Heeded the advice of other reviewers and got a countdown timer to cut off unit just before it completes, so the residue in the remaining water doesn't bake onto the bottom. I also clean the inside after each batch. This distiller is fairly quiet, and I have not noticed any strange odors as some have mentioned, they must have stinky water! Ours comes from a community well system, via our house water softener. Have run 6 or 8 batches so far, with no issues.