retest
Niagara (purified)
Crystal Geyser (spring)
Absopure (purified)
Crystal Geyser (spring)
Polar (spring)
Valley Pure / United Dairy (drinking)
Ice mountain (spring)
Fiji (spring)
Evian (spring)
Deja Blue (purified)
Aquafina (purified)
Great Value / Wal-Mart (purified)
Great Value / Wal-Mart (spring)
Icelandic Glacial (spring)
Giant Eagle / Creekside Springs Water Company (spring)
Deer Park (spring)
Disani (purified)
Kroger (spring)
Kroger (drinking)
Kroger (distilled)
Always Save – Associated Wholesale Grocers (spring)
Member’s Mark – Sams’ Club (purified with added minerals)
HyVee (spring)
HyVee (purified)
Rethink (Canadian – Tetra Pak)
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Water Filters & Treatments:
Brita
Pur
ZeroWater
Berkey
Glacier / Water Island / Kroger self-fill water vending machine
Primo / Culligan / Wal-Mart self-fill water vending machine
Water Distiller
Elkay Filtering Water Fountain
Home Soft Water Treatment
HyVee / Natural Pure / Midwest Best Drinking Water self-fill water vending machine
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Water pollution as well as water scarcity is in the news a lot nowadays. Distilling water is a quick acid test you can do to find out what residue is in your water. It is amazing what is in your water that you can’t see.
A trend in water purification is ‘toilet to tap’ aka drinking recycled human waste. Toilet to tap is nothing that new. Some of the Rustbelt that get their water from the big rivers have been drinking recycled human waste for years. Drought condition in the West has caused them to look towards new sources for their drinking water. And they found a bonanza goldmine in the mining their sewage plants for tap water.
Water distillation does not give you the results for bacteria content, chemicals, radioactive or volatile components that will boil off as gases. But it gives you a glimpse as to what is in your water after you boil off the water as steam and condense the steam back into water leaving behind the heavier waste components that won’t boil off.
I had heard that fracking is causing water to become radioactive in some areas, so I have tested some of the water samples for radioactivity.
Here are the residue results of distilling various sources of tap water, well water, spring water, melted snow water, rain water and purified water (processed and filtered tap water.) At the end of this post are tests for water filters, filtering water pitchers, a self-fill water vending machine and a water distiller.
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Above: Wheeling, WV tap water test #1
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV city tap water. The water left a brown residue that has a foul smell. The resulting distilled water has to be distilled a second time to make it taste like spring water that has been distilled once. I don’t know what the brown residue is, but the toilets and many factories dump waste into the Ohio River and that is where most of the tap water comes from.
Water Source: Ohio River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 2015
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Above: Wheeling, WV tap water test #2 *
Distillation residue (test #2) from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV city tap water. I retested the Wheeling tap water in the winter to see if there was any seasonal difference between test #1. The water left a brown residue. Not too much of a smell this time around, but the residue was loaded with grit and debris. The area circled in red had free-flowing grit in it that can be readily scooped up. Bottom line for Wheeling, WV tap water test #2…the water is dirtier, but smells better.
* See test results at end for running this water through a PUR, Brita and Zero water filter pitchers.
Water Source: Ohio River
Tested: January 2016
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Above: Pittsburgh, PA – (Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority) tap water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority city tap water. The water left a brown residue that has ‘cooked’, but not disagreeable odor.
Water Source: Allegheny River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 11, 2016
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Above: Martins Ferry, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Martins Ferry, OH city tap water. The water left a very light brown residue with no odor.
Water Source: Various Aquifer Wells – Route 7 Ohio
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: March 2, 2016
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Above: St. Clairsville, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of St. Clairsville, OH city tap water. The water left a heavy, claylike residue that became hardened and could not be removed without a 6 hour acid bath. Very light brown residue in the residual liquid with no odor.
Water Source: Reservoirs located on Vineyard Hills Rd. and Reservoir Rd. St. Clairsville, Ohio with 6.45% well water purchased from Belmont County Safety Sewer District (Data from 2013 water quality report.)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: March 7, 2016
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Above: Steubenville, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Steubenville, OH city tap water. The water left a brown liquid residue with some odor.
Water Source: Intakes at mile marker 65.3 of the Ohio River. (Per city water report 2012)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: March 26, 2016
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Above: Cadiz, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Cadiz, OH city tap water. The water left a brownish liquid residue with some odor. Heavy buildup requiring a long acid bath to remove.
