Megahome Countertop Water Distiller Stainless, Glass Collection

**update** 14 months and I cannot get it to stop popping loud. It's clean and dry and on a level surface. EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED WILL NOT BUT ANOTHER ONE. DANGEROUS. Read a lot of reviews and did a lot of research before deciding which water distiller to purchase. Upon using my MegaHome countertop for the first time, I was satisfied with my decision. Hopefully it will last years like others who have reviewed it. Sturdy, fan has noise as expected, average speed, great water quality (see below), feels/looks like good quality, great packaging, easy to clean. *IMPORTANT* Like some other reviews say-stop the distiller before the water level gets low. This not only makes cleaning VERY EASY, but prevents (or helps) the stainless from becoming pitted which will mean you'll get rust. In fact, to all those who reviewed this and complained about rust and pitting, please know that this warning IS IN THE OWNERS MANUAL. I started by using others recommended times. For me, 3.5-3.75 hours leaves approximately two inches of water remaining. IMPORTANT - for your safety let the machine cool down before touching and removing the cover. The manual says 20 minutes minimum. My sensitive fingers need at least 25 minutes. Water quality-my first test was 0.01 TDS/PPM. The start T.D.S. of my bad & hard water varies from the 290's upwards of nearly 500. Yes, nearly 500 at times! I did decide to use the carbon filters since they were provided. The water has NO taste - PERFERCT TASTING WATER. Moving forward, I'll do a cost/value analysis to find whether the filters are worth my time and cost as compared to passing the water through my existing Brita carbon filter, or experiment with no filter. Packaging - IMHO the packaging was designed by an American Engineer. The styrofoam is perfectly cut to fit each item. The only exception is the glass cantor. I can see why some might get damaged if the package is handled roughly or dropped. It is packaged inside the base with plastic and one polyurethane sheet. Due to the fact that the base is tapered with the top side smaller, you cannot completely secure it to prevent all damage. Mine arrived in PERFECT CONDITION. Speed - I would like it to be faster and wish it would shut off before drying out; however, these are conditions that cannot be improved at this time with any brand or model that I'm aware of - at least not in my price range.

I bought this on 12/31/2013, and am writing this review on 10/18/2014. I've ran about 250 gallons water water though the distiller. It is easy to set up, very easy to use. When we first bought it, I washed the main stainless steel container, and the glass flask. We filled the distiller with about a gallon of distilled water I bought from Walmart and distilled the first gallon of water just to initially clean the internal parts that one cannot clean, and discarded the first gallon. After that we use it almost every day and store one gallon of distilled water in the fridge, and the other gallon we keep in a separate covered glass container on the counter (for cooking, coffee making, drinking when one does not want cold water, etc.). If we fill it with cold water, it takes about 6 hours to complete the distilling process (about a gallon); if we fill it with hot water, it takes about 4 1/2 to 5 hours to distill a gallon of water. At the completion of the distilling process, the unit shuts off automatically, and the glass container holding the distilled water will be warm, this is to be expected; this is one reason why we store a gallon in the fridge and have another gallon at room temp on the counter. How much noise does it make? It's not real noisy, similar to a bread making machine during the baking portion. The part that makes noise is the fan blowing air over the condensing coils. We run it either when we go to bed or when we leave the house for the day; the noise is then not an issue. It is supplied with charcoal filters that are meant to be placed in the discharge portion, but we never used them. We think the water tastes fine without using the filters; I think that would be a preference based on each individual. There may be a reason why they supplied the filters, but for us they aren't necessary. I wash out the distiller after every use just to get rid the the stuff left over from the distilling process. We throughly clean the distiller about every 7 to 10 gallons of use to get rid of the accumulated minerals that stick to the interior surface. At first we used the cleaning chemical they included (citric acid, in powder form) and followed the instructions. It worked very well. When we ran out of the cleaning chemical, we just used vinegar. We place about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of vinegar in the distiller, and leave it work on the bottom part first (about 20 minutes for our cleaning needs), then we have a setup where we turn the distiller on its side without letting the vinegar spill out (i.e., tilt it and rest it on a piece of wood or something so the vinegar doesn't spill out, I hope this is clear), then just rotate the distiller every 20 minutes or so. This way the vinegar will remove the minerals along the sides of the distiller too. It takes time, but it works. I usually set a timer and put the distiller out in the garage so the house doesn't smell of vinegar. I can imagine that some people will need to clean the distiller more often; it depends on your water source. We live remotely, and our water supply is a mountain stream, or water that we stored. The distiller will definitely kill anything in the water that may make you sick, without adding the chlorine taste. The distilled water is crystal clear. I hope my experience with the product is helpful to those reading this. I would highly recommend this product. It works well, is easy to use, easy to clean, and the price is very reasonable. I've had no problems what so ever so far.

