Distilled Water

[Chrissy]

For our needs as FP nuts, distilled water = deionized water = filtered water.

By "filtered" I mean the use of a pitcher containing a filter cartidge like that from the company 'Brita' purchasable anywhere. I use it everyday for green tea and see no problems with inks, either.

 

Mike

 

The typical Brita or similar filters do not remove dissolved solids. It is not the same as distilled or deionized water. Reverse osmosis water is close.

I disagree. Yes, Brita-type filters are mainly ion-exchangers... but... in any water like tap water there are usually no solids at all, just dissolved salts consisting of e.g. sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate etc. Even any salts having precipitated, like calcium carbonate will -- at least to some extent -- still be removed upon filtering due to adherence.

Of course, distilled water is best. In the lab we use "tridest" which is nothing else than deionized water filtered "to the equivalent of three times" using a Millipore filter system.

I would recommend that any FP fans use filtered water especially if they need that quality of water for teas and ironing. Buying big bottles of distilled water is too expensive and too heavy to carry.

 

Mike

Would passing the water through a Brita filter plus one of those coffee filter papers that are used in coffee filter machines be good enough?

[lapis]

Yes and no.

A. Yes in that anything being present as particles like dust or dirt or sand would be removed, but these things woudn't be"dissolved" anyway in the ink and would remain settled on the bottom of the bottle after a few days or weeks. One reason not to shake!

B. No in regard to nano particles which are already present in inks like Sailor's Kiwa Guro Nano Carbon or Herbin's 1670. These things won't hurt our FP anyway.

C. If you really want to go all the way, use a syringe and microfilters like those used for medical sciences, e.g. Sartorius' or Schleicher & Schuell's 0.2 µm discs.

Mike

[Scrawler]

I don't believe it. I just searched Boots The Chemist for distilled water and they do not have it. Much must have changed in England.

 

It looks like you need one of these if you have distilled water needs in England:

http://www.thedistilledwatercompany.com/shop/buy-home-water-distiller/on-demand-distiller/

Edited July 15, 2012 by Scrawler

[SamCapote]

I don't believe it. I just searched Boots The Chemist for distilled water and they do not have it. Much must have changed in England.

 

It looks like you need one of these if you have distilled water needs in England:

http://www.thedistil...mand-distiller/

 

Having no relationship to Boots The Chemist, I consulted a more familiar UK resource overflowing with distilled and/or deionized water in which to drown your sorrows.

[Scrawler]

I don't believe it. I just searched Boots The Chemist for distilled water and they do not have it. Much must have changed in England.

 

It looks like you need one of these if you have distilled water needs in England:

http://www.thedistil...mand-distiller/

 

Having no relationship to Boots The Chemist, I consulted a more familiar UK resource overflowing with distilled and/or deionized water in which to drown your sorrows.

I am shocked by the quoted prices. Especially as one would also have to pay shipping. Very surprised that Amazon sell whiskey.

[Bullwinkle]

guess I never knew how good I had it.. just checked the gallon jug we bought it was 79 cents from the local grocery

[JimB]

If you have or know anyone with a dehumidifier, that pumps out a few litres a day.

Somewhere like Halfords with sell battery top up water. (or are they all sealed nowadays?)

Dick D

EXCELLENT! Of course that is distilled water in the collector; but it never occurred to me to just plug in the bloody dehumidifier and use that water! Ingenious. I will do that from this point forward. Thank you for pointing out this obvious solution to an oblivious guy.

[bluemagister]

Our lab building has a giant steam evaporator/condenser on the roof. All the free DI water I can use! WOOOOO!

[wastelanded]

I don't get why it's so difficult in some places. In Canada, at the supermarket, 15 litres of distilled water is $3.29. In a cooler bottle.

[praxim]

EXCELLENT! Of course that is distilled water in the collector; but it never occurred to me to just plug in the bloody dehumidifier and use that water! Ingenious. I will do that from this point forward. Thank you for pointing out this obvious solution to an oblivious guy.

The manual on a dehumidifier we have, and other advice I have seen, advises against drinking the extracted water from dehumidifiers, owing to potential concentration of bacteria (moulds, algae) and metals from the componentry. These may not be great for your pen and ink either.

[the_gasman]

I use battery top-up water from Halfords. To overcome any potential surface tension effects, I add a small amount of photographic surfactant to each batch of de-ionised water. I can't remember the ratio because I only use it rarely, but it is of the order of 0.2 ml surfactant to 20 ml water. I suppose 1 ml: 100 ml might have been an easier expression! Now that I say that, it sounds too concentrated – I have seen people here describing the required quantity of surfactant as that which settles on a dipped pin head and then added to a converter-full of ink.

 

Having read this thread, I was amused to read on the label of Halfords' de-ionised water that they caution users to "keep away from small children". Rather than condemning "safety gone mad", I presume that the prescient marketing department at Halfords had anticipated its use for fountain pens.

 

Cheers,

David.

[amberleadavis]

David, you are too funny. Thank you.

[the_gasman]

David, you are too funny. Thank you.

 

Amber,

 

I use my sense of humour to keep reminding myself how long I have been married. My use of badinage at home immediately provokes my wife to retort, "24 LONG years!". It works every time; I shall never forget how long it is since my great good fortune began.

 

Cheers,

David.