Water Source: The Village of Cadiz public water system uses surface water from Tappan Lake, which was created by impounding Little Stillwater Creek. Two secondary sources, Sparrow Reservoir and two public water supply wells at the Cadiz well field, are maintained as back-ups but currently are not in use. (Per water report 2014)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: March 29, 2016
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Above: Woodsfield, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Woodsfield, OH city tap water. The water left an almost clear liquid residue with no odor. Cleanest sample of tap water tested to date.
Water Source: Two reservoirs on Whittenbrook Run supplemented by pump on Sunfish Creek. (Per village of Woodsfield water report)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 6, 2016
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Above: Moundsville, WV tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Moundsville, WV city tap water. The water left a clear liquid residue with no odor. One of the cleanest sample of tap water tested to date. Did not require an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Deep wells
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 6, 2016
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Above: Village of Bridgeport, OH tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Bridgeport, OH tap water. The water left a clear liquid residue with no odor. Heavy mineral content with some white flecks. Residue went up the side of the entire boiling pot and lid. Required a heavy acid cleanup.
Water Source: 5 Ground wells
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 8, 2016
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Above: New Martinsville, WV tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of New Martinsville, WV tap water. The water left a clear liquid residue with no odor. Heavy mineral content went up the side of the entire boiling pot Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: 5 wells drawing its water from the Alluvial Aquifer.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 15, 2016
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Above: Beech Bottom, WV
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Beech Bottom, WV tap water. Residue went up 3/4 the way of the boiling pot. Heavy, calcified residue on bottom. Required 3 acid baths over a 10 hour period to clean up.
Water Source: Various wells
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 29, 2016
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Above: Detroit, MI
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Detroit, MI tap water. The water left a dark brown liquid residue with no odor and moderate solid residue. Required a 30 minute acid cleanup.
Water Source: The sources of supply to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department System (DWSD) are the Detroit River and Lake Huron. Water from the Detroit River is taken through the Belle Isle intakes and is treated at the Northeast and the Springwells Plants. The water taken from Lake Huron near the City of Port Huron is treated at the Lake Huron Treatment Plant. (per city water report)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 2, 2016
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Above: Morgantown, WV (Clinton Water District)
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Morgantown, WV (Clinton Water District) tap water. Liquid and solid residue was pretty minimal. Required a light acid cleanup.
Water Source: ?
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 16, 2016
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Above: Dallas, TX
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Dallas, TX tap water. Dark brown liquid residue, strong unpleasant cooked odor. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Dallas currently obtains water from area reservoirs: Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Lewisville, Lake Grapevine, Lake Ray Roberts and Lake Tawakoni. We also have plans to use Lake Fork and Lake Palestine in the future when water demands increase. All of Dallas’ water supply comes from surface water (water from reservoirs or rivers). We do not use any ground water (water from wells), although Dallas does sit atop an aquifer. (per City of Dallas website.)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 25, 2016
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Above: Knoxville, TN
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Knoxville, TN tap water. Distillation left a medium brown liquid residue with a small amount of solid waste that required a light acid bath to clean up.
Water Source: Tennessee River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 26, 2016
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Above: Richardson, TX
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Richardson, TX tap water. Distillation left a dark brown liquid residue with a small amount of solid waste that required a light acid clean up. There was a good deal of rainbow discoloring which may mean a high amount of chemicals in the water.
Water Source: Since 1965, Richardson has obtained its water supply through a contract with the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD), a quasi-state agency created by the State legislature in 1954.The NTMWD treats and distributes water from Lake Lavon impoundment reservoir, Lake Chapman, Lake Texoma and New Bonham Reservoir. (per City of Richardson website)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 27, 2016
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Above: Cambridge, OH
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Cambridge, OH tap water. Distillation left a brown liquid residue. Required an acid clean up.
Water Source: Cambridge Reservoir (per phone call to Cambridge water dept.)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 28, 2016
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Above: Thornville, OH
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Thornville, OH tap water. Distillation left a cloudy brown liquid residue. Required a light acid clean up.
Water Source: The Village of Thornville maintains two drilled wells for their water supply. The wells are considered ground water. They are located at 112 W. Columbus Street, Thornville, Ohio. The Village of Thornville treats the water minimally by adding a form of chlorine to ensure its safety while it is delivered to your home. (per Village of Thornville website)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 29, 2016
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Above: Chillicothe, OH
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Chillicothe, OH tap water. Distillation left a muddy brown liquid residue. Required a light acid clean up.