***Update 10/5/2024*** I purchased this the end of October 2011. I run it at least every other day, sometimes daily, and occasionally twice a day. It is still going strong. Well worth the money! It's been a workhorse for almost 13 years. Now the nozzle is having difficulty staying in. When I purchased the white version, from Mega Home, I noticed that they are now selling replacement nozzles. My original nozzle is all plastic, the new one has a porcelain insert. So I quickly added that to my cart! Other that the nozzle tending to fall out after 13 years, there have been zero problems! I only drink, cook, and make coffee with distilled water. I have started keeping a bottle of distilled in the shower to do a final rinse of my hair to get rid of left over tap water chemicals... like rinsing with rainwater. It's made a big difference! ***Update 11/25/2020: I just started a batch of water and it crossed my mind that I have had this machine for quite some time now. Can you believe I purchased this distiller in October of 2011 and it is still going strong! I have used this machine steady since my purchase. When I have time, I clean it with vinegar and water, let it come to boil with the lid off, once it starts boiling, I unplug it and let it sit before rinsing. I have to admit that I probably Don't clean it as often as recommended, yet it still preform like a champ. Usually I just rinse it between batches. The only thing I use tap water for is washing, everything else is distilled (cooking pasta, coffee, tea, any recipe that needs water)....so needless to say, this machine gets a workout. I used to fill bottles with reverse osmosis water from the vending machines, it was pretty good, but a hassle... The taste of of RO water was better than tap, but it was nothing compared to distilled. A friend was raving over the taste of my ice tea, she couldn't get enough of it. The only thing I did different from her was use distilled water. This distiller was well worth the investment and I can honestly say it has more than paid for itself! Original review: I have had this distiller for two months now and it works great. It takes about five to six hours to distill from cool tap water but yesterday I used hot tap and heated about half of the water on the stove to almost a simmer and it only took four hours (I didn't want it completely boiling because I wasn't sure how that might affect the element in the machine). Previously I would fill big three gallon water jugs at reverse osmosis water dispenser and that was a pain lugging those bottles back and forth so this is a bit more convenient because I can just fill it up and go. But the big difference everyone in the house noticed was the taste. I always thought that you couldn't beat the taste of reverse osmosis water but I was wrong. I don't notice the difference in just drinking a glass of water but when I make coffee there is an extreme difference. Coffee made with this distilled water rocks! People ask me what kind of coffee it is because it tastes so much better than before and the only thing that is different is the water. UPDATE January 20, 2023 I purchased this in 2011 and it is still going strong. I use it everyday ... that is an appliance life span that is almost unheard of in this day and age. It removes all the chemicals and leaves only pure water. Everything tastes so much better, coffee, tea, spaghetti, anything you need water to make... you can taste what they are really supposed to taste like. This is a a real value!

