Is everyone seeing distilled water prices like this!?

I have been looking around for distilled water (in CA), and Target and Walmart seem to be out of it.   I did finally find some in a grocery store.... $17 for 2.5 gallons!  $6.80 a gallon!!!!!

I did find a gallon jug for $3.49 which is more expensive than gas in many states.  It's normally $1 - $1.25 / gal.

I know it's CA, but something else is going on.  Online searches only result in and older articles on supply chain issues and plastic shortage (!?).  Article notes it only affects some areas.

https://marketrealist.com/p/distilled-water-shortage/

Wifey and I distill 2 gallons a day for coffee then drink the rest.   The process is annoying as can be until you drink an ice cold glass of it. Probably our 4th and 5th one (we have 2) and I find them on crsigslist much cheaper.  
 

Distilled water is $1.19/gallon at my local Kroger right now. 

dculberson said:

Distilled water is $1.19/gallon at my local Kroger right now. 

That is what I paid at our local Walmart back in July but a coworker told me today that she couldn't find any distilled water at that store over the weekend. Thought it was a strange thing for them to be completely out of.

I don't think I've every looked at the price of distilled water, let alone purchase it.

I buy it to mix with antifreeze for radiators to not have my hard water leaving deposits but it's been a while. I dont think I ever paid more than $2 a gallon. 

In reply to aircooled :

For what it's worth, the price tag in your picture appears to be for a different product than what is ont he shelf above it....fancy water with electrolytes and ph balancing and some other buzzwords

I've had trouble even finding it.  The prices aren't ridiculous when I find it though.  

I "need" it for my CPAP humidifier.   Local stores don't have it so I use drinking water.  That said I haven't looked to hard as the drinking water doesn't seem to gunk up the Humidifier plate to much.  

I hadn't considered it was a shortage just thought maybe the local small grocery store stopped carrying it.   There is no local shortage observed on bottled gallon drinking water. 

It's about a buck here in KS when I purchased about a month ago. 

I don't know why, but in my local grocery stores, distilled water in the baby supplies aisle is half the price as the distilled water in the drinks aisle.

I live in California near the Oregon border.  2.5 gal of distilled water is $5.79 here

Besides the (usually) nice weather, why the berk do people live in California?

The mineral / filtered water seems to be a bit low in stock in general, but still the same price as normal (~$1/ gal).  The baby supply distilled water is normally $1.50 / gal (so 50% more for no reason) around here.

If there is some sort of plastic issue, that should affect other liquids.  There is a water shortage, but that can't be it.  Some sort of plant shutdown?

The distiller is interesting, but seems pretty pricey for what has to be a pretty simple device.

I use it for a humidifier (to avoid clogging the filters with hard water) and for a humidifier for a vintage ukelale.

In checking Target online, it says some local stores have it for the normal 99 cents / gal.  Of course it shows the store I was in having it and it was empty yesterday.  The fact that the local grocery store jacked up the price big time says something though.

I could ask the same about Illinois...  it's so very, very, very flat...

I guess they offset the flatness by pouring salt on their roads to try to build it up a bit?

In reply to CJ :

Oh, we have our issues, I won't pretend, but $7.00/gal water isn't one of them.

I buy it often for our humidifiers because my well water ruins humidifies in under 6 months. I've seen it go from $.80 to $1.08 at my local walmart for a gallon, sometimes they run out of stock. During the price increase they started to come with screw on caps instead of pop tops. They carry it in the baby section and the drink aisle and it is inconsistent which "label" they will have in stock. 

What you are seeing is crazy.

About a year ago I spent a few hours driving around town looking for distilled water when I had flushed the cooling system on my truck.  Eventually found it for a normal price but it should have taken me 15 minutes

So what I'm hearing is that I should bottle the waste distilled water from my dehumidifiers and send it to California?

Appleseed said:

Besides the (usually) nice weather, why the berk do people live in California?

Mountians. Ocean.  The largest and most profitable manufacturing economy in America?  
 

nocones said:

I "need" it for my CPAP humidifier.   Local stores don't have it so I use drinking water.  That said I haven't looked to hard as the drinking water doesn't seem to gunk up the Humidifier plate to much.  

I hadn't considered it was a shortage just thought maybe the local small grocery store stopped carrying it.   There is no local shortage observed on bottled gallon drinking water. 

FWIW, I've been using water from our under-sink reverse osmosis filter for many years in my CPAP with no issues.

Appleseed said:

Besides the (usually) nice weather, why the berk do people live in California?

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Appleseed said:

Besides the (usually) nice weather, why the berk do people live in California?

Mountians. Ocean.  The largest and most profitable manufacturing economy in America?  
 

 

Too much water, not enough water, on fire, shaking itself to pieces. I think we covered it.

In reply to RX Reven' :

With all that money, $7.00/ gal for water should be a non-issue.

I always just gather water off my dehumidifer or A/C drain if I need distilled water for a radiator.