Water Source: Eight wells part of the Teays Valley Aquifer, OH
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: September 9, 2016
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Above: Charlotte, NC
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Charlotte, NC tap water. Very clean tap water, little residue, water residue almost clear. The cleanest tap water I have tested to date.
Note: I didn’t collect this water sample, it was given to me. I asked them if they had an inline water filter at their home and they said they did not. They said it was raw, tap water from the faucet. I’m just mentioning this because this water is unusually clean for tap water.
Water Source: Catawba River /Mt. Island Lake /Lake Norman
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: September 22, 2016
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Above: Cleveland, OH
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Cleveland, OH tap water. Not much solid residue, water left a brown liquid residue.
Water Source: Lake Erie
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: September 27, 2016
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Above: New York City, NY
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of New York City, NY tap water. Not much solid residue, water left a brown liquid residue. Water was collected from new construction at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Required a light acid clean up.
Water Source: 19 reservoirs and 3 lakes which extends 125 miles north and west of New York City.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.20.16
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Above: Jersey City, NJ
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Jersey City, NJ tap water. Some gritty residue, water left a dark brown liquid residue. Some deposits up the side of the boiling pot as seen on left and right of photo. Did not require an acid clean up.
Water Source: Boonton Reservoir, NJ
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.21.16
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Above: Harrisburg, PA
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Harrisburg, PA tap water. The water left a light brown residue.
Water Source: Main: DeHart Reservoir. Susquehanna River secondary emergency source.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.22.16
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Above: Bethlehem, PA
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Bethlehem, PA tap water. Residue went up most of the side of boiling pot. Water residue looked cleanish, but it was hard to tell as mineral deposits absorbed most of the leftover water.
Water Source: City of Bethlehem’s water comes entirely from surface sources, namely the Wild Creek Reservoir, Towamensing Township, Carbon County, in a watershed that covers 22 square miles and the Penn Forest Reservoir, Penn Forest Township, Carbon County and Polk Township, Monroe County, in a watershed that covers 17 square miles. This primary water supply is located 22 miles north of the City. The Tunkhannock Creek, Tunkhannock Township, Monroe County provides a supplemental supply to the Penn Forest Reservoir. Dual transmission mains can carry up to 47 million gallons of water per day to the City’s water filtration plant in Lehigh Township and from there to the distribution system. (per City of Bethlehem website)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.25.16
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Above: Philadelphia, PA
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Philadelphia, PA tap water. The water left a brown liquid residue.
Water Source: Philadelphia’s water intakes are on the Schuylkill River, which is fed by streams whose sources include treated effluent from sewage plants. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Water_Department
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.6.16
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Above: Myrtle Beach, SC
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Myrtle Beach, SC tap water. The water left a dark brown liquid residue with lots of granular solid waste.
Water Source: Waccamaw and Pee Dee River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.14.16
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Above:Walton, KY
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Walton, KY tap water.
Water Source: Unknown
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.15.16
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Above: Troy, IL
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Troy, IL tap water. Granular residue covered the entire boiling pot and lid. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: 4 wells in Collinsville, IL
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.16.16
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Above: Oak Grove, MO
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Oak Grove, MO tap water. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Various ground water wells, no specifics listed at website.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested:11.17.16
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Above: Topeka, KS
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Topeka, KS tap water. Required a light acid cleanup.
Water Source: Kansas River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.18.16
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Above: Oklahoma City, OK
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Oklahoma City, OK tap water. Distillation residue contained a high amount of minerals. Granular residue covered the entire boiling pot. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: https://www.okc.gov/departments/utilities/about-your-tap-water/water-supply-sources
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.19.16
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Above: Wright City, MO
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wright City, MO tap water. Distillation residue contained a high amount of minerals. Granular residue covered most of the boiling pot.
Water Source: 3 ground water wells.
Click to access SKM_364e16062316270.pdf
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.21.16
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Above:Brazil, IN
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Brazil, IN tap water. Water left a brown liquid residue.
Water Source: Ground water wells located along the westerly edge of the Walnut Creek in Putnam County.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 11.21.16
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Above: Allentown, PA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Allentown, PA tap water. The water left a very light brown residue with little solid residue.
Water Source: Allentown Division sources, including Crystal Spring, Schantz Spring, the Little Lehigh Creek, and the Lehigh River.