We all need water. Water is expensive, and I don't care where you live, faucet water is undrinkable. Everyone should have one of these in their kitchen, parents should be giving them to their kids when they move out...it's that important and makes that much of a life difference. It's pricey, but it works really well and is well constructed. At its core, this is nothing more than an electric kettle with a distilling pipe in the lid. The fan accelerates the process by cooling off the pipes so the condensation runs down the pipe, and voila, pure water! The fan isn't quiet, but it's not unpleasant either. Perfectly acceptable noise level, no buzzing or droning sound. Its simple construction is probably why it will likely last a long time. No snazzy electronics to break or fail, it's basically an analog appliance that is either on or off based on if it's plugged in or not, with a temperature based circuit breaker and a reset switch. As others have said, it's best to not let it turn off on its own since it will bake all the residue on to the bottom. It's better to leave about an inch of water, so that most of that residue is still floating in the water. It means less cleaning down the road, and longer time between cleaning. I clean it about once every 10 gallons of water, but you could probably stretch it more depending on how dirty your water is. It's simple to clean, you just put 2 tablespoons of the acid crystals into the pot, plug it in without the lid on, and let it boil for 20 minutes, then unplug it and let it sit for another 20 minutes. The water should look clear, and all the residue dissolved....it's like magic. If it isn't completely clean, I just plug it back in and let it boil some more, if that doesn't do the trick, then you just need more of those acid crystals (a bottle comes with the distiller). The water that comes out of it is as pure as can be. Previously, I was getting distilled water in plastic jugs from the store, and it always had a taste to it. You will never buy distilled water as clean as this distiller can make, because it will always get tainted by the plastic containers. Now, of course this will take a while to pay for itself. Between the electricity and water cost, you're only paying less than 15 to 25 cents a gallon to produce distilled water with zero chance of contamination from things like plastics, not to mention you don't have to lug around jugs of water anymore. So it might take a year or two to pay for itself, but everything after that means you start saving big. This is especially useful if you use a lot of water for cooking, as you can easily run through a gallon making a single stew. Being an engineer, there are some changes or additions I would make to make it even better, but overall this is a great item and I'm glad I got it. I only wish I had thought to get one sooner.

I love this distiller and love Megahome (Nutriteam) even more. The hard water in the three Utah neighborhoods where we've lived have given me three kidney stones, but that problem vanished when I started using this distiller. My family and neighbors are shocked to see how much gunk this thing removes from our tap water. Within a year of purchase, though, the distiller developed first an inch long dent, then a crack within the water chamber near the top fill line. This crack rusted and grew to be about as long as my fist (see my pictures in this review). It allowed water to leak through the chamber into the inner parts of the distiller, and onto the counter below. I had to stop using it because I didn't want to risk an electrical short, arc, fire, or electrocution. I emailed Megahome with the pictures in this review. Even though I emailed them after the warranty period had expired, they sent me a new tank, free of charge (including shipping) without me even having to mail them the defective unit. (The photos showed the defect clearly.) To clarify, the company that replied to my email and sent me the replacement was Nutriteam. They explained that they are the exclusive U.S. distributors of the Taiwanese company that manufactures the Megahome distiller. (I originally thought the product was manufactured in the U.S. and that was a selling point for me, but I'm happy to support Taiwanese manufacturers as well since I like to support companies that operate in republics with elected presidents.) Here's the timeline, which is useful in order to understand how much this company stands behind its product. I originally purchased this distiller from Amazon on July 16 2021. I emailed them about the defect on 11 Feb 2023 (almost 19 months later), informing them that the tank had developed an inch long dent within a year of my purchase, but since it started as a small dent, I initially was puzzled as to whether the dent existed when I first bought the item or whether it had emerged several months later. (I knew for a fact that I hadn't caused the dent because I never used anything but citric acid to clean the tank and even used my hand as a scrubber so I wouldn't scour the tank.) I explained in the email that it became clear somewhere between 11 and 18 months after purchase that