deionized water

[Endeavourx]

Hi
I'm looking to mix up my next batch of chemicals and am giving some thought to the water

I've seen distilled and deionized water used interchangeably but I've noticed that the deionized water contains a bitting agent - can I assume this is no good for mixing up developer etc?

you'd have thought distilled water would be pretty easy to come by, but alas no - deionized on the other hand I can find everywhere

 

[Ian Grant]

De-ionised water is cheap to produce, distilled isn't due to high fuel costs in most of the world.

The water softening jugs use a deionising cartridge and are all you really need. We have to use them before boiling the kettle as the water's quite hard.

Ian

 

[Sirius Glass]

It depends on your water supply. I have very hard water but I have never needed to use deionized nor distilled water, however you may need to use them. If you need them, then use them, otherwise tap water is good enough.

 

[RPC]

If I mix pre-packaged chemistry I just use tap water but if I mix from scratch I use distilled as tap water here (hard) can give poor results. I have never used deionized--distilled is more common where I live.

 

[MattKing]

Hi
I'm looking to mix up my next batch of chemicals and am giving some thought to the water

I've seen distilled and deionized water used interchangeably but I've noticed that the deionized water contains a bitting agent - can I assume this is no good for mixing up developer etc?

you'd have thought distilled water would be pretty easy to come by, but alas no - deionized on the other hand I can find everywhere

Have you tried your local pharmacy for distilled water?
IIRC, Toronto's municipal water is pretty good. You may not need either.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

The following article is quite helpful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water

The temporary hardness can be removed by boiling the water for say 5 minutes. Most of the calcium salts will precipitate out. This water is perfectly fine for mixing photo chemicals. Since the calcium has been removed there should be not precipitates when chemicals are added. The magnesium has no ill effects for photographic use. Allow the water to stand overnight. You can then either decant the clear portion for use or filter off any sediment. This is more convenient and a bit cheaper than buying de-ionized water. Any iron is also removed. It is particularly important that it be removed if you mix ascorbate developers like Xtol.

The water where I live is rather hard. So hard that I must add a pinch of baking soda to the water when I cook dried beans otherwise they will never get soft. So I can attest that boiling works very well.

 

[AgX]

There should not be a bittering agent in deionized water as such.

The only reason I can think of is the chance of deionized water to contain microorganisms and thus having got such repellant to keep it from being used as tablewater.

 

[MattKing]

I hadn't realized that your reference to a "bitting" agent meant "bittering" agent - thanks AgX.
Here, our grocery stores sell deionized water for drinking. About $3.00 for an 18 litre container, if you supply the container. There is definitely no bittering agent in it.

Even better, how about your local Loblaws: https://www.loblaws.ca/Food/Drinks/Water/c/LSL001006009000

 

[mklw1954]

Distilled water is $0.88 per gallon at Walmart, at least by me in NY State.

 

[Agulliver]

Proper distilled water costs a lot to produce - though this will depend on location and the associated local electricity/gas costs and costs of water supply.

Deionised is much easier to produce, and cheaper. You can even do this in your home.

I cannot imagine any reason to drink deionised water, indeed it is less thirst quenching than regular tap or mineral water. Do not drink distilled water, significant consumption can actually be bad for you.

I live in a hard water area and just use tap water. In my early film processing days I did find that my chemical bottles would get a bit of calcium carbonate deposit at the bottom if I didn't clean them thoroughly when I mixed every new batch....so I just clean thoroughly and nothing bad happens.

If you are concerned about contaminants you could buy a water filter jug, or boil and cool enough water for your chemical mixing needs.

 

[jho]

I always use water that has been through Reverse Osmosis and Deionized for photographic use. That insures that my chemical mix is as pure as possible and free of any metals, minerals or other impurities that my affect development. With development consistency in process leads to predictable results.

 

[mshchem]

I always use water that has been through Reverse Osmosis and Deionized for photographic use. That insures that my chemical mix is as pure as possible and free of any metals, minerals or other impurities that my affect development. With development consistency in process leads to predictable results.

I have a five stage RO system that by itself produces very pure water, the Zero Water pitcher filters that are sold in the US have a mixed bed deionizing resin with a final activated carbon block filter, run your RO through that and you have million ohm water

 

[ant!]

Did this deionized water with bittering agent in the end worked or did the bittering agent created problems?
For the non-Canadians, this is the stuff, and in more shops available then distilled water : https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/turbo-power-deionized-water-3-78-l-0293003p.html (destilled is actually cheaper, but not in stock in the shops close by: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ice-river-green-bottle-distilled-water-4-l-1534108p.html )

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I can easily buy 4L of distilled water from my local supermarket...Buck 99. Cheap.

 

[ant!]

I totally believe you, but not here in the supermarket, and only in some hardware stores. I guess you don't want to ship it over. As mentioned above by a fellow Canadian, here the deionized stuff with bitter agent is for strange reasons more available.

I see you are from BC, but the supermarket chains in the east aren't the same as one there...

Edit: actually, I see some pharmacies seem to have it. Not the ones I go usually, but not totally out of my way. I had looked in my usual shops before...

 

[Rick A]

Distilled water can still be bought for around a dollar a gallon where I live, I use it to mix stock solutions but use tap for everything else.

 

[alanrockwood]

Distilled water can easily be produced at home. We bought a water distillation kit from Amazon a couple of years ago for under a hundred dollars, and we produce several gallons of distilled water per week for various purposes around the house. It's far from free, but probably costs about half of what distilled costs at places like Walmart. At least that's what I seemed to recall from a calculation I did a while back, based on power usage and the cost of electrical power where I live.