Radioactive Test: N/A
Tested: 12.22.16
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Above: Chicago, IL tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Chicago, IL tap water.
Water Source: Lake Michigan
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 12.28.16
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Above: Riverside, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Riverside, CA tap water. Clear liquid residue with mineral content at bottom of boiling pot. Required a light acid cleanup.
Water Source: Riverside’s water supply begins as pure rain and snow which is naturally filtered through the sand and gravel of the Bunker Hill and Riverside Basins in San Bernardino and Riverside. This water settles in pools deep in the earth and are then tapped for domestic use by 54 wells operated by Riverside Public Utilities (Per city website.)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 7.28.17
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Above: Los Angeles, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Los Angeles, CA tap water. Water left a brown liquid residue with low solids and slight rainbow coloring. Required a light acid cleanup. Sample taken from the drinking fountain at Rancho Park Golf Course.
Water Source: The Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts (LACWD), a division of the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, provides customers with water from three sources: local groundwater and water imported through the State Water Project (SWP) and the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA).
The State Water Project is a system of reservoirs, pump stations, storage facilities, power plants, and 660 miles of pipes and canals that spans two-thirds the length of California. LACWD purchases imported water from local SWP contractors including Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, Castaic Lake Water Agency and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, or regional wholesale water agencies such as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and West Basin Municipal Water District.
The majority of the water in the SWP is collected as runoff and snowmelt from Northern California and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. While the source water is very pure, it collects sediments and organics along the way and must be treated before it is delivered for human consumption. The imported water is generally treated using conventional treatment methods including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 7.26.17
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Above: Malibu, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Malibu, CA tap water. Water left a muddy brown liquid and sandy residue that required a light acid cleanup. Residue went up much of the side of the distiller as is shown in the photo above.
Water Source: Seems to be the same as Los Angeles, but L.A.’s sample bottom left is not as dirty as Malibu’s sample on below right.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 7.29.17
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Above: Newport Beach, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Newport Beach, CA tap water.
Water Source: Orange County’s water supplies are a blend of ground water managed by OCWD and water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River by the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) via the MWDSC. Ground water comes from a natural under ground aquifer that is replenished with water from the Santa Ana River, local rainfall and imported water. The groundwater basin is 350 square miles and lies beneath north and central Orange County from Irvine to the Los Angeles County border and from Yorba Linda to the Pacific Ocean. More than 20 cities and retail water districts draw from the basin to provide water to homes and businesses
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 7.30.17
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Above: Palm Springs, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Palm Springs, CA tap water. Water left a heavy mineral deposit throughout boiling pot and lid. Minerals absorbed any remaining water in pot. Required a 5 hour acid cleanup.
Water Source: The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) relies on four sources of water to provide service to its customers: groundwater, recycled water, imported water from the State Water Project and the Colorado River via the Coachella Canal, a branch of the All-American Canal. (Per website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella_Valley_Water_District
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 7.31.17
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Above: Las Vegas, NV tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Las Vegas, NV tap water. Hard scale residue required a 5 hour acid cleanup.
Water Source: Colorado, Lake Mead.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.12.18
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Above: San Diego, CA tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of San Diego, CA tap water.
Water Source: Twenty percent of the county’s water supply generally comes from the state’s system of canals, pipes and dams that delivers melted snowpack and rainfall runoff from Northern California to water agencies across the state. San Diego County gets the majority of its supply, 60 percent, from the Colorado River. (Per website)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: 10.13.18
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Above: Greenfield, IN tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Greenfield, IN tap water. Heavy soft residue all over boil pot including the lid of the distiller.
Water Source:
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 12, 2020
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Above: Rochester, MN tap water treated with home water softener.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Rochester, MN tap water processed with home water softening treatment. Residue was up 80% of the side of the side of the distiller. Tap water may have been filtered prior to water softening treatment. Required a 10 minute acid cleanup.
Water Source: Most of Rochester’s water is drawn from the Jordan Aquifer, a deep sedimentary unit that underlies much of south- eastern Minnesota. Water is also drawn from several multi-formation wells including: Prairie du Chien- Jordan, Prairie du Chien-Wonewoc, Jordan-Wonewoc, and Prairie du Chien-Mt. Simon aquifers. (Per Rochester Public Utilities)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 13, 2020
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Above: Peru-Rochelle, IL tap water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Peru-Rochelle, IL tap water. Water was obtained at a rest stop bathroom between Peru, IL and Rochelle IL. No visible minerals in dark water residue.
