this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2026
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Is lab grade distilled water more guaranteed to be neutral pH? Because I tested some random distilled water from walmart and it was like 5.5. I then went down a rabbit hole and learned that distilled water is so pure that it just sucks up carbon from the air.
it will vary, just after distillation (or RO/ion exchange) it should be closer to 7 then it goes down as carbon dioxide gets absorbed. that's why it's buffered everywhere where it matters
Not only the CO~2~, but also the glassware you put the water in for measuring can very significantly alter the pH. Some scientists I know systematically screened different, presumably clean, containers because of this effect before progressing with their experiments.
We had a distiller in the department. We'd roll over a cart fill a carboy.