Water distillers use a process called distillation to clean water. In its simplest form, distillation involves heating water until it becomes steam and then condensing that steam back into liquid water in a separate vessel. This process removes impurities and potential contaminants, such as minerals, heavy metals, viruses and bacteria. This is the same principle on which the distillation of alcohol and other liquids is based.
Water purified by distillation is essential for many laboratory procedures and experiments, as it avoids interference of the results by unwanted elements or contaminants present in the undistilled water. In this sense, water distillers are essential devices for the precision and accuracy of laboratory work.