Water Source: (?)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 14, 2020
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Above: Madison, WI
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Madison, WI tap water. Minerals covered entire boil pot and left a fine, talcum-like powder residue on sides. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Madison drinking water comes from a deep, sandstone aquifer below the city. Groundwater originates as rain or snow which soaks into the ground and is naturally filtered through layers of soil and rock before replenishing the aquifer. (Per Water Utility, City of Madison website.)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: December 2, 2020
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Above: Richmond, IN
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Richmond, IN tap water. Liquid residue was a dark, coffee-like color with some solid debris mixed in.
Water Source: The Richmond treatment facility uses both surface water and groundwater as its source of supply. (Per Businesswire article dated 6.26.18 Indiana American Water Kicks Off $45 Million Richmond Water Treatment Plant Upgrade)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: December 3, 2020
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<><><><> Well, Spring, Rain, Snow and River Water Tests <><><><>
Above: Snow Water Tri-state area of Ohio – Pennsylvania – West Virginia
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of water derived from melted fresh snow. It has a slightly disagreeable odor and brown residue with lots of dirt in it. (circled in red.)
Water Source: Melted fresh snow from Tri-state area of Ohio – Pennsylvania – West Virginia. Collected approximately 1/2 hour after snowfall in 1-1/2 foot deep snow pile.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: January 2016
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Above: Rain Water Tri-state area of Ohio – Pennsylvania – West Virginia
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of collected rain water. Water residue was clear, slightly off color brown with lots of dirt.
Water Source: Rain water collected off asphalt shingled roof and through gutter system during a torrential rain storm. Water was collected at 10:30 PM after allowing rain to wash roof and gutters for 15 minutes.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 16, 2016
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Above: Smithfield, Ohio well water – unfiltered
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Smithfield Ohio unfiltered well water. The water left a large amount of granular and pasty residue with a cooked odor. Close-up photo of finger shows the paste like character of this residue. There was heavy residue throughout the distillation chamber. There was even residue on the lid of the distiller – that was a first. The residue shown on my finger was from a small 1 inch area of the bottom. There was enough residue in the bottom of the pot for a dozen or more fingers. There was no residual water was left after distillation as the residue absorbed it all.
Water Source: Smithfield, Ohio well water – unfiltered
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: March 15, 2016
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Below are the before and after photos showing one cities municipal filtering efficiency by taking their source Ohio River water in its raw state and processing it through their water treatment plant.
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The river water has a high degree of visible solids in it. I took the sample during a weeklong dry spell so the muddy runoff would be minimal.
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Ohio River raw, unfiltered water.
Below: Distillation residue of the above Ohio River water after it has been run through the water treatment plant.
Even after water has been processed through a water treatment plant it can pick up chemicals and debris from the holding tanks, pumps and delivery pipes. The treated water showed more sandy residue in the distillation sample than the raw river water.
Water Source: Ohio River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 17, 2016
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Above: Woodsfield, OH Unfiltered Spring Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Woodsfield, OH unfiltered spring water. The water left a very light brown liquid residue with no odor. Heavy mineral content at bottom of boiling pot. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Aquifer Spring
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 12, 2016
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<><><><> Bottled Water Tests <><><><>
Above: Tyler Mountain Spring Water.
Water Source: Various fresh water springs in PA and MD.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 2015 above / Retested April 11, 2016 below.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Tyler Mountain spring water. It has no odor or brown residue. Looks like it has a lot more minerals in the white residue. Water is processed with charcoal filtration and U.V. light sterilization.
Below is a re-test of Tyler Mountain Spring Water done on 4.11.2016. The sample spring water had a strong chemical taste. When I distilled a 1 gallon sample, the water produced a very different picture than the Tyler Mountain spring water sample above.
The re-tested sample showed very little minerals and some staining. While the distillation residue looked clean, this water sample was the worst tasting water encountered to date. This underscores the fact that distillation does not show up everything that is in the water.
You would think drinking spring water would be pretty safe. Surprisingly there are many recalls with bottled water from various water producers. You can Google ‘bottled water recall’ to stay up to date.
Above: Tyler Mountain Spring Water / Re-test
Water Source: Various fresh water springs in PA and MD.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 11, 2016
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Above: Kroger purified water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Kroger purified water. It has no odor or mineral residue. The bottle says the water was processed by advanced filtration, ozone and reverse osmosis. I was really surprised how clean purified water can be.
