Water

[AnalogueNewbie]

Having struggled with what I perceived to be a dust problem with my negatives for a while, I analysed possible sources of the problem for a while. Living in a hard water area I thought limescale might be a problem, and having developed some negatives with de-ionised water I think I have identified this as the problem. My question is, are there any water filtration options other than buying de-ionised water that will yeild the same result.

Thanks

 

[Murray Kelly]

The quick answer is 'NO'. De-ionised is cheap enough but you can use it cannily if you confine it to the developer and pre-wash, as the other chems will be long after this stage and temp will be more important than hardness or softness of the fixer/wash water.
Murray.

 

[maciekz]

The quick ansewer was wrong ;-). The real answer is reverse osmosis. Look in the aquarium supply shops.

 

[RobertV]

Yes, R.O. or a simple Brita (TM) filter system. When this filtered water is also cooked the oxygen will be also almost out. Pretty good photo water......

 

[kevs]

Hi AnalogueNewbie,

I live in a hard water area and have no problem with limescale when developing film. I use water straight from the mains.

Do you use a wetting agent to rinse the film before drying? If not, add a few drops (literally - if you use too much you'll have greasy spots all over your negs!) in your final rinse water, agitate, drain and hang up the film. Don't use detergent.

If this isn't the problem, perhaps you could scan and show us what you mean.

Cheers,
kevs.

 

[Dan Henderson]

I suggest you try washing as usual in tap water, then give your negatives a final rinse in distilled water with Photo Flo and isopropyl alcohol. I learned from Les McLean to add 1 drop of Photo Flo and 1 capful of alcohol to the distilled water just before the final rinse. I keep this solution in a Tupperware-type container and reuse it a number of times before discarding and making up new. In the past I had an annoying problem with dusty negatives, so I also began keeping my darkroom very clean, keeping the door closed at all times, and keeping a small air filter/ionizer running. I almost never, if ever, have to spot my prints after employing these two strategies.

 

[AnalogueNewbie]

Hi,

Living in a hard water area with fairly elderly pipes has, it would appear, led to calcium particulates appearing in the water. I photoflo all of my negs and still had this problem. The problem disappearing when I used de-ionised water with everything else being the same, seemed to be too much of a coincidence not to be important.

I think i will invest in one of these water filtration jugs with a very fine filter and see if it compares to de-ionised water. If not, I guess I just find a bulk water supplier