Distilled water -- finding it? Making your own?

Autonerd · Oct 9, 2022

I've had a hell of a time finding distilled water (for film developing) lately -- stores simply aren't stocking it, and at once place I bought the last three bottles they had. Not sure if the shortage is a real thing or how long it will last.

I've read a few articles on DIY distilled water using a pot, bowl and ice. Is anyone here distilling their own water? Is it a reasonable solution?

Aaron

BMbikerider · Oct 9, 2022

I have not personally used it, but a friend of mine drains and stores the water from his air-conditioning/de-humidifier unit and has done for several years for developing films without any problems.

jeffreyg · Oct 9, 2022

I always find it at the supermarket here in Miami but you might try one of the companies that sell bottled water for water coolers. I would be careful to collect water from an ac drain that drains outside because algae can form in the pipe

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AgX · Oct 9, 2022

Autonerd said:
I've had a hell of a time finding distilled water (for film developing) lately -- stores simply aren't stocking it.

Have you been at pharmacies too?

Also, instead of unobtainable destilled water you can use demineralized water.

Paul Howell · Oct 9, 2022

Here in Phoenix we seem to have a good supply on hand, just bought a bottle, as mentioned by AGX, demineralized water can used as well. I use distilled for photoflow and when using Rodinal otherwise I use tap water to mix chemistry.

Pieter12 · Oct 9, 2022

Ironically, Whole Foods here usually carries distilled water and at a better price than other markets.

faberryman · Oct 9, 2022

No problem finding distilled water here. It’s $0.99 for a gallon jug at the grocery store. There is actually a whole aisle devoted bottled water, most of which has a fancy name and a fancy price and comes from the tap somewhere in Indiana. The plastic bottles are then thrown in the ocean at night when no one is looking. If you included the cost of cleanup in the price of a bottle of water no one could afford it.

Steve Goldstein · Oct 9, 2022

I've used a Waterwise 4000 countertop distiller for many years. It takes around 5 hours to do a gallon. Their web site (waterwise.com) shows this model currently on sale for $369 vs. a normal listed price of $449. It was and is worth it to me, even considering the additional running cost, since I never have to worry about where to get my next gallon of DW.

Light Capture · Oct 9, 2022

I used distilled water exclusively for 15-20 years and stopped using it few years ago after reading Kodak guide (can't find the guide at the moment though).
Always thought it would be important for consistency. I believe 5 micron filter was recommended in it. Didn't notice any difference.

I did make a filter panel with hose connecting it to laundry faucet with recommended particulate filter. Seemed to eliminate any crud that sticks on negatives as a side effect.
Didn't do any rigorous testing but consistency seems at least the same if not much better.
It's certainly more convenient than keeping pile of distilled water jugs.

DREW WILEY · Oct 9, 2022

Distilled water is a necessity for quite a few things - everything from car batteries to clothing steam irons to sleep machines. Nearly all the supermarkets around here in the Bay Area carry it, though certain ones are temporarily out from time to time. Ask. I can't believe the LA area is any different. One of the main brands even comes from LA. Typically under a dollar a gallon. Sure, you can buy a small distiller of your own, but they're energy intensive.

Since our water quality is quite good here, I only use distilled for final film rinsing.

fgorga · Oct 9, 2022

Autonerd said:
I've had a hell of a time finding distilled water (for film developing) lately -- stores simply aren't stocking it, and at once place I bought the last three bottles they had. Not sure if the shortage is a real thing or how long it will last.

I've read a few articles on DIY distilled water using a pot, bowl and ice. Is anyone here distilling their own water? Is it a reasonable solution?

Aaron

I would not bother trying to jury rig a still... distillation is a very wasteful process (in terms of energy and water usage) and a jury rigged system is likely to be very inefficient on top of that.

Rather than distillation, I would consider using a reverse osmosis (RO) system. For the small quantities of water needed for film processing, an inexpensive home RO system should work fine. Just be sure to follow the maintenance instructions rigorously as not doing so will result in a deterioration of water quality over time.

I took a quick look at Home Depot and they sell RO systems starting at about $200. I don't have one so I can't recommend a specific system.

(I don't have an RO system because they only thing I use 'fancy' water for is making stock solutions of various alt process sensitizers... thus my usage is very low.)

RO water is (for the vast majority of uses) an acceptable replacement for distilled water. I'm a retired chemistry professor and we switched all of our labs to from distilled to RO decades ago.

Additionally, if you find 'purified' water being sold as a replacement for distilled water, it is likely purified by RO and thus an acceptable substitute.

--- Frank

ic-racer · Oct 9, 2022

Very few indications for distilled water these days. No wonder people have difficulty finding it. I stopped using it for developer over 20 years ago and stopped using it for PhotoFlo about ten years ago. I use my own filtered water instead.

AGM car batteries are maintenance free these days.
Even modern steam irons are designed with lime removal functions so they can use tap water:

RalphLambrecht · Oct 9, 2022

Autonerd said:
I've had a hell of a time finding distilled water (for film developing) lately -- stores simply aren't stocking it, and at once place I bought the last three bottles they had. Not sure if the shortage is a real thing or how long it will last.

