Distilled water, how many of you distill your own?

[barryjyoung]

Hello Friends:

I recently completed construction of my fifth darkroom after moving everything we own from Near Seattle to South of St. Louis. Here we have well water which is pretty heavy in Magnesium, Calcium and has trace amounts of other elements as well. "No problem" sez I, "I will JUST use distilled water". Out here in the country literally 35 miles from the nearest small town, that turned out to be more difficult than it seemed. It is an expensive proposition to purchase and transport large amounts of distilled water. So, I bought a still to distill my own water for photo chemicals. It is an 8 gallon electrically heated one which will almost certainly need a much better condenser to be made from scratch by me. It was surprisingly cheap compared to the cost of hauling water from town if I could find enough there. How many of you photographers use distilled water and how many of you distill your own?

Barry

[paulbarden]

Barry, I live on a well and we have a lot of iron in the water, so we set up a Reverse Osmosis unit years ago to tame our water supply. for household use, the water gets Calcium put back into it, but I have a bypass in the system that lets me take out RO water which has only 5 ppm TDS. I've never had reason to buy distilled water for film/darkroom chemistry when 5 ppm RO water is more than satisfactory. These days you can buy an inexpensive RO unit to install under the sink.

[ethics_gradient]

Curious what you need so much distilled water for? I use it for mixing chemistry as a "just in case" to maintain consistency, and for a quick final rinse of prints or plates (I do a lot more wet plate collodion than film), but that's about it. A couple gallons lasts me quite a while.

Water with minerals in it actually works better as rinse/wash than distilled, the extra ions pull fix molecules off the film/paper better. In WW2, USN photogs used seawater when underway.

In many jurisdictions, owning a still that large isn't legal. Authorities are generally not kicking in doors looking for them (even from those who do spirits/moonshine), unless you start trying to sell it though.

edit: nm, saw you're in Missouri. You and New Zealand are about the only places that don't care!

[tundra]

I have whole house water filtration installed but even that showed significant variability in developer action over the course of a year, at least when the home was first new. So, I use distilled to make stock solutions and working developer, fix, and toner. Everything else is tap water.

[domaz]

I saw someone selling a distilling unit at an estate sale once (an older Aqua-Clean unit I think). It was pretty tempting but it was covered in scale I started to picture all the work it would take to keep it clean and running and decided it wasn't worth it...

[Ron McElroy]

Before retirement I would get distilled water from our distiller at work. We have to have lots there for the printing presses. Now I just buy it for mixing chemicals as our city water is very good.

[xkaes]

I have a Corning Mega-Pure MP-1. It does a great job, but I only use distilled water for select purposes -- for example, photo developers & other non-photographic uses. All other darkroom water is simply filtered. For a normal darkroom, small amounts of distilled water for developers, and filtered water for everything else should be adequate.

[darr]

I had a complete house reverse osmosis (RO) system in my previous home. It was a necessity due to the well water's high sulfur content. If the washing machine and dishwasher were used simultaneously, the house would sometimes have an unpleasant odor. :( In my current home, which has city water, I've been using a Berkey system for drinking water and mixing photo chemicals for 10+ years, and it's been working well with changing filters every other year. I wish you the best of luck in addressing your water supply issue.

[Vaughn]

How about the water created by a dehumidifier? I am thinking of getting one as winters can be very damp here. Distilled water would only be a bonus. Tap water here is fine for just about everything. I use distilled water for just a few mixed chemicals related to platinum printing and carbon printing (only to make the sensitizers).

I know that some folks like a final rinse in distilled water -- esp. for film.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

I have a 5 gallon still I found at a second-hand store years ago that works perfectly. I use distilled water for mixing developer, sensitizer, and toner. I use tap water for everything else. The dehumidifier water we get tends to get a bit dirty (the bucket is hard to clean) so I don't use it for photography. I just dump into our clothswasher for the first rinse.

[diversey]

I use dH2O for mixing chemicals and last 2 washes. It was 88 cents a gallon before pandemic and now is $1.20 a gallon in Walmart. There are a lot of minerals in our tap water.

[tundra]

I have a Corning Mega-Pure MP-1. It does a great job, but I only use distilled water for select purposes -- for example, photo developers & other non-photographic uses. All other darkroom water is simply filtered. For a normal darkroom, small amounts of distilled water for developers, and filtered water for everything else should be adequate.