this issue was indeed a manufacturing defect because in that time it developed from a dent to large dent to a large rusty crack which eventually leaked water from the tank into the inside of the unit's internals. Not only did Megahome/Nutriteam send a replacement for the tank; they also stated in their reply that the replacement tank also would include a new warranty. It means that their replacement of the tank essentially re-booted the warranty period. That was an excellent surprise. Note: To improve longevity of the distiller, I use a timer that prevents it from running out of water and tripping the overheating switch. I chose the "BN-LINK 7 Day Heavy Duty Digital Programmable Timer, FD60 U6, 115V, 60Hz, Dual Outlet, Indoor, for Lamp Light Fan Security UL Listed" because it has an internal battery and a clock, which means it can be programmed for different times on different days (I sleep in on Sunday), and also won't be thrown off schedule if a power outage occurs when the unit isn't supposed to run. I set it for about 4.5 hours and it leaves about a cm of water in the bottom of the tank which should improve the unit's lifespan. I also clean my tank once a week using a couple tablespoons of citric acid granules in a slightly overfilled tank with no heat. If I just leave it to soak for an hour, the citric acid dissolves the lime scale enough where I can literally wipe the remainder off with my fingertips and it just whisks away in a cloud underwater. Then I rinse it (I don't want the metal to rust from constant exposure to citric acid), refill, and get back to distilling. My tank still looks like new 6 months after it was replaced. Update: Today, 9/5/2023, the replacement tank is working flawlessly, and my wife asked me to order an identical distiller for her. She did the math and found that after paying the initial $300 price tag of the unit, the distiller will save her $1,000 per year in bottled water (she only drinks Arrowhead brand because she likes the taste, but has found she also likes the taste of the water this distiller produces.) If her distiller lasts as long as mine has so far (25 months), it will save us $1,700 in the first 2 years alone.

Color me not impressed. You take the unit out of the box and then you have to assemble the glass pitcher yourself. The whole thing is enormous - it looks from the pictures like it is about as big as coffee maker - wrong. You are going to need a lot of counter-space to house this beastie. For scale, the glass carafe is easily 3x the size of a typical coffee maker carafe. Next weird thing: there is no actual on/off switch anywhere on the unit, just a breaker reset on the front of it. Basically, it boils the water, the steam rises into a condenser where it is cooled back into water by a little fan using the ambient air to cool the coils. The condensed water drips down into the glass pitcher. Rather than run on a timer or somehow sense that there is no water left in the unit, it is supposed to boil dry then the breaker trips off as the base gets too hot. That is how it shuts itself off. This does not seem like a particularly sensible design to me. It is basically designed to deliberately get very hot, when the temp rises too high in the base, it SHOULD stop before it catches itself on fire. Not a design I am particularly comfortable leaving run when I'm not home for example, and this is supposed to run for hours on end. It will take several hours to distill a full pot of water. Unfortunately, the little breaker on mine was defective, shutting off the unit after it ran for 10-15 minutes, instead of the 4 hours plus it was supposed to run. I checked everything over repeatedly, went through all the trouble-shooting steps in the manual - nothing helped. It was tripping off like it was overheated when there was still 95% of the water unprocessed. So now I have to go return it. Next unpleasant surprise. Even for defective units, you get to pay the shipping back to the manufacturer and this thing is big and heavy. My guess is that even slow shipping this monster back is going to cost me $40 or more. Doesn't really seem right that I have to pay anything out of my own pocket for shipping when I got a defective unit. If there was nothing wrong with it and I just didn't want it - ok, but I didn't get a working unit and now I am out of pocket a fair bit of money due to a manufacturing defect. Yes, I could have looked at the fine print on the shipping policies from a third party purchase, but I didn't and now I got burned. I have had occasional, defective products from Amazon, and they seem to always treat you right, sending somebody to come pick up the thing to make the return process painless and easy so you'll come back to them again in the future. Not so much for some of these third party sellers, apparently. If that makes you hesitant to buy this particular item - good. It isn't particularly loud in operation and there is nothing otherwise objectionable about it. The steel cylinder inside looks relatively easy to clean, although it cannot be immersed in water and would probably be a lot easier to clean if it didn't boil dry each time.

