Water used to mix C-41 processing solutions

Tom Kershaw · Aug 15, 2009

If my developing results are clean and consistent (with the proviso that I do not own a colour densitometer), is there a good reason to use distilled or de-ionized water in the developer or bleach?

Tom

Ian Grant · Aug 15, 2009

None at all they aren't designed for distilled/de-ionised water as most labs don't have access to it.

Ian

bob100684 · Aug 15, 2009

Ian Grant said:
None at all they aren't designed for distilled/de-ionised water as most labs don't have access to it.

Ian

With the newer fuji labs, we were supplied with, and filtered all of our water through something....the tech that came to help do the install called it a deionizer, its labled FSC10, and it filters water through resin beads.

Photo Engineer · Aug 15, 2009

Bob;

Your unit is producing deionized purified and filtered water. But, Ian is correct, C-41 and E-6 chemistry both are designed to work with city water directly from the tap!

PE

Bruce Watson · Aug 16, 2009

Photo Engineer said:
Bob;

Your unit is producing deionized purified and filtered water. But, Ian is correct, C-41 and E-6 chemistry both are designed to work with city water directly from the tap!

PE

But will the chemistry work better with distilled water? Will it work worse? About the same?

How will the dissolved minerals and gasses and general crud effect my outcome? That is, will my film be cleaner when I'm done if I use distilled water through out?

Photo Engineer · Aug 16, 2009

I would only be concerned about suspended particles and dust in the solutions. Otherwise, the water will have no effect. I have used filtered tap water for nearly 50 years with no problem.

PE

Ian Grant · Aug 16, 2009

Most good professional labs will have a filtration system just to remove solids etc. That should be sufficient with treated water from a city/town water supply which should be within certain parameters anyway.

There may be cases for de-ionisation where the supply is particularly poor. Most photochemistry colour or B&W has sequestering agents to cope with hard water anyway.

Most Minilabs are waterless anyway these days and the chemistry needs no mixing.

Ian

bob100684 · Aug 16, 2009

Photo Engineer said:
I would only be concerned about suspended particles and dust in the solutions. Otherwise, the water will have no effect. I have used filtered tap water for nearly 50 years with no problem.

PE

After what PE said, I'm pretty sure the fuji system was used so that any water in any frontier is the same as the next, no troubleshooting with them for things like too much iron or another metal or mineral in the water.

Photo Engineer · Aug 16, 2009

Yes, and they make a pretty penny on the water system.

JK. I have no idea what their connection to the water filtration company is nor whether Kodak does the same!

PE

Water used to mix C-41 processing solutions

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