You will need...:

• water

1. ingredient water (x1)
2. distill (x1)

commands says:
What exactly are the commands for this? and where do you get fresh water? your link to water leads to a search for water chestnuts. That doesn't help much.

Agreed says:
Trying to start with alchemy is confusing. Not knowing where and how to get water is incredibly frustrating. Seems like it should be easy and obvious, but it remains an obstacle after checking the guild shop and the town alchemist. Can anyone clarify these points, please?

Agreed says:
Trying to start with alchemy is confusing. Not knowing where and how to get water is incredibly frustrating. Seems like it should be easy and obvious, but it remains an obstacle after checking the guild shop and the town alchemist. Can anyone clarify these points, please?

Wizlo Dizlo says:
Alright. Go to one of the alchemy workshops. Get a flask of clear water in your hand and type ALCHEMY DISTILL. That's it. It took me hours to figure that out.

Gadshill says:
You can buy the flask of clear water from the Clerk in the guilds. When you distill it, it becomes a flask of pure water. For whatever reason, you can't use the pure water in any of the recipes (at least not the ones that I've tried).