Updates included, newest update at bottom. Technically I rate this 4.5/5 stars but have rounded it to 5 stars. 4/20/2022 Here is an explanation of my use of the 5 start rating system: *****=I LOVE it ****=I like it ***=it's ok **=I didn't like it *=I HATED it So in my book, either a 4 or 5 star rating is a "purchase with confidence" endorsement. If I knock 1 star off to make it a 4 star rating, that only means that there are small things that I would have liked to have seen, or can imagine being possible, but overall I still like the product. I may adjust this rating down if things change, certainly if it fails, but at this point I would rate this product 4-4 1/2 stars. 4/20/22 Delivered I received the distiller on 4/20/22 and distilled about 2 gallons of tap water, in two different batches. It takes about 4-5 hours to complete, but there is something oddly satisfying in hearing the drone of the fan motor and seeing those tiny drips add up over time, and ultimately pouring nearly a full gallon of crystal clear distilled water into a storage jug. In anticipation of receiving the distiller, I bought a TDS meter (Total Dissolved Solids) and although I don't know much about this kind of thing, nor expected our tap water to be anything near pristine, with the TDS of 237 parts per million, I guess I was surprised that my water, which went through a filter and tastes great, had the exact same TDS of 237ppm as the straight yucky tasting tap water. But in testing the post-distilled water, I was actually not expecting the distiller to remove absolutely EVERYTHING from the water, but it seems to have pretty much done that. The TDS result was a flat ZERO after distilling. See attached pictures. In running the distiller, I followed the directions of many reviewers here, which was to stop short of distilling every drop and as a result, burning the remaining solids into the stainless steel shell over the distiller. Instead, I put a timer on the distiller so that it would stop short of 5 hours, and that left about 3/4" of gunky, cloudy water in the bottom, but leaving that water buffer didn't stop some crust from nonetheless being formed. I went ahead and rinsed the reservoir and brushed it with a dish brush, but some scale remained. It was a tiny amount, so I made another batch of water. After the second batch, I rinsed it out again and added only a small amount of water and then sprinkled probably less than a teaspoon of the included (5oz) of anhydrous citric acid in the reservoir and left it to soak and forgot about it for probably several hours. But when I came back, without even scrubbing I could see that the scale had released. I used the brush again to also clean the sides, as a small amount of scale does end up on the upper parts of the reservoir as well, but after brushing and letting it set a couple of times, which is probably overkill, I rinsed it out and the distiller again looked like new. One little nit on this distiller is to repeat what I saw in a few other reviews, and learned myself to be true: 1) there is no power switch, and letting the unit bake an empty reservoir is probably not the best "automatic shutoff" for this unit. It should have the shutoff as a backup, and instead incorporate a gentler way of shutting off before all water has been evaporated out. A built in timer that can be adjusted would probably be best. It would be nice to see some kind of index marks on the inside of the reservoir to help set the timer. I might even use an engraver to create my own marks, simply numbered 1-10 or in 1" increments, I don't know. Then I can make my own chart of how much time it takes to distill that quantity of water, and set the timer accordingly. As it is, I set my timer using guidelines from other reviews and set it at 4 hours ~55 minutes and was left with a small amount of water, which worked great. I don't know that I want to leave less than 1/2-1" of water, but I guess as long as there is even a small amount of water, the temperature should stay about 212 degrees F, no? Probably the most annoying issue that I experienced with this distiller is that the user is expected to line up the output spout of the distiller with the spout of the pitcher, right up against the distiller such that the drips of water that accumulate will fall within about a 1/4" radius area of the pitcher spout. I had the distiller set up on the counter, all lined up, but it takes a while before the first drop of distilled water accumulates and rolls out, so I kept coming back hoping to see that the process had started, and at some point before that first drop came, one of my kids or my wife were curious and came in and nudged the pitcher just the tiniest of bits, so by the time that I came back to see the first fruits of my maiden voyage in distillation, there was a puddle of about 1/4 cup of water all over the counter and dripping down the cabinets. Granted, mind you, this is not a difficult thing to prevent. You just need to eyeball it