On the contrary, distilled water is not conductive enough. You do need some ions in it. Inexpensive chemicals like sodium hydroxide/ bicarbonate also prevent li

On the contrary, distilled water is not conductive enough. You do need some ions in it. Inexpensive chemicals like sodium hydroxide/ bicarbonate also prevent limescale, avoid producing chlorine, etc...but then you end up with salty/alkaline brine. Which might be the true issue here, how to dispose of industrial quantities of that.