Hard or Soft water???

I read somewhere that hard water was better for developing and washing prints than water that is run through a water softener? Is this true, and what difference does it make? Does it effect the archivalness of the print/negs?
the reason I ask is i'm going to move my darkroom to a more perminate spot in the basement and i'm installing a sink, so i can tap in before the water softener if i needed too.

thanks in advance.

Ryan

One problem with hard water is it can/will leave spots on the film when it drys. I use distilled water to mix my photo-flo and that seems to help. I don't know how hard water will affect the chemicals because of the pH of the water. Here is Albuquerque, my water has a pH of 8. I hesitate to use it as a water stop because of it. Otherwise I've not had trouble with my water.

Brian

panchromatic said:

I read somewhere that hard water was better for
developing and washing prints than ...

Click to expand...

I've very hard water. The minerals in hard water have the
potential of combining with your chemistry with resultant insoluable compound formation and that in the emulsion. We are talking
minute amounts but that may be all it takes.

Also the presence of several of the elements contribute to the
catalytic degeneration of the chemistry; a much under stressed
point in my mind.

Sodium takes the place of much of the other minerals when
using a water softener. Sodium is safe. I use distilled
for ALL processing. Dan

Ryan, in your place I'd install a water softener if I could. I've been working in a darkroom with one installed for the last few years and never since has a problem with my negatives development occured. I've tested the water hardness and PH and it constatly comes out good (soft,
ph 7). Without the softener the water in my area is medium hard to hard and I woudn't trust it to make a good dev brew or my favourite sencha green tea.

Thank you everyone for the replies!