Getting distilled water for a CPAP machine can be a challenge in Europe, especially if you are looking for "distilled" water. They have it but it is often called "demineralized" water. Can be hard to find unless you are looking in larger grocery stores. It tends to be with cleaning products for some reason, not in the water section. I asked one employee for demineralized water and she gave me a quizzical look and then said, "oh you mean water for your iron!" Yes!
many people here have found that they can use tap water during their trip, or no water, and give the tank a clean when they get home.
I don't use one, or know anybody who does, but I do read all the posts here where they say that no issue comes from tap water.
It's also an issue for those of us who need to do nasal irrigation. In England there is always a kettle so water can be boiled to make it safe, but trying to find distilled water or a way to make boiled water is difficult in other countries.
Try pharmacies. They will likely charge higher prices, however.
Our experience while living in Germany was just as the OP found. Distilled (demineralized) water isn't used for drinking, but for appliances like steamers and irons. Therefore found in the household section of grocery stores. I bought it in gallon jugs, and one usually lasted me for a year. Due to the very hard water in our area, mineral build up in appliances was a real issue.
In Italy now and we have found demineralized water in the coop and mpreis, hope to find in a store in cortina tomorrow. It is not available on on Naxos or Santorini. We looked in every store we came across and asked many people, no one knew what we were talking about. Found on main land Greece in grocery by cleaning. Iceland we only found sanitized water in the pharmacy, all anyone could say was why would you want to take the minerals out. Hope I can find it in Croatia next week.
We will be visiting Croatia this fall and have similar concerns for my husband's CPAP. Distilled water was impossible to find anywhere in France. We did find demineralized water in the cleaning section of major French supermarkets, however. I understand is not quite the same as distilled as distilled water is also purified. We purchased demineralized water and then boiled it in an attempt to purify it (the CPAP people seemed to think that having purified water was important as one breathes it in.) To say that boiling the demineralized water was a pain is an understatement. We've pretty much decided to try to find demineralized water in the future and use that and hope for the best (and clean the machine when we return home). Would love to hear if anyone has found it in Rovinj, Split or Dubrovnik.
The labels on the bottles of this demineralized water found in the cleaning sections or car repair states not for use in medical machines. Read the ingredients and you’ll see that something is added.
In France, Mt. Roucous water has the lowest mineral content of all the bottled waters. For a few weeks travel, just wash out the water container. Of course the local tap water could be filled with minerals.
This is a great discussion. I've looked in vain for distilled water in Europe; I'll try these suggestions. In the past I've used tap water and discarded the water chamber on return to the US; this trip so far I've just kept the chamber dry.
I travel frequently, so I invested in a travel CPAP. It's lighter and doesn't require water. It has a replaceable, humidifying filter that works for a month. It has been a lifesaver! Made by ResMed.