Distilled Water Question.

[Photo Engineer]

The pH is in the normal range, but I'm not sure of calcium levels.

Kodak developers contain enough sequestrant for average hard water, that is all I can add.

Sorry.

PE

 

[Ian Grant]

Percepts makes point about distilled water, and Ron (PE) makes similar comments.

The only distilled water you can truly trust is de-ionised prior to distillation.

However in practice in this day and age de-ionised water is all you need for photographic purposes.

Ian

 

[percepts]

Would it be worthwhile making distilled water at home for mixing photo-chemicals?

http://www.waterdistiller.couk.com/

and finally, the web literature for the unit you have given a link to is a pack of lies about distilled water. And the unit costs 3 times that of a deioniser plus running costs which are high. Yes you need to replace the resin blocks in a deioniser but if your water quality is already quite good, then running costs will be low. And since you are in Plymouth, then I guess your water comes from Burrator or at least from Dartmoor which means it will be soft (acidic) and of good quality just like mine. ( I live in Kingsbridge).

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

and finally, the web literature for the unit you have given a link to is a pack of lies about distilled water. And the unit costs 3 times that of a deioniser plus running costs which are high. Yes you need to replace the resin blocks in a deioniser but if your water quality is already quite good, then running costs will be low. And since you are in Plymouth, then I guess your water comes from Burrator or at least from Dartmoor which means it will be soft (acidic) and of good quality just like mine. ( I live in Kingsbridge).

Glad to know that. Anyway, what does a deioniser look like?
Cheers.

 

[percepts]

like this: http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?sku=0150320

 

[dancqu]

The only distilled water you can truly
trust is de-ionised prior to distillation.

However in practice in this day and
age de-ionised water is all you need for
photographic purposes. Ian

De-ionization deals only with contaminants of an
ionic nature and yields ionic free water. The usual water
softening by ion-exchange yields soft water with lots of ions.
Reverse Osmosis types can reduce considerably both ionic and
non-ionic contaminants. Distilled water is essentially de-ionised
de-mineralized water.

As for ultra-pure, fractional distillation, and ???. As for myself
and very hard water a small capacity RO unit may do. They
cost little but do need to be plumbed in. Dan

 

[bgilwee]

For years I had bottled distilled water delivered and finally got sick of the cost, went to hardware and got two filter cans and put them inline with the smallest micron filters I could find, change them once a year and I've never looked back and couldn't be happier. Use PFlow as per directions, hang my negs from a wire I have running the length of my darkroom, and never need to clean them.

 

[Photo Engineer]

To get water that is free of ions and organics, a mixed bed resin is often used. It combines and anionic resin, a cationic resin and an organic adsorbant such as charcoal or one of the more powerful resins for organics.

Many household fiters will do both.

PE