Battery water = Distilled water

In America, walk into any grocery or big box store like Walmart, and you should be able to find a jug, probably a gallon, of distilled water.  That's water without any minerals in it.  Just water.  It's not meant for drinking, but for applications where you need to use water but don't want any mineral residue left behind.  Steam irons and humidifiers are common uses for distilled water.

Speaking of humidifiers, I have one attached to the pump of my CPAP machine.  To keep the water reservoir clean, distilled water is used.  I couldn't easily bring a gallon of distilled water with me to India.  So I asked colleages here in Hyderabad to shop around for me so I could acquire it here.  They didn't have much luck.  It's not sold the same way in India.  Long story short, when I arrived last night, I went to dinner with some of the employees from the office.  While discussing places to shop for distilled water, one suggested battery water.  Battery water is distilled water that is added to lead acid batteries like the batteries used to cars and trucks.  So while "distilled water" is harder to find, "battery water" is sold at gas stations.  This afternoon, my colleague brought me a liter of battery water.  The price tag says Rs. 15/-, which converts to about $0.33.  Battery water is also sold in 5 liter containers for about a $1.00. 

So I finally found what I was looking for, just by another name.

Kent