Water Source: Irving, Texas – Lake Chapman or Lewisville Lake is main source.
Tested: April 2015
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Above: Kroger / Niagara Bottling purified water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Kroger (Niagara Bottling LLC) purified water. It has no odor or mineral residue. The bottle says the water was processed by reverse osmosis.
Water Source: Borough of Hamburg, PA.
Tested: January 2016
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Above is a retest of Kroger purified water once they changed they bottle label in 2017. The label gives you little information as to where the water source is or how it is processed. But there is a big difference as to the quality of the water in the bottle.
Kroger has gone from producing a high quality, purified drinking water into producing the worst quality purified drinking water of all the purified waters I tested. I retested 4 gallons of the 2017 water and results were all similar.
Kroger Purified Drinking water on left tested January 2016 / New label Kroger Purified Drinking water on right tested October 2017
2016 old label left ~ 2017 new label right
Tested October 7, 2017
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Above: Absopure purified water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Absopure purified water. It has no odor or mineral residue. Water is processed with reverse osmosis, multi barrier micron filtration, U.V. light sterilization and ozone.
Water Source: Plymouth, Michigan municipal water supply.
Tested: January 2016
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Above: Crystal Geyser Alpine spring water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Crystal Geyser Alpine spring water. It had a cooked odor. For bottled spring water this sample had a tremendous amount of distillation residue and left the residual water brown. It greatly surpassed any other bottled spring water tested for dissolved solids. Residue was up the side of the entire boiling pot and covered the distiller lid. Distillation pot required a 2 hour acid bath to clean it up. Bottled water was processed with advanced filtration and ozone according to website.
As can be seen in the photo of the bottle the sample was taken from – perfectly clear water can hide lots of things in it.
Water Source: Canajoharie Springs – NY
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 13, 2016
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Above: Polar Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Polar Spring water. It had a cooked odor. This sample had a tremendous amount of distillation residue. Residue was up the side of the entire boiling pot but stopped short of the distiller lid. Finger shows one swipe on the bottom of the distiller.
Water Source: Roaring Run Springs – Roaring Run, PA
Radioactive Test: N.A.
Tested: April 18, 2016
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Above: Valley Pure Drinking Water (United Dairy)
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Valley Pure Drinking Water. This sample had a tremendous amount of distillation residue for bottled water. The boiling pot required an acid cleanup. Water was processed with charcoal filtration and ozone per bottle label.
Below is the municipal water distillation sample before it is filtered and bottled as Valley Pure water. It seems the Valley Pure sample of bottled water has more residue in it than the actual city tap water that it was taken from. Although, it is not the exact water that was processed by Valley Pure as this sample below was distilled March 2, 2016.
Water Source: Martin’s Ferry, Ohio municipal water.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 19, 2016 (Valley Pure) & March 2, 2016 (Municipal Water / source)
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Above: Ice Mountain Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Ice Mountain Spring water. This sample had a large amount of distillation residue. Residue was up the side of the entire boiling pot but stopped short of the distiller lid. The water residue had a slight brown color.
Water Source: Various springs in Michigan: Sanctuary Spring – Rodney MI, Evart Spring – Evart MI, White Pine Spring – Evart MI.
Radioactive Test: Normal.
Tested: April 22, 2016
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Above: Fiji Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Fiji Spring water. Light residue was 2/3 up the side of of the boiling chamber. The average spring water can be cleaned up with a 45 minute acid bath and a quick wipe out with a bottle brush. The Fiji sample had very heavy residue on bottom that 2 separate acid baths over 6 hours would not clean up. It took a 3rd acid bath and heavy scouring to finally clean it up. Without acid baths the residue is hardly touched by scouring pads alone. As the hardened deposits are dissolved little by little in the acid it starts to neutralize the power of the acid to dissolve more of the residue.
Water Source:Fiji
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 23, 2016
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Above: Evian Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Evian Spring water. Residue completely covered the boiling pot and lid. This distillation produced a tremendous amount of small explosions throughout the entire distilling process. The explosions were so severe that they blew out the electric cord from the boiling pot. If you are familiar with cooking meat in the microwave, then you know about the explosions I am talking about. The explosions lasted about 5 hours. The residue cleaned up with scouring only and did not require an acid cleanup. If your after mineral water Evian seems to be the champ.
