Distilled water can be found at an autoparts store (used to fill up batteries), and it's cheap. I can't imagine it'd be more than a pound a liter in the UK, and frankly, I'd be shocked if it were even HALF that expensive.
You can also use water found in those vending machines, since they, too, are very soft. If your tap water is soft, you can probably use it as well. Distilled is better, but soft tap water isn't the end of the world.
As for boiling the water, it should come out of your tap relatively sterile. If you boil it, you will kill everything that might have survived the chlorination, but it'll recolonize from airborne bacteria and algal spores as soon as it cools. Probably not necessary, and probably a waste of effort.
Neil
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