Distilled water -- finding it? Making your own?

Andrew O'Neill · Oct 13, 2022

I've never had issue finding distilled water. Plenty of 4L bottles at my local Superstore. The only things I had trouble sourcing were Isopropyl alcohol, and Hyrogen Peroxide... but that seems to have worked itself out.

Doremus Scudder · Oct 13, 2022

Filtered tap water is good for diluting chemicals from stock to make working solutions and for all your film processing steps in 90% of cases, except the final rinse, which should be distilled water and a wetting agent if you have hard water. The only exception is if you have lots of iron or other metal contamination in your water.

Most municipal water supplies are reliable, but, with all the lead and other contamination in some city water systems these days (e.g., Flint), one should invest in an independent lab test if in doubt. If you've got lead or arsenic in your water, you have bigger problems than worrying about film developing...

Doremus

Autonerd · Oct 16, 2022

Thanks all -- I had to drive to Arizona for work last week. Stopped into a store and they had a massive supply of distilled water, so I bought four gallons. Good to know it's a regional thing.

I live in Los Angeles and I believe the water is harder than back east (though not as bad as AZ). I figure for the few cents a roll it costs, distilled water is a good investment.

Aaron

Adrian Bacon · Oct 17, 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

Target usually has it in stock in gallon sized bottles for $0.99 a bottle. My local grocer didn't use to carry it, but recently has been, but for way more than what Target charges. I've not recently been to a Walmart, but I'd be surprised if they didn't also have distilled water on the shelves with all their other bottled water.

GLS · Oct 21, 2022

BMbikerider said:
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.

I do this too. It works well. Just be sure to check the collecting tank every so often to make sure mould or algae are not growing in there.

eli griggs · Oct 21, 2022

For the chemist darkroom photographers here, if you have air processed water you use for distilled water, and, put several ounces of high proof alcohol, into a gallon of that water, will it kill any bacteria or fungus in the water and can you decant the water from the alcohol by letting the alcohol settle out into a bottom of the jug 'bubble' of alcohol, which is no syphoned off together with the 'cleaned' water?

koraks · Oct 22, 2022

eli griggs said:
decant the water from the alcohol by letting the alcohol settle out into a bottom of the jug 'bubble' of alcohol

Ethanol dissolves in water, that's one reason beer is such a great product Separating them requires distillation.
(Btw, IF ethanol wouldn't mix with water and would settle out, it would settle on top of the water, being the lower density material of the two).

Yes, adding sufficient ethanol to water will kill most life; depending on how much you add. I'm sure there are far more effective biocides you could use, though.

But personally I don't see the point; I take the distillate from our home dehumidifier all the time and just dump it into a jug. It keeps just fine as it's virtually antiseptic to begin with.

eli griggs · Oct 22, 2022

As a woodcut artist, I've seen how a tiny bit of mold, fungus can destroy an expensive paper print over a long period, even when frozen for a year or more.

The surface emulsion of a film or print is, IMO, too precious to chance a misadventure on, as spores, including yeast abound in the very air around us.

koraks · Oct 22, 2022

So how are you going to keep the print clean from any spores, yeasts, etc. after you rinse it in distilled water? Unless you keep your prints in an antiseptic environment, you can safely assume they're riddled with all kinds of germs (for lack of a better word) that'll eat up the paper and gelatin emulsion when they get the chance. So what we generally do is ensure they don't have a chance and ensure proper storage conditions.

Worrying about the possible spores etc. in home-distilled water from a dehumidifier, airco unit etc. really isn't very productive. as you said, the stuff is everywhere. You ensure your water is ultra-clean, and all you've achieved is that the next germ lands on it as soon as you hang/lay the print to dry. Then what?

If you must, just treat the print with a biocide by means of a final wash.

Sirius Glass · Oct 22, 2022

koraks said:
So how are you going to keep the print clean from any spores, yeasts, etc. after you rinse it in distilled water? Unless you keep your prints in an antiseptic environment, you can safely assume they're riddled with all kinds of germs (for lack of a better word) that'll eat up the paper and gelatin emulsion when they get the chance. So what we generally do is ensure they don't have a chance and ensure proper storage conditions.

Worrying about the possible spores etc. in home-distilled water from a dehumidifier, airco unit etc. really isn't very productive. as you said, the stuff is everywhere. You ensure your water is ultra-clean, and all you've achieved is that the next germ lands on it as soon as you hang/lay the print to dry. Then what?

If you must, just treat the print with a biocide by means of a final wash.

Therefore be a big spender and pay 99¢ for a gallon of distilled water. You are spending money on cameras, lenses, filters, light meters, spot meters, darkroom equipment, film, paper, chemicals and you cannot afford to spend 99¢ more for a bottle of distilled water?

eli griggs · Oct 22, 2022

I do pay for and use distilled water for my entire film and paper line, which I've already mentioned in this thread but I, and perhaps, others, have doubts about the critters that may haunt dehumidifiers and AC units.

By the way, some of these things can much better penetrate or attach to a wet emulsion than a thoroughly dryer film or paper print.

I expect a selenium bath or toning will kill nasties, the same way as other heavy metals like copper or silver do, even if there is no silver in those prints or negatives, where fixer has removed excess silver materials.

Cheers

Mike Lopez · Oct 22, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Therefore be a big spender and pay 99¢ for a gallon of distilled water. You are spending money on cameras, lenses, filters, light meters, spot meters, darkroom equipment, film, paper, chemicals and you cannot afford to spend 99¢ more for a bottle of distilled water?

Koraks isn’t the resident cheapskate in this thread.

Petrochemist · Oct 23, 2022

koraks said:
Ethanol dissolves in water, that's one reason beer is such a great product Separating them requires distillation.
(Btw, IF ethanol wouldn't mix with water and would settle out, it would settle on top of the water, being the lower density material of the two).

Yes, adding sufficient ethanol to water will kill most life; depending on how much you add. I'm sure there are far more effective biocides you could use, though.

But personally I don't see the point; I take the distillate from our home dehumidifier all the time and just dump it into a jug. It keeps just fine as it's virtually antiseptic to begin with.

Yes water & ethanol are totally miscible, but you can't actually separate alcohol & water by distillation, you can concentrate the alcohol quite considerably but removing the last 5% of water requires other techniques.

Many yeasts can live in over 10% solutions (thank heavens, or many wines wouldn't be the same)
For smoke machines a single drop of bleach works well as a biocide but it might affect the processing chemicals...

koraks · Oct 23, 2022

Mike Lopez said:
Koraks isn’t the resident cheapskate in this thread.

Maybe not in this thread
A friend of mine calls me a "bottom feeder". I'll be the first to consider any conceivable means to save a penny!

eli griggs said:
By the way, some of these things can much better penetrate or attach to a wet emulsion than a thoroughly dryer film or paper print.

That's a valid concern, for sure.

eli griggs said:
I expect a selenium bath or toning will kill nasties, the same way as other heavy metals like copper or silver do

You'd still be left in the end with a wet print that's guaranteed to have any number of germs and spores land on it.

Look, I see your point in trying to do a very clean job, but your logic just doesn't add up for me. If it works for you, alright, but I don't think the odd germ or spore in your aircon water is a cause for legitimate concern. If it is, then you'd also have to actually go to the length of building a cleanroom (a proper one!) for your printmaking. It would be ridiculous!

Distilled water -- finding it? Making your own?

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