Water Source: Cachat Spring – Evian, France.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 25, 2016
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Above: Deja Blue Purified Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Deja Blue purified water. It has no odor or mineral residue. Water is processed with reverse osmosis, charcoal filtration, U.V. light sterilization and ozone.
Water Source: No disclosure
Tested: April 26, 2016
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Above: Aquafina Purified Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Aquafina purified water. It had a very small amount of gritty residue.
Water Source: No disclosure
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 26, 2016
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Above: Great Value / Wal-Mart / Magnetic Springs Water Company Purified Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Great Value / Wal-Mart / Magnetic Springs Water Company purified water. Processed with reverse osmosis.
Water Source: Municipal water Columbus, OH
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 27, 2016
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Above: Great Value / Wal-Mart / Magnetic Springs Water Company Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Great Value / Wal-Mart / Magnetic Springs Water Company spring water. Processed with ozonation. Clean water, no minerals.
Water Source: Pine Grove Springs – Lancaster, OH
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 27, 2016
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Above: Icelandic Glacial Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Icelandic Glacial spring water. Results showed a small amount of mineral residue. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Ölfus Spring – Iceland
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 28, 2016
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Above: Giant Eagle / Creekside Springs Water Company Spring Water.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Giant Eagle / Creekside Springs Water Company spring water. Left a good balance of minerals. Required an acid cleanup.
Water Source: Columbia County, OH
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 1, 2016
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Above: Deer Park Spring Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Deer Park spring water. Good mineral mix. Residue went up 40% of the side. Required some acid cleanup.
Water Source: Frontier Springs – New Tripoli, PA and various springs in PA and MD.
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 29, 2016
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Above: Disani Purified Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Disani purified water with added minerals for taste.
Water Source: No disclosure
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: May 3, 2016
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Above: Kroger Spring Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Kroger Spring Water. Great amount of minerals up 90% of the side of the boiling pot. Reminded me of Evian as it had small explosions while distilling (although much less than Evian) and the residue cleaned up easily with no acid cleanup required.
Water Source: No disclosure
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: August 29, 2016
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Above: Kroger Drinking Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Kroger Drinking Water. Was pretty dirty compared to purified water. Brown liquid residue, required a light acid cleanup.
Big difference in Kroger Drinking Water as opposed to Kroger’s Purified Drinking Water as shown below.
Water Source: No disclosure
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: August 30, 2016
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Above: Kroger Distilled Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Kroger Distilled Water. No residue to speak of. A small speck of dirt, otherwise clean.
Water Source: No disclosure
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: September 3, 2016
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Above: Always Save – Associated Wholesale Grocers Spring Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Always Save Spring Water. An excellent mineral residue that cleans up with no acid wash. It comes in a cheaper quality milky white plastic jug that can impart a plastic taste to the water.
Water Source: Naturalle Springs, Greenville, KY
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: July 26, 2018
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Above: Member’s Mark – Sam’s Club (purified water with added minerals).
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Member’s Mark – Sam’s Club purified water with added minerals. No residue to speak of. A few small specks and some slight discoloration, otherwise clean. Residue may be from added minerals. Processed by reverse osmosis.
Water Source: Not Listed
Radioactive Test: N.A.
Tested: May 26, 2020
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Above: HyVee Purified Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of HyVee purified water. A few small specks and slight discoloration, otherwise clean. (See red arrows.) Processed by reverse osmosis.
Water Source: Not Listed
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 17, 2020
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Above: HyVee Spring Water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of HyVee spring Water. No minerals to speak of, just some dirty residue.
Water Source: Not Listed
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 18, 2020
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Above: Rethink Tetra Pak Canadian water
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Rethink Tetra Pak water. No mineral to speak of, just dirty residue. I’m speculating, but it looks like bottled tap water with little or no processing. Water is from Canada.
Tetra Pak is marketed as a replacement for plastic bottles.
Water Source: “From a community water system.”
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 19, 2020
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<><><><> Test Results for Water Filters <><><><>
PUR
Brita
ZeroWater
Berkey Black Filter Water Dispenser
Glacier / Water Island self-fill water vending machine
Primo / Culligan / Wal-Mart self-fill water vending machine
Elkay filtering water fountain
Hyvee (Natural Pure / Midwest Best Drinking Water) self-fill water vending machine
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV test #2 tap water that was used for testing all of the following water filters.
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV test #2 tap water after it has been run through the PUR Ultimate 7 cup filtering pitcher.
