Why did Hy-Vee stop carrying distilled water?
January 15, 2022 8:03 PM Subscribe
I buy gallons of distilled water for houseplant purposes. Lately I haven't been able to find it at any of the Hy-Vees in town (and the shelves appear to have stopped being tagged for it). I was at another one today and asked customer service, and that person said they stopped carrying it (I'm not sure if that was true or a way to get me to go away). If it is true, why, and is this a broader change than just my Hy-Vees?
I know people use it for medical equipment, so I'm surprised they'd stop selling it. It was one of the many items in the early pandemic that was sold out quite often.
I plan to check other potential vendors tomorrow - Fareway, maybe pharmacies? - but if you happen to know of other fairly standard stores that definitely carry it I'd welcome that knowledge.
I know people use it for medical equipment, so I'm surprised they'd stop selling it. It was one of the many items in the early pandemic that was sold out quite often.
I plan to check other potential vendors tomorrow - Fareway, maybe pharmacies? - but if you happen to know of other fairly standard stores that definitely carry it I'd welcome that knowledge.
out of curiosity, why/what do you use it for in plants? should i be using distilled water in my houseplants?
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:53 PM on January 15, 2022
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:53 PM on January 15, 2022
The thing about Hy-vee is that each store has a different inventory, because they let individual store managers decide what will sell at that particular store. So when I clicked on your link, jonathanhughes, it said that the product was not available at my location. (I have used Hy-vee Aisles, their online ordering site, in the past, so they've saved my store location.) My store does have another brand of distilled water available, though. This one: https://www.hy-vee.com/aisles-online/p/22939/HyVee-Premium-Distilled-Water.
I hate to ask this, but have you tried Walmart? According to their website, they have gallon jugs of distilled water in store at my local store.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:56 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I hate to ask this, but have you tried Walmart? According to their website, they have gallon jugs of distilled water in store at my local store.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:56 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: out of curiosity, why/what do you use it for in plants? should i be using distilled water in my houseplants?
Not for all plants! I use it for carnivorous plants and for misting airplants/tropicals/carnivorous plants as then the mist doesn't leave residue. Some people say you should use it for orchids, too, but I find my orchids seem to do OK with tap water so I don't often bother because I have a lot of plants so I don't want to have to buy even more distilled water than I currently do.
After I wrote this question I did remember Walmart is a potential option so I'm planning on stopping by there if Walgreens doesn't work out. Thanks for the confirmation your Walmart is a vendor, ArbitraryAndCapricious.
posted by vegartanipla at 9:00 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not for all plants! I use it for carnivorous plants and for misting airplants/tropicals/carnivorous plants as then the mist doesn't leave residue. Some people say you should use it for orchids, too, but I find my orchids seem to do OK with tap water so I don't often bother because I have a lot of plants so I don't want to have to buy even more distilled water than I currently do.
After I wrote this question I did remember Walmart is a potential option so I'm planning on stopping by there if Walgreens doesn't work out. Thanks for the confirmation your Walmart is a vendor, ArbitraryAndCapricious.
posted by vegartanipla at 9:00 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Distilled water is also available at auto parts stores (it is used for batteries). Usually more expensive but maybe there is one handy to you and you can avoid Walmart.
posted by Mitheral at 9:35 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 9:35 PM on January 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
My wife and I got tied of having to hunt down distilled water for our CPAPs last fall and bought a distiller. It'll take a while to pay for itself but we will never again worry about where we're getting our next fix.
posted by kindall at 9:55 PM on January 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by kindall at 9:55 PM on January 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
Have you already dismissed the option of using aquarium dechlorinator for much of this? The dechlorinated water can of course still leave residue, but it should be healthy for the delicate plants.
One small bottle of dechlorinator should give you gallons and gallons of plant-friendly water, and it's readily available at almost all pet supply stores and other stores too.
posted by amtho at 10:08 PM on January 15, 2022
One small bottle of dechlorinator should give you gallons and gallons of plant-friendly water, and it's readily available at almost all pet supply stores and other stores too.
posted by amtho at 10:08 PM on January 15, 2022
Best answer: Distilled water's been harder to find lately; I look for it in grocery stores as well as grocery/department stores like Fred Meyer, Walmart, Target, etc.
