Tap water vs Distilled water

[coblos]

Watched a friend recharge his beads with tap water, when I asked "Aren't you supposed to use distilled water?" He stated that the little bit of chlorine in tap water helps to prevent the growth of mould.

Did a quick internet search, but most tutorials and advice is for distilled water only.

Just wondering if anyone out there agrees with this? Arguments for and against tap water that contains chlorine?

[cckandb24]

I have always been told that all the deposits in the tap, i.e.rust, calcium, sodium, tannin, etc,will junk up your beads or humidication device because when the water evaporates, those deposits dont. Sounds good to me so I just used the distilled. I know it does its job perfectly and is cheap.

[nikesupremedunk]

mold won't grow if it's stored properly in the first place. I would not use tap water, only distilled. The minerals in tap water will clog the beads so it can't do its job. At least that's what it says on the heartfelt website.

[cigcars]

Distilled water ONLY

[Ghabanos]

DISTILLED.

[CanuckSARTech]

Distilled, same as the others. And chlorine in tap water doesn't necessarily prevent mold - just ask anyone who owns a pool, or even just wet a sponge with normal tap water and let it sit in a cooler, of if you're brave, in a bowl in your humidor. Nope? Didn't think so - not a good idea.

Pros and cons to everything, and none of this happens without a perfect storm. But distilled water has just been proved, time and again, to be the correct to use.

Plus, I don't want ANY, even minutely slim, chance that my cigars could possibly smell/taste like chlorine.

[Charltonc]

Distilled all the way. Speaking of which I need to attend to my beads this evening.

[Jnaube]

Distilled. Plus, a 2 liters bottle cost less than three bucks. For that small of an amount, is it worth the risk?

[jacktarnold]

Distilled all the way. I buy the gallon jugs at Walmart. I think it is only 89¢.

[#2 man]

I can only echo the same Distilled

[mk05]

vodka

I will never trade with any of you now that I know you are using terrible humidification mediums.

[Rays98GoVols]

Distilled water ONLY

NEVER use Tap Water. It's funny, people will spend Hundreds of dollars on cigars and accessories, but not $1 for a gallon of distilled water at Wal-Mart.......

[brazoseagle]

Distilled Water Only!

....Directly from the FAQ Section of my man Dave's Website (Heartfelt Industries)

VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!

You may have noticed that every time I mention the fluid that is added to the beads I say “distilled water”. This is extremely important; anything other than distilled water will ultimately ruin the beads. All the impurities in tap water will be drawn in by the beads and remain there. Ultimately the beads will get plugged up and not work anymore. The same is true with any type of humidifier solution (also known as 50/50 solution) this will also ruin the beads in the long run.