Distilled water is potable. Potable means fit and safe for human consumption, and water that has been boiled and condensed with its dissolved solids left behind clears that bar comfortably. The distinctions worth drawing are between potable and palatable, which are not the same thing, and between water that is potable when produced and water that is still potable when you drink it.
What potable actually means
Potable is a safety word, not a quality word. It describes water fit for human consumption, judged on the absence of harmful contamination rather than on taste, mineral content or origin. A supply can be potable and taste of chlorine. It can be potable and hard enough to scale a kettle in a month. Distilled water is potable because the process leaves nothing behind that makes it unsafe to drink.
Potable is not palatable
Distilled water tastes flat, because taste in drinking water comes largely from dissolved minerals and dissolved gases, and distillation removes both. That is a preference problem rather than a safety one. People who drink it regularly either get used to it, aerate it by pouring between containers, or add mineral drops. None of this changes whether the water is fit to drink.
Storage is where potable water stops being potable
Distilled water leaves the condenser essentially sterile and then sits in a jug that you handle, open, pour from and refill. That container, not the process, is the realistic route to contamination in a home. Use clean covered containers, rinse them between batches, keep them out of sunlight and warmth, and do not decant into something that held anything else.
Well owners asking the potable question
If the reason you are asking is a private well, know the ground you are standing on. EPA notes that private wells are not federally regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, that around 15 percent of the US population relies on one, and that a USGS study of 2,100 private wells found about one in five carried at least one contaminant above a human-health benchmark. Distilling a jug at a time does not answer that; testing does.
Questions people ask about is distilled water potable
Is distilled water potable straight from a home distiller?
Yes, provided the collection jug and the machine are clean. The output is safe to drink; the container is the part that has to be looked after.
Can distilled water be used for medical or CPAP purposes?
It is commonly specified for humidifier chambers because it leaves no mineral deposit, but follow the device maker's instructions rather than general advice.
Does distilled water need to be boiled before drinking?
No. It was already boiled during production. Only handling and storage after that point could reintroduce anything worth worrying about.