Developing without clean water

Erik Petersson · Aug 29, 2006

I am going to try to develop black and white film myself. Have not tried before.

My concern is that where I live, in a developing country, the water supply is very bad. Often the tap water is muddy. But in all developers manuals I read it is said that the film should be rinsed under the tap. I would be grateful for any suggestions how to do. There is bottled water and water filters. But how do I rinse?

Obviously, I should ask the locals, and I will. But I am on vacation home in Stockholm and would like to bring with me adequate equipment when I fly back to where I work, in a couple of days.

thanks in ahead,
Erik

david b · Aug 29, 2006

Is there any chance of getting bottled water. If there is mud in the water, I think that is the least of your worries.

I simply would not use the tap water.

JBrunner · Aug 29, 2006

In developed countries we use running water as a matter of convenience for washing negatives. It sounds like the tap water you will have on hand will manage to deposit all manner of crud in the soft emulsion of your just developed film.

You don't have to use running water, as used in cheap clean water areas. You can use a diffusion washing method, that takes more effort, but uses less water. That way you can use filtered water. You simply soak the negative in water to let the fixer diffuse out, agitating occasionally, dump, refill and soak again, and continue this process for ten cycles, equaling the time you would normally rinse them with running water.

When I have tried filtering muddy water, the sediment usually clogs the filter pretty fast. I have found that by allowing the sediment to settle for a day or so in a five gallon bucket, and pouring the clean water to another bucket, taking care to leave the crud in the bottom, and filtering from the second bucket to be much more successful.

Ian Grant · Aug 29, 2006

Why not take a water filter, the type used to remove calcium etc from tap water, they are extremely cheap and very erfficient. You can let any sediment settle then filter the water ensurıng good water for washıng your negatıves.

Ian

Bob F. · Aug 29, 2006

Ilford have a tried and tested method that uses the minimum of clean water, assuming you are using some kind of film tank that you can invert. Use clean water in the following method - either bottled or filtered.

After fixing, fill the spiral tank with water at the same temperature, +/ 5ºC (9ºF), as the processing solutions and invert it five times. Drain the water away and refill.

Invert the tank ten times. Once more drain the water away and refill.

Finally, invert the tank twenty times and drain the water away

Cheers, Bob.

Erik Petersson · Aug 29, 2006

Thanks for all the suggestions. The Ilford method appears to be the most convienient, so I will try that for a start.

markbb · Aug 29, 2006

Eric,
I have very 'hard' water here in London. Although I use tap water to mix up solutions, I used 'de-ionised' water for my final rinse, using Jobo expert tanks. This has the added benefit of leaving the tanks clean ready for use the next time (after drying). I get the water from a car accessory shop (it's used to top-up batteries) - maybe you could find one in Dushanbe?

Jim Jones · Aug 29, 2006

I use JBrunner's system of filtering dirty water with slight changes. After filtering once with an in-line filter, I let it stand and then siphon rather than pour it into another container. A coffee filter provides inexpensive and convenient second stage filtering. I still prefer distilled water for mixing chemicals and the final rinse. A still for this can be improvised in most parts of the World.

jim appleyard · Aug 29, 2006

Perhaps something like a Brita filter, if it's available. You may clog the filters quickly, tho'.

While hiking Vermont's Long Trail, I met a couple who were filtering their drinking water by filling a bag and letting it run into their water bottles. They said it would also remove Giardia. You would have to mail-order something like this from Campmor, REI, etc.

I'm not really sure if there is an easy sloution to your problem, I'm just throwing out ideas.

removed account4 · Aug 29, 2006

hi erik

maybe you can find something like this have it shipped to you.

http://www.doulton.ca/portable.html

it is a diatomaceous earth filter and will pretty much filter everything out ...
a lot of campers/hikers use things like this when drinking water comes from a stream ( maybe this is what they were using jim?)

if need to make sure your water's ph is neutral, just let it sit overnight, it will neutralize by itself.

good luck
john

Developing without clean water

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