I wonder what the cost operating that is compared to buying distilled water at $1.05/gal? I've looked into distilling my own water but the $3000 initial cost plus electricity to operate it, kind of put me off the idea.

[revdoc]

Vaughn is right. You just need a dehumidifier.

I use one for drying laundry here in Sydney. I collect the condensate for clearing VDB prints, amongst other things. It produces more than I need; depending on ambient humidity, up to 4 litres in a day.

[rfesk]

I have had a distiller for over 25 years. Does a gallon at a time. For photographic needs-
distilled water is used for all but the wash water.

Have been using a Berkey filter system for drinking/cooking etc. water needs for several years.

[grey-lensman]

I use a 6L countertop distiller. It's dirt simple to use, and doesn't need water flow for the condenser. That said, I don't go through much for photography, mostly just for mixing chemistry.
244312

[peter k.]

Yep we also just use distilled water for chemical mixing, and ours is very similar to one grey-lensman has.

Very handy and easy to use, but because of our hard water, it needs to be cleaned after each use.
So we distill about 5 gallons, doing a gallon a day, with a quick clean, and then at the end of the batch of five, do a thorough clean, using vinegar to get all calcium off and out.

[Willie]

Dehumidifier are not that great in dry/desert climates and many places during winter cold/extreme cold.

Driving to and back from WalMart costs in fuel. Rural locations can add a fair amount to the cost as well as a few hours driving time.

Tap water in some areas isn't that good and filtration is needed - but not always results in water clean enough for chemistry and rinsing negatives. Then you have the 'flushing the system' problems with a lot of particulate matter in the pipes. Not to mention brown water at various times, water which no filter removes.

Home and small unit distillers can be worth it for many. Good friend has three, one a 5 gallon and two 1 gallon size. None bought new as he picked them up at Rummage sales for nearly nothing. Same way he has picked up a number of pyrex glass trays for his sheet film development.

We go to a lot of trouble to get our images. Why chance problems with sub standard water for processing?

[Alan Townsend]

Barry, I know you already have the distiller, so that has to work okay, be careful to not boil away all the water to make it easier to keep clean.
I installed a new water softener and then an RO filter in our home we bought two years ago using city well water, fairly high calcium content. As other have said, the reverse osmosis filter will give water quality almost as good as distilled but at much lower cost. For most, a water softener is also needed to condition the water for the RO filter as well as to soften water for laundry and bathing. The RO filter membrane will have a much shorter lifetime with calcium in the water. The water softener exchanges calcium ions for sodium chloride, which is easily handled by the RO filter.

I purchased the RO filter specifically for my photography hobby and also for drinking water. If in doubt on water quality, have it tested. Certain photographic processes will require fewer of certain contaminants, like calcium. This is particularly true for blue prints, vandykes, kalitypes, and other iron based printing processes.

Alan Townsend

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Paul, I did not know that was an option. I will look into RO. Why would that be better than distilling?


Barry, I live on a well and we have a lot of iron in the water, so we set up a Reverse Osmosis unit years ago to tame our water supply. for household use, the water gets Calcium put back into it, but I have a bypass in the system that lets me take out RO water which has only 5 ppm TDS. I've never had reason to buy distilled water for film/darkroom chemistry when 5 ppm RO water is more than satisfactory. These days you can buy an inexpensive RO unit to install under the sink.

[barryjyoung]

Missouri is very interested in having free citizens. It is one of the major reasons why I moved here a couple years back.


Curious what you need so much distilled water for? I use it for mixing chemistry as a "just in case" to maintain consistency, and for a quick final rinse of prints or plates (I do a lot more wet plate collodion than film), but that's about it. A couple gallons lasts me quite a while.

Water with minerals in it actually works better as rinse/wash than distilled, the extra ions pull fix molecules off the film/paper better. In WW2, USN photogs used seawater when underway.

In many jurisdictions, owning a still that large isn't legal. Authorities are generally not kicking in doors looking for them (even from those who do spirits/moonshine), unless you start trying to sell it though.

edit: nm, saw you're in Missouri. You and New Zealand are about the only places that don't care!

[barryjyoung]

Thanks Tundra, that is exactly why I wanted to use distilled, and making my own rather than buying it is pretty much how I try to live if possible.


I have whole house water filtration installed but even that showed significant variability in developer action over the course of a year, at least when the home was first new. So, I use distilled to make stock solutions and working developer, fix, and toner. Everything else is tap water.