In the last few months, it's been getting harder to find; I figured it was a victim of the logistics problems going around. This last couple weeks have been very hard, but that is most likely due to my nearby mountain pass being closed for days on end due to weather.
But it's been typical for years, pre-covid, for them to sell out of what's on the shelf at the end of the day, so go in the morning to stock up. I grabbed 3 gallons today, Saturday, when I could get to the store before 2PM, and that's all I grabbed because that was all I could carry at the time; would've grabbed 10 if I could.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:09 PM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
In the last few months, it's been getting harder to find; I figured it was a victim of the logistics problems going around. This last couple weeks have been very hard, but that is most likely due to my nearby mountain pass being closed for days on end due to weather.
But it's been typical for years, pre-covid, for them to sell out of what's on the shelf at the end of the day, so go in the morning to stock up. I grabbed 3 gallons today, Saturday, when I could get to the store before 2PM, and that's all I grabbed because that was all I could carry at the time; would've grabbed 10 if I could.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:09 PM on January 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Also: I would definitely check drug stores / pharmacies, Target / Walmart, etc. if you want distilled water.
If you really become determined, there's something called RO water (reverse osmosis water) that is also an aquarium thing. You could try aquarium stores, pet stores, and/or exotics veterinary practices.
Failing _that_, maybe a local zoo or someone who keeps/sells fish or amphibians.
posted by amtho at 10:15 PM on January 15, 2022
If you really become determined, there's something called RO water (reverse osmosis water) that is also an aquarium thing. You could try aquarium stores, pet stores, and/or exotics veterinary practices.
Failing _that_, maybe a local zoo or someone who keeps/sells fish or amphibians.
posted by amtho at 10:15 PM on January 15, 2022
There would be no discernible difference in the amount of residue left behind by evaporating reverse-osmosis filtered water compared to distilled, and home RO filters don't use anywhere near as much energy as home distillation machines.
RO filters do also emit a bypass water stream with maybe ten times the volume of the filtered stream, but any gardening that you're already using tap water for should still work just fine with water containing maybe 10% more minerals, so you could also collect and use the RO filter's bypass stream instead of wasting it.
posted by flabdablet at 2:48 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
RO filters do also emit a bypass water stream with maybe ten times the volume of the filtered stream, but any gardening that you're already using tap water for should still work just fine with water containing maybe 10% more minerals, so you could also collect and use the RO filter's bypass stream instead of wasting it.
posted by flabdablet at 2:48 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
You know you can get rid of chlorine by just letting your jug of water sit for 24 hours at room temperature. That won't help if you're trying to remove other stuff as well.
posted by leslies at 5:31 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by leslies at 5:31 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
re: chlorine - some municipal water systems substitute in chloramine regularly, for extra disinfection of the pipes, and it _won't_ evaporate out -- so the "leave it for 24 hours" method is potentially fraught.
posted by amtho at 5:40 AM on January 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by amtho at 5:40 AM on January 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Chlorine isn't relevant to the question; the residue left on leaves &c. isn't because the water starts out chlorinated, it's because most city water supplies come from underground aquifers and are consequently hard (high amounts of dissolved calcium, iron, and magnesium) and basic. When the water molecules evaporate out, what's left over is all the stuff the water had dissolved in it (i.e. mostly calcium and magnesium carbonates). Dechlorinating tap water would just add more dissolved crap to the dissolved crap the water already contains.
Most carnivorous plants need very soft and acidic water; i.e., the opposite of tap water.
Do you have freshly-fallen snow on the ground right now? I've been using melted snow on my plants for the last couple weeks, and although it's more work than buying distilled from Hy-Vee (scoop snow into container, bring container inside, wait for snow to melt, strain melt-water through a screened funnel[1] into a reused milk jug, discard stray bits of dirt and plant matter, etc. from funnel, fill snow container again), it's also soft, acidic water that is literally just laying around for free.[2] You don't even have to have a house (downspout) in order to collect it, unlike rainwater.