and make sure that you have the tip of the spout aimed at that tiny spout on the pitcher. But do know that failure to do that, or should a tiny bump to the pitcher occur, it likely will lead to up to a gallon of water dribbling down the outside of the pitcher and all over, if you don't check on it before the end of the process. Again, not a major issue, IF you make sure to set it up correctly. I would have liked to have seen something a little more deterministic in that transition from distiller to pitcher. And to be fair, it looks as if this method is common among the competition as well, although others seem to have a clear channel that the upper spout is received into. Going forward, I am going to attempt to keep scale from accumulating in the main reservoir, thus maintaining the distiller as best as possible and I then plan to update my review over time. I really find that updated reviews over time are of most use to me in trying to find the best quality products, and I hope to help others as well. Please know that I spent hours researching, and I agonized a great deal about which distiller to buy. I didn't want to spend any more than necessary, but ended up with one of the most expensive models. Ultimately, I decided that 1) this distiller had the highest number of 4 and 5 star reviews, at 94% of all reviews given to the Megahome (at the time of my purchase). I don't have enough years left in my life to spend fiddling with things to try to get them to work, or rebuying them because they failed prematurely. I want my stuff to just work, and to do so for many, many years. And 2) the cost will be amortized over time--hopefully the longest possible time--so I decided that the difference between a $100 distiller and a $300 distiller really diminishes over the years, and my experience has been that when we buy quality ($$$) we do end up forgetting the purchase price very quickly, but when you go cheap ($), you are reminded over and over of how "cheap" it was, by the flaws you have to deal with, and usually the early failure you experience before going back to buy the good one. They say you get what you pay for, but that is not always true. Sometimes you overpay and end up feeling ripped off. But what IS true is that you DON'T get what you DON'T pay for. You can always depend on that. Finally, 3) Megahome has each of the parts that might fail on this unit available for purchase so that you can service it yourself. If the fan goes out, it can be replaced. If the pitcher breaks, it can be replaced, etc. All without having to buy a whole new distiller. I will update this after I have a reasonable amount of water distilled through it. If it has not been updated by the time you read this, you can assume that I'm continuing to work toward an appropriate milestone. I'll probably shoot for 150 gallons as the next review update. I figure that, based on what another reviewer had calculated, with distilled water costing about $1/gallon in the store, and this making a gallon for about $0.30, that at about 150 gallons I will have saved about 1/3 of the cost of the distiller, so by the time that I ultimately get to 450-500 gallons I will have paid for this unit by the savings. 6/20/22 Update: I’m approaching the end of my consumption of the first two gallons of distilled water, so thought I’d better get another going. So I filled my unit to the full line, then took a cue from a review here and added 1 tsp of the included citric acid powder to the water. As an aside, the reviewer alluded to the idea that by adding the citric acid to the water, you didn’t even have to go through a cleaning process afterwards. I thought that was pretty clever, but was a little worried that the citric acid might impart some negative attribute to the final product. So I texted my best buddy who happens to be a retired chemical engineer, and his reply was to the effect of, “No, that’s not a problem. In fact, it’s a great idea.” So he assured me that there would be no I’ll effects from it, although he did leave a small escape hatch saying that he isn’t 110% sure that it wouldn’t, over a lot time, lead to corrosion of the distilling tubes. But he is a notoriously over cautious person. Try fact that he even called it a good idea tells me that it probably an awesome trick that will serve me for many years. I assure you that if I find issue with it in the future, I will make an update here. Until then, this is my standard operating procedure from now on! Ok, so water solution ready, I carefully aligned the pitcher spout to the distiller output, plugged the power into a timer set it to run for right about 5 hours, and it finished with almost a full 1 gallon jug of crystal clear life in a bottle. It could have probably run another 15 minutes. Those analog timers aren’t super precise anyway. Personally, we use the water only for my CPAP, our car batteries, and our home Jiffy clothing steamer, and don’t feel like it’s a good idea to drink distilled water regularly because of the effect of pulling minerals from your body due to the mineral imbalance between the water and your body. So, after this batch ran, there was about 3/4”-1” of yellowish water left in the bottom. All I did was pour it out and give it a quick spray rinse inside and dried it with a dish towel. It looks good as new inside, no scrubbing. 