In regard to distillation as an alternative to a filter, below are excepts from other discussions about whether or not distillation works. Each excerpt is from a different commenter. I have no idea as to the level of expertise of any of these commenters and please assume they're taken out of context to some extent. Grady

". . . distillation . . . will only serve to concentrate the problem within the containment or filter itself." [Grady's observation: Maybe containment would not be a bad alternative if you have enough spare filters and a dependable Geiger Counter.]

" . . . not sure that distilling the water will work either.. I have heard that the steam (that's what distilled water is) from the plant was radioactive.. meaning that the isotopes were lighter than water and distilled into the steam as well.."

" . . . filtering through earth removes essentially all of the fallout particles and more of the dissolved radioactive material than does boiling-water distillation, a generally impractical purification method that does not eliminate dangerous radioactive iodine . . ."

" . . . trying to use an improper closed distillation rig will send over not just water, but organics and dissolved gases which need other steps to get rid of. Home distillation kit wouldn't work well to get rid of I or other gas phase-elements . . . "

"One of the problems with distilling is that iodine has a low boiling point - it turns into a gas at 184 Celsius. The little home distillers use high pressure for efficiency and if they are using over ~140 psi they will be vaporizing the radioactive iodine along with the water."

"A low pressure distiller like the type used for distilling alcohol won't boil off the iodine."

distillation is ". . . far more complex than anything simple. distillation has to be designed to gas off organics and iodine separate form water. otherwise all it leans out is solid particulate/mineral . . ."

". . . you keep distilling water down and that distiller is going to get very radioactive itself. Do you want to touch and use it then? Better to go with DISPOSABLE filter setups . . . production models or home made."

"By drinking distilled water you will actually dilute and cleanse out many accumulated impurities in your body as well."

". . . distilling would be your best bet..."

REBUTTAL to the above excerpt: "The steam coming off those reactors is filled with contamination. Comprende yet? The pressure and heat energy propels the radiation. Comprende yet?"

Second REBUTTAL: " . . . You cannot distill radiation out of water. The reactors are distilling water and radiation into the air. Stop giving bad advice. Someone may use it."

"Does a water filter remove radiation from water?
Particulate contaminants, yes; depending on the micronic efficiency of the filter. Will not restore irradiated water. Need to distill the water to do that, and then you have the radiation contaminants to dispose of, deal with....".

"I'm sorry to say that distills will not remove radiation from the water itself. I have a company that sells them and would love it if they did..."

FYI - photos of stills sold commercially: http://homedistiller.org/photos-sold.htmhttp://homedistiller.org/photos-sold.htm