water filters

1930artdeco · Dec 13, 2011

Hi All,

I am going to et up my very first darkroom and will be asking for advice in the coming months. So I will start off with what filters should I get? I was looking at getting two canister filters from sears. My water is a city water, coming through galvenized pipes.

Thanks,

Mike

M.A.Longmore · Dec 13, 2011

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Hi Mike,

I use the Omni Filter System, the dual cartridge type, which is a bit extreme.
I wouldn't drink Long Island water, and I wouldn't use it for processing either.

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Ron
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AgCl4ever · Dec 13, 2011

I have well water. I was getting pronounced deposits of who knows what in addition to lots of Ca on the film, and, I suspect, in the emulsion.

I have had good luck with Britta filtered water for mixing developer and fix, for "stop" water rinse, for the first rinse after fixing and the last rinse, with main washing with running tap water. I fill 2 liter bottles with filtered water so that I have plenty for processing in a 5 reel Paterson tank. I am getting virtually no crud or hard watermarks.

Leigh B · Dec 13, 2011

I use cascaded 5 micron and 2 micron filters on both the hot and colt water lines.

This seems to work well. Never had any particulate problems.

- Leigh

mgb74 · Dec 13, 2011

Most filter housings are not rated for hot water, but will work fine for cold water and mixed water. I get my filter housings from filtersfast.com and my filters from a home supply store when on sale. I use 5 micron particulate filters.

I suggest getting a housing that uses standard 10" filters. I'm not sure cascaded filters are necessary unless you have lots of "stuff" in your water either from the water supply or your pipes (if galvanized supply pipes, I would guess they're fairly old).

1930artdeco · Dec 14, 2011

Thanks for the advice folks, that is what I am looking for. It looks like the sears filters are 5 micron, and I would have to put in a different brand to get down to anything lower.

Mike

shutterclank · Dec 23, 2011

Mike, I would suggest using distilled water for mixing chemicals.

Most filter media cannot withstand high temperatures, so make sure if you do get some for the hot line that it is rated for it, just like what mgb74 said. otherwise you are putting the filter media into your chemicals.

oddly enough, i have heard of people recommending using hard water to rinse prints as it is better than soft water. (the book way beyond monochrome indicates this)

water filters

1930artdeco

M.A.Longmore

AgCl4ever

Leigh B

mgb74

1930artdeco

shutterclank

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