mark liddell Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 I use distilled water all the way through my development process since it's the only way I can get negs without miniture white specks. The problem is, developer needs about 500ml of water and 5 washes (I use alkali stop and fix) is another 3000ml of water. The water is costing me more than the chemicals! Where do you guys get affordable distilled water? So far I've been buying battery top up water which is pretty pricy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny_walsh Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 I use distilled water only for developer without any problems. Try Kmart or grocery stores when its on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark liddell Posted November 25, 2004 Author Share Posted November 25, 2004 I live in possibly the hardest water area in the entire UK, Southampton. I've tried distilled for the chems, chems and final rinse with no joy. I'm going to try filtering water for the wash next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_limiti Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Can you install a filter for your wash water supply and only use distilled for the developer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan_w. Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 A Brita jug or something like it should filter out the particles from the water supply. You can pre-filter a bunch of water and store it in a clean container for use when you develop film. Much cheaper than distilled water if it is particles that are your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_ogara1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Check the archive s-- I aske dthe same a while back. Brita won't cut it, and there are no obvious places to make bulk purchases of distilled water -- I looked. You best bet might be one of those electric distillers -- they're cheap on Amazon and your main cost ends up being electricity -- I think it worked out to 25 cents per gallon where I live -- and just the tedium of constantly refilling the hting. They're slow too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_ogara1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Here's that thread: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008kiK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann_clancy3 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 In our area Walmart has the cheapest distilled water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank.schifano Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Are you sure that the white specks are from your water and not dust settling on the film as it dries? My municipal tap water is Long Island ground water. It's not bad, but a far cry from the much better NYC reserviour water my neighbors a mile away get. Still, I use it for all my processes except for a few that actually require distilled water without problems. Go to Home Depot and buy two canister water filters and some brass nipples to fit them. Insert 1 particulate filter into the first and a carbon filter into the second. Hook the two filters in series and use a couple of lengths of garden hose to attach the gizmo to your tap. Voila, instant filtered water. Without it, my water has lots of sediment. With it, for all practical purposes, there is none. If you must, use the distilled water only for a final rinse with the wetting agent of your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Frank, is there a similar device I can hook up to my kitchen sink? I use distilled water for developer, stop, and fix and use sink water for wash, hypo wash and photo flo. It seems ok, but as I've just started doing my own processing this year, I worry about minerals and junk in the tap water later damaging my negatives. I know of other water filters, but I have no idea which ones are most effective. Regards, Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_mcbob Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 I use distilled water for chemicals and the final wash - this seems to work well (my water is also dreadful). I also use the Ilford washing method, which takes far less water than running it continuously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_liao Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Where I live, the $.99 stores carry Arrowhead distilled water for $.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark liddell Posted November 25, 2004 Author Share Posted November 25, 2004 These are what the spots look like: http://www.sukitesurfing.co.uk/spotting.jpg The last film a did one frame was absolutly covered and the rest were no where near as bad, weird. They are only visible at around 8x enlargement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alec1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 I use water from my dehumidifiers. Once I've put it through coffee filters, it meets my needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ott gangl Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 This weekend I will put my distiller on ebay for a starting price of $60.00. Since I used to mix my own color chemicals I was in the same predicament as you and purchased this unit. It has an extra drawer for distilled water. It works by filling the glass container with about a gallon of water and plugging it in after covering it with the finned metal cover that has a heating element in the center. It shuts itself off when it is done. Unbelievable crud left in the glass container about finger high. Since I am retired and no longer process film I am putting much of my stuff on ebay, it's been good so far. Pictures are attached.http://home.neo.rr.com/ottmar/cha1.jpg http://home.neo.rr.com/ottmar/cha2.jpg http://home.neo.rr.com/ottmar/cha3.jpg ...Ott my home page is: http://home.neo.rr.com/ottmar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_davis2 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Have you tried just the wash with distilled? If you're washing is working it should be getting rid of everything from the developer. No? The local