9/2/2022 Update: I made another two batches of distilled water. I made a little discovery that I’m kind of proud of myself on. I got to thinking that if it worked ok to put the citric acid in with the water that I was distilling, because it just stays in the main vessel as the water vapor rises and is cooled to condense and collect in the pitcher, leaving all, including the citric acid behind, that the citric acid should have remained as well in the bottom of the vessel. So why bother dumping it out when I have a second batch to do? So I just added another gallon of water and distilled a second batch, without having to waste more citric acid! In fact, I found that 1/2 tsp, at least in the case of our water, worked just fine to keep the minerals from sticking to the main vessel. I might even try 1/4 tsp next time. Suffice it to say, that although we’ve not put a lot of water through this unit, it continues to work and look like new. I always make sure to get it turned off at the 5 hour mark so as not to let it run dry and depend on a overheat circuit to flip to shut it off. I continue to believe that is a very poor way to have it shut off. Heat is the killer of anything electrical or mechanical. I’m sure that the failures of units in other reviews, albeit usually after many years, could have been avoided by cutting the power before the main vessel has boiled away all the water, causing overheating and internal damage. Sadly, the wall timer that I was using seemed to have failed, and wouldn’t even turn on this time, so I had to set an alarm and come back and check on it. The timer started OK, but ran only a few minutes and the distiller shut off. I was at least happy to know that it wasn’t anything internal to the distiller. I suspect that there is just too much current going through the timer. It probably was a timer that was engineered more for lamps, rather than high current appliances like a distiller. I will update here later, although I may just save my updates for when I have something new to say. So if you see no updates after the above date, it means either that something terrible has happened to me, or we just have nothing but good things going on with the distiller. 9/17/2025 Update: I continue to use this distiller and love it. I’ve lot track of how many gallons of water I’ve distilled, but it is probably over 30 gallons by now. I have also been pleasantly surprise that this can also take old bottles of wine or left over beer, etc. and distill out the alcohol, although I have only done that one time as an experiment. Alcohol distills out much quicker than water, as the alcohol goes into a gas at a lower temperature and once that (and the methanol before it which needs to be discarded) has distilled out then it’s just water, so if the alcohol is all you wanted out of it, you can stop after just 10-20 minutes probably. So to keep your distiller looking new and running indefinitely, the trick is in putting a 1/2-1 tsp of citric acid (or maybe vinegar would do it?) in with the water, and making sure to stop the distiller before you get down to less than an inch of water both keeps the inside from becoming stained and built up with minerals, and stopping early enough protects your heating element. Don’t let the “auto shut-off” turn the distiller off. It is a thermal switch, and by the time that kicks in, you’ve probably hurt your heating element to some extent. And heat is the mortal enemy of all machinery and electronics. I believe that I will have this distiller for the rest of my life (I just turned 64yo) and for whoever inherits it, the parts that may wear out are serviceable so there should never be a need to completely replace the unit—just service it with new parts as needed. I continue to be smugly satisfied that I can make all of the distilled what I want without a need to depend on “the man” (Walmart, etc.) to run my CPAP, top of my vehicle batteries, protect our clothes iron and clothes steamer, and whatever other needs are absolutely necessary, or at the very least better, to use distilled water. When you get used to having an unlimited supply, you find more cases where you’ll use it. I keep a small pint and also a quart bottle of it on my workbench as well. So I continue to hold my 4.5 star rating, knocking off 1/2 star only because there should be a built-in timer to automatically shut off, and have the thermal cut-off by a last resort backup to protect from a fire or something. Relying on the thermal cutoff doesn't protect the heating element sufficiently. And I’m really picky about what products get the full “I love it/5 star” rating. Buy with confidence!