[barryjyoung]

I am pursuing some intense Zone work and need extremely consistent chemistry. I use a Big Berkety for our drinking water also. Thanks for your response.

I had a complete house reverse osmosis (RO) system in my previous home. It was a necessity due to the well water's high sulfur content. If the washing machine and dishwasher were used simultaneously, the house would sometimes have an unpleasant odor. :( In my current home, which has city water, I've been using a Berkey system for drinking water and mixing photo chemicals for 10+ years, and it's been working well with changing filters every other year. I wish you the best of luck in addressing your water supply issue.

[barryjyoung]

Hi Vaughn:

I do not know about the water that comes from a dehumidifier. I know it says don't drink it on either of my dehumidifiers. So if I cannot drink it, I do not know how consistent it is, which is my goal.


How about the water created by a dehumidifier? I am thinking of getting one as winters can be very damp here. Distilled water would only be a bonus. Tap water here is fine for just about everything. I use distilled water for just a few mixed chemicals related to platinum printing and carbon printing (only to make the sensitizers).

I know that some folks like a final rinse in distilled water -- esp. for film.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Jason:


I have a 5 gallon still I found at a second-hand store years ago that works perfectly. I use distilled water for mixing developer, sensitizer, and toner. I use tap water for everything else. The dehumidifier water we get tends to get a bit dirty (the bucket is hard to clean) so I don't use it for photography. I just dump into our clothswasher for the first rinse.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you diversey:

Yes, I was shocked that the cheapest distilled water I could find was $2.39 per gallon. Also, that is a 70 mile round trip for me. It made sense to buy a still for under $200. I was just curious if others distilled water.


I use dH2O for mixing chemicals and last 2 washes. It was 88 cents a gallon before pandemic and now is $1.20 a gallon in Walmart. There are a lot of minerals in our tap water.

[barryjyoung]

Hey Tundra:

Well, it is 70 miles to town and back. That cost has to be added in too, and my still was less than $200.


I wonder what the cost operating that is compared to buying distilled water at $1.05/gal? I've looked into distilling my own water but the $3000 initial cost plus electricity to operate it, kind of put me off the idea.

[barryjyoung]

Hello revdoc:

I have two dehumidifiers, I have looked seriously at the condensate from them, they both have very dirty tanks, I would not put that on my prints.


Vaughn is right. You just need a dehumidifier.

I use one for drying laundry here in Sydney. I collect the condensate for clearing VDB prints, amongst other things. It produces more than I need; depending on ambient humidity, up to 4 litres in a day.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you rfesk:


I have had a distiller for over 25 years. Does a gallon at a time. For photographic needs-
distilled water is used for all but the wash water.

Have been using a Berkey filter system for drinking/cooking etc. water needs for several years.

[barryjyoung]

Hi Peter:

Yes, calcium is my main issue as well. At least I think it is, sort of a poop brown hard material also some white stuff I think may be magnesium.


Yep we also just use distilled water for chemical mixing, and ours is very similar to one grey-lensman has.

Very handy and easy to use, but because of our hard water, it needs to be cleaned after each use.
So we distill about 5 gallons, doing a gallon a day, with a quick clean, and then at the end of the batch of five, do a thorough clean, using vinegar to get all calcium off and out.

[barryjyoung]

Thanks Willie:

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. I am shooting 11x14 film at nearly $20 per shot. I am also building a photo vehicle with platform that I am into $15K so far, It is a lot of time and effort to make fine art prints what with film processing, printing, paper processing, mounting and cutting mats, why would I not buy a cheapo Chinese still?


Dehumidifier are not that great in dry/desert climates and many places during winter cold/extreme cold.

Driving to and back from WalMart costs in fuel. Rural locations can add a fair amount to the cost as well as a few hours driving time.

Tap water in some areas isn't that good and filtration is needed - but not always results in water clean enough for chemistry and rinsing negatives. Then you have the 'flushing the system' problems with a lot of particulate matter in the pipes. Not to mention brown water at various times, water which no filter removes.

Home and small unit distillers can be worth it for many. Good friend has three, one a 5 gallon and two 1 gallon size. None bought new as he picked them up at Rummage sales for nearly nothing. Same way he has picked up a number of pyrex glass trays for his sheet film development.

We go to a lot of trouble to get our images. Why chance problems with sub standard water for processing?