Icicles work too.
-
[1] (something like this one, made for straining stuff out of motor oil)
[2] (except for the extra work your home's heater has to do to raise the snow to room temperature, which I imagine is still a lot cheaper than what it costs in gas to drive to Hy-Vee and buy distilled)
posted by Spathe Cadet at 10:17 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Most carnivorous plants need very soft and acidic water; i.e., the opposite of tap water.
Do you have freshly-fallen snow on the ground right now? I've been using melted snow on my plants for the last couple weeks, and although it's more work than buying distilled from Hy-Vee (scoop snow into container, bring container inside, wait for snow to melt, strain melt-water through a screened funnel[1] into a reused milk jug, discard stray bits of dirt and plant matter, etc. from funnel, fill snow container again), it's also soft, acidic water that is literally just laying around for free.[2] You don't even have to have a house (downspout) in order to collect it, unlike rainwater.
Icicles work too.
-
[1] (something like this one, made for straining stuff out of motor oil)
[2] (except for the extra work your home's heater has to do to raise the snow to room temperature, which I imagine is still a lot cheaper than what it costs in gas to drive to Hy-Vee and buy distilled)
posted by Spathe Cadet at 10:17 AM on January 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Had to stop by Walgreens regardless so I went in and asked the pharmacy tech where it'd be at after I picked up meds, went to that aisle, and it was sold out. But! I had seen it marked "available" online so I went to the front and asked if they had it in back storage - and they said yes, but also there was a special display area of it which they escorted me to so I picked up 4 gallons. That should last me for a while.
(Currently here there's just a bit of snow.)
Still curious what's up with my Hy-Vees though.
posted by vegartanipla at 4:55 PM on January 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
(Currently here there's just a bit of snow.)
Still curious what's up with my Hy-Vees though.
posted by vegartanipla at 4:55 PM on January 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have also noticed a shortage of distilled water in my area. I use it for my CPAP, but for my plants I use the water that my dehumidifier produces. Perhaps getting a dehumidifier is another option?
posted by Ochre,Hugh at 8:09 PM on January 16, 2022
posted by Ochre,Hugh at 8:09 PM on January 16, 2022
Just a thought, but if the local management gets to decide what to carry, it might actually help to talk to the manager at your local store. Explain that you buy distilled water and if you have to go elsewhere for it, you will probably do some of your shopping there too for your own convenience. I’ve kind of gotten out of the habit of telling people at big grocery stores what I’m looking for because so many (e.g., Target) feature a Stalinesque top-down ordering system that never responds to customers.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 7:14 PM on January 17, 2022
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 7:14 PM on January 17, 2022
I needed distilled water to clean something (long story) but I went to my local supermarket, expecting there to be jugs of it, just like always, and there weren't any of those at all.
What they did have was "SmartWater" that was distilled. I only needed a few cups so I bought two bottles of it, but normally I would have just bought the cheaper jug.
posted by 41swans at 7:39 PM on January 19, 2022
What they did have was "SmartWater" that was distilled. I only needed a few cups so I bought two bottles of it, but normally I would have just bought the cheaper jug.
posted by 41swans at 7:39 PM on January 19, 2022
Yup. Shortage in my suburban Denver area. Took some real searching to find a couple gallons for my dad's CPAP today. (Thanks for the auto-parts store tip, Mithral!)
posted by Lycaon_pictus at 3:01 PM on January 22, 2022
posted by Lycaon_pictus at 3:01 PM on January 22, 2022
If you can't find distilled where you are, I used nothing but commercial RO-filtered bottled water in my CPAP for several months with no discernible residue left behind in the humidifier tray.
posted by flabdablet at 3:14 PM on January 22, 2022
posted by flabdablet at 3:14 PM on January 22, 2022
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https://www.hy-vee.com/aisles-online/p/125539/Crystal-Clear-Bottled-Distilled-Water-Gallon
So maybe the employee didn't know what they're talking about.
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:41 PM on January 15, 2022