I've read a few articles on DIY distilled water using a pot, bowl and ice. Is anyone here distilling their own water? Is it a reasonable solution?

Aaron

I never saw a need for distilled water; even for development, city water is sufficient.

cliveh · Oct 9, 2022

What's wrong with tap water?

DREW WILEY · Oct 9, 2022

Tap water has dissolved minerals and other contaminants which will dry onto the film. In many places, the water is so bad that it can't even be used for reliable film development. I'm in the most populous, most affluent State in the US, and there are all kinds of places the tap water is hardly drinkable, not due to untreated bacterial content, but due to so high a mineral content or horrible amount of added chlorine. Not everything like that can easily be filtered out. And some of our largest cities are in the arid West, desert per se, where the water is very "hard" with respect to dissolved minerals. Many others rely on private wells.

I'm personally in an area where we get high quality snowmelt water piped in; but most cities don't have that advantage. Add fracking and long-term pesticide groundwater contamination, and tap water becomes downright toxic. That's already the case with huge swatches of agricultural bottomland in this State.

Just wait till your drought over there itself kicks in a few more years, Ralph, and all the glaciers in the Alps disappear too. Then it will be Clorox and borax coming out of your own water taps.

Sirius Glass · Oct 9, 2022

cliveh said:
What's wrong with tap water?

Ditto. I have been using tap water in the Los Angeles area for developing black & white and color film and developing prints for over a decade without ever having a problem.

AgX · Oct 9, 2022

ic-racer said:
Even modern steam irons are designed with lime removal functions so they can use tap water:

..... "Otherwise use a mixture of tap and drinking water."

Over here tap water IS drinking water...

Paul Howell · Oct 9, 2022

Depends on where you live and how hard your water is. Scottsdale just completed a new tap water treatment plant for my area, which has really helped with dissolved salts. Prior I had to use distilled water for many different developers, and with photoflo, at this point I think I could get away with tap water. When I lived in Southern Italy, my tap water was also sea water, I had to use bottled water to mix up all my chemistry.

BobD · Oct 9, 2022

There are countertop distillers that sell for well under $100.

kiss-o-matic · Oct 9, 2022

Supply chain issue - I couldn't get any in San Francisco. :-/ Definitely curious where to look in the bay area.

mshchem · Oct 9, 2022

I would check the hardness before I fooled around trying to distill water. I use RO, water here is extremely hard.

DREW WILEY · Oct 9, 2022

Here bottled drinking water is often just city tap water with certain minerals removed, and other minerals added to improve taste. Other brands use actual springs closer to snowmelt, but none of it is even remotely as pure as true high-altitude direct snowmelt. Naturally carbonated mineral water is obviously different. Then there's reverse osmosis purified water, but that's not true distilled. Certain of our coastal cities had seawater desalination plants built, but never put them into operation due to the huge energy factor involved.

I don't know why SF would have a paucity of distilled water, except for perhaps the fact truckers hate driving around that city; me too. On this side of the Bay every ordinary Safeway or other grocery chain carries distilled, and especially the "organic" food stores. But since distilling does use a lot of energy, the handful of bottling sources for it might time their production to just huge opportune runs at a time - feast or famine approach. Right across the Bridge, Berkeley Bowl is a good place to look; they never seem to be out of it, one of those "organic" produce and deli places. Worth the drive for the free cheese samples alone, and just across the big parking lot from Looking Glass Photo.

gone · Oct 9, 2022

Making your own distilled water is something everyone can do. I lived in hurricane areas most of my life, people figure out how to do things for themselves. It's basically a 4th grade science lab sort of deal. Whenever there's a shortage on the shelves these days it's usually a supply/delivery issue. Going to different stores usually yields good results. Even Dollar Tree stores.

But like Ralph, I seldom have a need for it. We have tons of minerals in our Az water, so a distilled water spritz at the end does the trick.

Daniela · Oct 9, 2022

I second AgX's suggestion of using demineralized water instead. I've also had a hard time finding distilled water, so I've settled for demineralized, which is sold in any supermarket here. I use it to mix chemistry and for the final rinse in films. In my case, I had a horrible problem with tap water stains on my negatives, and this switch has solved the problem.

Sal Santamaura · Oct 9, 2022

Autonerd said:
I've had a hell of a time finding distilled water (for film developing) lately -- stores simply aren't stocking it, and at once place I bought the last three bottles they had. Not sure if the shortage is a real thing or how long it will last...

A bit south of you, I've had no problem finding actual distilled water (Arrowhead, labeled "prepared by steam distillation"). The change from pre-pandemic times is that it used to retail for $1.19 per gallon and now it's $2.99 per gallon.

cliveh said:
What's wrong with tap water?

Our municipal delivered water contains 600 ppm TDS. I describe it the same way I characterize the so-called air around here, namely, "crunchy" most of the time. I use tap water only for washing. Every other step in all processes, including the Photo-Flo after film washing, is mixed with distilled.

Distilled water -- finding it? Making your own?

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