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Alan:

I remember hearing about reverse osmosis filters used on submarines in the 1960's. I always thought they were expensive so never thought of them when it came time to ensure a good water supply for the darkroom. The still was like $159 plus 40 bucks for cvopper tubing to make a more efficient condenser. We installed a water softener and whole house filter last year and that helped, I just wanted a distiller to distill the filtered and softened water to get the most consistent results possible. Thanks for the tip on not boiling all the water away, I will make sure it doesn't.


Barry, I know you already have the distiller, so that has to work okay, be careful to not boil away all the water to make it easier to keep clean.
I installed a new water softener and then an RO filter in our home we bought two years ago using city well water, fairly high calcium content. As other have said, the reverse osmosis filter will give water quality almost as good as distilled but at much lower cost. For most, a water softener is also needed to condition the water for the RO filter as well as to soften water for laundry and bathing. The RO filter membrane will have a much shorter lifetime with calcium in the water. The water softener exchanges calcium ions for sodium chloride, which is easily handled by the RO filter.

I purchased the RO filter specifically for my photography hobby and also for drinking water. If in doubt on water quality, have it tested. Certain photographic processes will require fewer of certain contaminants, like calcium. This is particularly true for blue prints, vandykes, kalitypes, and other iron based printing processes.

Alan Townsend

[esearing]

My city house water is very good, but I use a britta filter to further reduce any contaminants and even boil water for mixing film developer. Adding a whole house filter to my mountain house because the rust and sediments in the main waterline seem to pool at my house but are gone after I blow out the lines a couple of minutes. So I keep a gallon of distilled water in case I need to mix something. I have no issues with rinsing and tend to soak more than wash.

[Kevin Crisp]

I've been using the water from a dehumidifier. It is a large one, with a compressor, and it can crank out a lot of water.

Testing a drop of tap water, humidifier and grocery store distilled water for solids (one drop of each on a clean sheet of glass, let it dry) it is as good as the store-bought kind, and leaves an extremely faint outline of the drop. Tap water is terrible, and that residue from one drop is hard to clean off.

Humidifier manufacturers do tell you not to drink it. But any biology student will tell you why drinking any distilled water isn't a good idea. There will be contaminants from the air in the humidifier water, but I filter it before I store it.

[Jim Andrada]

+1 for RO.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you


My city house water is very good, but I use a britta filter to further reduce any contaminants and even boil water for mixing film developer. Adding a whole house filter to my mountain house because the rust and sediments in the main waterline seem to pool at my house but are gone after I blow out the lines a couple of minutes. So I keep a gallon of distilled water in case I need to mix something. I have no issues with rinsing and tend to soak more than wash.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Kevin


I've been using the water from a dehumidifier. It is a large one, with a compressor, and it can crank out a lot of water.

Testing a drop of tap water, humidifier and grocery store distilled water for solids (one drop of each on a clean sheet of glass, let it dry) it is as good as the store-bought kind, and leaves an extremely faint outline of the drop. Tap water is terrible, and that residue from one drop is hard to clean off.

Humidifier manufacturers do tell you not to drink it. But any biology student will tell you why drinking any distilled water isn't a good idea. There will be contaminants from the air in the humidifier water, but I filter it before I store it.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Jim:

I wish I had known about RO before buying a still. I should have done this research first.

+1 for RO.

[barryjyoung]

A bit of an update. My apprentice Chris saw the new still and immediately pointed out hoe inefficient the condesnser section is. So at Home Depot yesterday I picked up 40 feet of 3/8 inch diameter copper tubing. Now we will bend this tubing into a snugly wound inner and outer coil which will fit into a 5 gallon metal pail which we will plumb with a cold water bath. Sounds like a bigger project than it is. I hope.

[Mal Paso]

The problem with dehumidifier condensate is any crud in the air winds up in the water. None of the dehumidifier manufacturers recommend using the condensate.

I have been using RO for close to 20 years. My water is 150-200 PPM and a consumer grade RO gets that to 12 PPM after 7 years of use. APEC ROES-50 from Amazon for $200.

[Jim Noel]

I use Reverse Osmosis water from a system which supplies he darkroom and the kitchen.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Mal.


The problem with dehumidifier condensate is any crud in the air winds up in the water. None of the dehumidifier manufacturers recommend using the condensate.

I have been using RO for close to 20 years. My water is 150-200 PPM and a consumer grade RO gets that to 12 PPM after 7 years of use. APEC ROES-50 from Amazon for $200.