This distiller is well made with quality materials, works well and is quiet. I have had it only about 3 weeks, so this may be too early to review. However, it distills water for my countertop ice maker and my misting humidifier. The humidifier alone uses close to a gallon per day. I followed other purchasers` advice and purchased a timer to control it, so it wouldn`t wait until it ran dry before shutting off. Allowing it to run dry would result in the lime and other minerals removed from the tap water to bake onto the bottom inside the unit. This is where you would need to use the citric acid cleaner supplied with the unit. The timer can be set to shut it off at 5 hours, so about 1/2" of water remains in the bottom of the unit. Then a non abrasive sponge and warm water can be used after initially allowing the cleaner to work for a couple of minutes. The white reset button on the outside of the unit is actually a safety thermal overload switch in case the automatic shutoff doesn`t work. You should keep this in mind. Suggestions to Megahome: Design a handle on top of the distiller module so it can be removed easily and safely, without the risk of burning oneself or damaging the plastic snap on the discharge spout or the lip of the glass carafe. Even waiting long enough for it to cool off still allows the risk of dropping the module and damaging it and the other items mentioned. Install a manual shutoff switch, instead of having to unplug the unit every time. That power plug/receptacle will take a lot longer to wear out. Make the fill line more visible inside the distiller body. A black embedded mark/"Fill" inside where the barely visible indentations are would be a big improvement. Suggestions for Megahome Distiller users: Always have a few one gallon empty plastic distilled water jugs on hand for storing extra water for emergencies and daily use. They are especially useful if you need at least one gallon or more daily. If you have room in your kitchen or wherever the distiller is fairly close to tap water supply, place it on its own cart/shelf with room to store a couple of gallon jugs and the cleaning items. Use white vinegar to clean the distiller tank when you run out of the original citric acid cleaner. It takes only a couple of minutes longer to loosen the scale, is cheaper and easily convenient to pick up at the local store.

This distiller is the gold standard for countertop purification. It’s the only UL-approved distiller in the UK, and it removes 99.8% of contaminants—including fluoride, VOCs, pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals1 . The stainless steel boiling chamber means water never touches plastic, and the glass jug keeps your final product clean and taste-neutral. It’s fully automatic—shuts off when done, so no risk of overheating. The charcoal filters polish the taste, and the included cleaning crystals keep the unit fresh for months. Whether you’re prepping for hydration, brewing, or bait mixing, this unit delivers lab-grade purity with zero faff. ✅ Big Wins Best-in-class purity—removes 99.8% of pollutants1 Glass collection jug—no plastic taste or leaching Stainless steel interior—durable and hygienic Auto shut-off—safe and hands-free Charcoal filters included—taste polishers 2-year warranty + money-back guarantee—peace of mind ⚠️ Minor Trade-Offs 5–6 hour cycle—not instant, but thorough Noisy fan during operation—normal for distillers Manual fill required—no plumbing hookup Bulky footprint—needs counter space Premium price—around £249, but worth it1 🧍‍♂️ Personal Verdict Tested for drinking, bait prep, and aquarium top-ups—crystal-clear results every time. For under £250, it’s a proper investment in clean water. Built like a tank, runs like a pro, and delivers the kind of purity you can taste.

Fast shipping. Quality product. Australian cords and plugs. One thing I noticed was Mega home is called spring flow in Australia. I thought they looked identical and I was correct, they are the same brand. Made in Taiwan.

The Megahome Water Distiller works very well. It takes about 5-1/2 hours to distill one gallon of water. Do not buy a distiller for pure water that heats above 100 Celsius, the point at which water boils. Higher temperature even by one degree carries contaminants with the steam, and they condense into your distilled water. I bought this distiller to benefit my health by drinking pure clean water free of contaminants. Chemical cracking plants work on the same principle. You cannot get higher volume with pure water coming out of the spout. I know my stuff, I make a precise purity product for major industry.

The photo shows the pollutants left after one distillation of my “high salt” water. Family members have already noticed a drop in their baseline blood pressures and may soon be able to stop their blood pressure medication. The residual toxin is easy to wipe out after each use. I run this distiller 2 times a day. The distillation takes about 5 hours each time. The machine automatically shuts off after the cycle is complete. Each full distillation yields 24 cups. What I don’t like is, the precise placement required for the distiller spout to be over the receiving pot. A flexible hose is required to avoid water dripping onto countertop and floor all night - manufacturerer please make this simple adaptation.

Exactly as described!