Is there a way to take a gallon of distilled water on a plane for a CPAP machine? Just returned from Australia, where there was no distilled water to be found anywhere.
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I've travelled with a CPAP for many years and have never been able to get by TSA with distilled water, prescription or not. When I travel overseas I use bottled water (no bubbles!). I haven't noticed a difference with bottled water and it hasn't caused any problems with my CPAP. YMMV
A co-worker, who sleeps with a CPAP, didn't take his humidifier on trips due to the extra bulk and availability of distilled water. After a while he stopped using the humidifier at home because he didn't notice any difference when he slept without it on the road. Probably won't work for everybody but would make travel a lot easier if it works for you.
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Like bacrs, my boyfriend uses plain bottled water in his CPAP when traveling. His sleep tech told him that it won't hurt anything.
Traveling without the humidifier is also an option depending on your destination (i.e. not the desert!), but some machines have an integrated humidifier so you can't really remove it anyway.
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We had no problem finding distilled water in Rome, once we found out what it was called. Maybe it is labeled differently there? I can't imagine there is none in Australia, but maybe an Aussie friend can help.
For short trips, we have a couple of sturdy "leak free" bottles that hold maybe 24 ounces or so - and if we check our luggage we pack them in there, and if we do carryon - we just hand lettered the bottle - DISTILLED WATER FOR CPAP - and we have never had a problem domestically.
We actually tried to bring back some extra water from overseas, since we were flying from Rome to Amsterdam - spending one night - and then flying home - but Rome airport security would not allow the distilled water in our carry-on (our checked bags were not being offloaded). So we just poured it out and did one night dry.
I just use bottled water when I think about it, or occasionally tap water when I don't, except in parts of the south with sulphurous water, or places with a high chlorine smell.
Location: near Houston TX USA...can fly IAH or HOU or AUS
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I also alerted the mod that this post may get a lot more help if it is moved to another forum - so keep alert for such a move!! You might also ask a similar question in the Australia section about how to find distilled water there. (Or maybe you already have!)
I also alerted the mod that this post may get a lot more help if it is moved to another forum - so keep alert for such a move!! You might also ask a similar question in the Australia section about how to find distilled water there. (Or maybe you already have!)
I am moving this thread over to the Travel Health and Fitness forum which is the appropriate home for it.
Distilled water for humidifiers keeps the minerals from building up on the metal plate. In lieu of that you can use bottled or even tap water however over time (a week or so) you will see scaling on the bottom of the humidifier. This will not harm the humidifier or tank.
The scaling is easy to take care of with a mixture of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water. Let the tank sit for a few hours and then rinse out. It will be as clean as the day you got it.
As another poster indicated, you may or may not need the humidifier depending on where you are. I find that I sleep much better with it, even on the east coast that has a good amount of humidity in the air. In much drier areas (Las Vegas for example) its a must for me.
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There are small, portable stills you can take with you. I used to use one to make distilled water for washing my contact lenses, when I used them because I am allergic to mercuric compounds like thimerosal.
In some countries, you can go to a pharmacy and get distilled water used for administering intravenous medications. In others you can Google or look in local Yellow Pages or the equivalent - in Australia, there are sources of distilled water. Chemists (drugstores), doctors and others would be able to direct you to sources.
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Lots of distilled water in Australia. Refresh Pure Water is sold in the bottled water aisle of Woolworths throughout Qld, NSW, ACT and Vic. Comes in 5L for around $4.20 each. Steam-distilled and guaranteed to have total dissolved solid of less than 1 ppm. Used for CPAP machines, autoclave sterilisation by dentists and surgeries, as well as in the generation of colloidal silver, where quality is paramount.