The next photo is a close up of the leftover grit in water after PUR water filter processing.
The tap water treated by the PUR filter still ended up tell-tale brown. Although it is a lighter brown than distilling 1 gallon of the same water without the use of the PUR filter.
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV test #2 tap water after it has been run through the Brita 10 cup filtering water pitcher.
The Brita 10 cup filter water pitcher left a lot more residue than the PUR filtering pitcher. There is loose sandy residue shown circled in red that the PUR filter removed.
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV test #2 tap water after it has been run through the ZeroWater 12 cup filtering water pitcher.
The ZeroWater 12 cup filtering water pitcher did the best job. The ZeroWater 12 cup filtering water pitcher produced highly cleaned water with no resemblance to the original Ohio River tap water that was filtered through it. Really amazing. The filtering process is very slow, but the results speak for themselves. While not perfect filtering…it is close to it.
Between the 4 filtering pitchers tested, ZeroWater was the only one that did not require an acid cleaner used on the distiller due to mineral and residue deposit buildup. The ZeroWater left virtually no residue in the distiller.
Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV test #2 tap water after it has been run through the Berkey Black filtering water dispenser. Two Berkey Black water filters were used in the test.
The next photo is a close up of the leftover grit in water after Berkey water filter processing.
Brita, Pur and ZeroWater filtering water pitchers were tested: January 2016. Berkey Black water filter dispenser was tested March 2016.
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Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV tap water filtered through a Glacier / Water Island / Kroger self-fill water vending machine. Very impressive results. With your own bottle it is .39 cents per gallon.
While I don’t have a sample of the raw tap water run through the vending machine, on average, this is how the Ohio River sourced tap water tests.
Below: Before and after photo of efficiency of Glacier Water vending machine filtering.
Water Source: Ohio River
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 12, 2016
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Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Triadelphia, WV tap water filtered through a Primo / Culligan / Wal-Mart self-fill water vending machine .
Water Source: Triadelphia, WV municipal water
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: April 28, 2016
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Here is an efficiency test of the H2O Labs water distiller. I used the well water from Smithfield Ohio for the test shown below:
The resulting 1 gallon of distilled water was distilled a second time. Here are the results below:
I took the water from the second distillation and distilled it a third time. Here are the results below:
My conclusion is that the H2O water distiller is about 99.8% effective after multiple distillations. The second distillation left a clean boiling pot with only the faintest brown coloring stain in it. The third distillation left virtually nothing but the slightest of rainbow discoloration.
As an added feature on some water distillers you are able to further filter the distilled water with charcoal filtration. All tests done here have been distilled only with no further filtering done on the water samples.
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Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of La Crosse, WI tap water dispensed from an Elkay filtering water fountain.
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Below: Rochester, MN tap water treated with home water softener and filter.
Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Rochester, MN tap water processed with home water softening treatment. Residue was up 80% of the side of the side of the distiller. Tap water may have been filtered prior to water softening treatment. Required a 10 minute acid cleanup.
Water Source: Most of Rochester’s water is drawn from the Jordan Aquifer, a deep sedimentary unit that underlies much of south- eastern Minnesota. Water is also drawn from several multi-formation wells including: Prairie du Chien- Jordan, Prairie du Chien-Wonewoc, Jordan-Wonewoc, and Prairie du Chien-Mt. Simon aquifers. (Per Rochester Public Utilities)
Radioactive Test: Normal
Tested: June 13, 2020
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Below: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Rochester, MN tap water filtered through a Hyvee / Natural Pure / Midwest Best Drinking Water self-fill water vending machine. Price of water for using your own bottle is .33 cents per gallon. There was a slight amount of residue in filtered water.
Water Source: Rochester, MN municipal water
Radioactive Test: NA
Tested: December 1, 2020
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Notes:
I do not have a financial interest in, nor am I promoting any of the products mentioned in the tests. I personally drink spring water, distilled water and commercially produced purified water. An H2O Labs water distiller was used for all tests. An Inspector Alert Radiation Monitor was used for radioactive testing.
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Selection from Girls of the Beat Generation artist’s book by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/girls-of-the-beat-generation-artists-book/
A complete listing of artist’s books by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/artists-books-by-daniel-d-teoli-jr-2/
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. Archival Collection
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. Advertising Archive
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. VHS Video Archive
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. Audio Archive
Daniel D.Teoli Jr. Social Documentary Photography
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Daniel D. Teoli Jr. 