Well I bought an Ultrasonic Humidifier, as recommended by one and all:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=454847

Of course, nobody told me that I should not use 'hard' water, which is
the sort that I have on tap.

The manufacturers recommend distilled water, but WOW is that
expensive! Even a domestic distiller could cost £200. That's UK Pounds
would you believe?

I do filter my drinking water, using a 'Brita' thingy. Will this be OK?

Or are there any acceptable cheapo alternatives to distilled water?

I live in the UK.

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 17 Jan 2005 21:48 PST

Many thanks for all the suggestions.

My Humidifier is a thirsty beast.

It has a capacity of 3.8 litres and uses 0.4 litres per hour, so one
tank lasts 9½ hours.

Hey ... I've just seen a sponsored ad:

Water Distiller, $99.00
Countertop Model, for pure water,
All parts included. One-yr warranty
steamdistiller.com

Now that's more like!

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 17 Jan 2005 22:48 PST

Again, many thanks for the various suggestions ...

I exclude the Great Guzzi from my shower of appreciation because I
suspect he was trying to rip me off by selling me Scottish water.

I'm no mug and I know that if the water was any good up there they
wouldn't sell it to any Sassenach at any price.

In the event, a chemist friend has now provided the perfect solution:
move to San Diego (wherever that is). Reputedly, it has a perfect
climate.

So, now we close ....

Hi Bryan,

I am not sure how much water this Humidifier uses..........but what I use to do
when "distilled" water is asked is just boil the water and then use it.....

Anne-Marie

or could use the water from your airco system....
or from your "dryer".............

and to answer your question about your BRITA thingy.........

V: Gedestilleerd of gedemineraliseerd water & BRITA
A: Gedestilleerd of gedemineraliseerd: bevat totaal geen minerale zouten.
In BRITA gefilterd water blijven de meeste minerale stoffen en
spoorelementen behouden.

Anne-Marie

rain water might be an option too........

Hi, Anne-Marie

Very many thanks for all your suggestions.

The Brita route looks the most interesting.

I don't have airco ,,, 

I shall dig out the consumption figures tomorrow.

Merci beaucoup!

Bryan

Here is a clever suggestion:

"The simplest way to get your own distilled water is to buy a cheap
coffee maker, the type that boil water from a reservoir you fill up
and then drip it slowly out of a spout into a glass pot. Fill a clean
plastic bottle with tap water and leave it for 24 hours to let any
chlorine escape then run this water through your coffee machine
(without the coffee obviously!!!). Use the first couple of batches to
rinse the reservoir and throw them away."

http://www.finishing.com/323/83.html

Hi Bryan,

not sure whether I would agree with you on that Brita route,
distilled water has no "components" left at all in the water, while
after using your Brita thingy most components are left
behind............
so maybe consider that route once more?

Anne-Marie

Just boiling the water before putting it into the humidifier would
just make it worse. When you boil water with lots of minerals in it,
some of the water will evaporate, but the minerals will stay and what
you'll get is a higher concentration of minerals in the remaining
water.
In highschool we used to distillate water in the school's lab and it
was a very simple process. We boiled water in a closed container which
had a tube attached to the top. The water that evaporated from the
first container, was forced in the form of vapor (steam) through the
tube. The other end of the tube (which was approximately 20 inches
long) was inserted in a second container. When the vapor passed
through the tube, it condensated back to its liquid form and dripped
in the second container as water, but without the mineral charge,
which remained in the original container. I'm 99% sure there's a way
to replicate this simple process at home.

Hey probo, I checked price of deionised (deionized) water and found a
gallon for £30. Here?s the deal. I?ll post you a gallon of good soft
Scottish water for £20.

Best