supermarkets sell 18 litre jugs of distilled water for not much. I'd be hard pressed to pay for the power to run a distiller. OTOH I guess you could build a solar still or something-) I built a "portable" water filter setup. The filter is a good grade water filter designed to be plumbed into a home water system. The hose that would normally be connected to the water supply I added a length of garden hose and a hose fitting. On the output end I just left the hose alone. The filter is screwed to a piece of plywood. All the work is very easy to do with those plastic fittings they sell. No real tools required. I can get filtered water any place that I can screw a garden hose in. I didn't build it for the darkroom but a similar setup would work for temporary darkrooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Am I looking at a neg or a positive? If they are black spots on the neg and random shapes and sizes as seen with an enlarging lens as a magnifier, they are precepitated silver from the fix. The cure is to use fresh fix or use it to capacity in a short period of time so this can not happen. Clean the storage vessel of all the precepitated silver or get new bottles. I have not found a filter that will remove them from fix once formed. cotton wool covered by a Bounty towel covered by a coffee filter in a filter funnel will get most of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neal_wydra1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Dear Mark, Consider using JOBO tanks. They use very little fluid. While a full setup can be expensive, I built a little drive unit using structural steel from the home center and a motor from a surplus shop. It can be done with a drill press alone if you can find the right motor. I've also heard of people who use print drum rollers to drive the tanks. These can be picked up for under $50 on ebay. Neal Wydra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 I use the Ilford archival wash sequence with distilled water. It seems reasonably economical considering I don't have to worry about ruined negatives. I pay 50 to 75 cents per gallon in my area for distilled water. I tried Brita pitchers for a while but then got a batch that continually left tiny carbon specks embedded in the emulsion of my negatives. Until I'm able to set up a proper filtering system I'll stick with distilled water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_waller Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 I live in a hard water area and have no problems with particles on the film. I use an Ametek 10 micron filter and find this perfectly adequate. I have never found it necessary to use distilled water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_miller2 Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Hello Mark. I used to have the same problems. I live in a hard water area in the UK. I tried puting a coarse filter on the main water supply to the house followed by a fine filter in the supply to the darkroom. No discernable difference, still had deposits, drying marks and such on the film. I couldn't find a supplier of distilled water anywhere near me, so I tried deionised water for batteries which is freely available. Every plastic gallon container I tried had some sort of debris floating in or suspended in it. It was better (after being filtered) than before, but not spectacularly so. I then read about a reverse osmosis undersink unit at a reasonable price. Since it would give me drinking water too, I bought it. another slight improvement, but not a total solution. There was still something getting through the filters and ruining the film every now and then - enough times to be a real problem. I then bought a home water distiller. What a revelation! It produces about 4 litres at a time. After using it a few times I was appalled to see the amount of sludge left in the distiller. I used the water for everything at first - dev, stop, fix and wash, but now I use the filtered tap water for mixing chemicals and washing and only use the distilled water for the final rinses. I don't even use rinsaid now and I get sparkling-clean negs and never, ever any trace of drying marks. A link that might be of interest in regard to this is: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003cQi Regards, Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel_smith6 Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Wal Mart usually has distilled water for under 60 cents a gallon. If you want a good filtration for your water you can try a double filter system for under sink drinking water use. The carbon type filters work well for the first one but try a 5 micron one for the second, just before it comes out. If you use a carbon type for the second & get high water pressure it pushes out the carbon & you ruin negatives as if they were in the sand on the beach. Even with that I use distilled for the final rinse & then the foto flo to be safe. With a winter in the mountains & spring water only(no stores within 25 miles & no WalMart within 60 & a 15 mile snowmobile trip to get to pavement) the filter system worked well. Clean negs & consistent results. One thing that helped was getting a few 5 gallon jugs & filling with filtered water & then letting them settle & come to room temp. Any sediment settled out & the water was at working temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowland_mowrey Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 While doing process development work at EK, we had both distilled and tap water supplied to every work area and darkroom. Critical analytical process work used distilled water, but average processing work relied on tap water so as to duplicate as far as possible the home or photofinisher work flow. The process chemistry was designed to work the same for both. The big difference was that the formulas were adjusted to include a sequestering agent to take care of hard water situations, and they contained anticaking agents for control of humidity. I have carried the use of tap water over to my home darkroom, and have found that except for particulate matter in my home water supply, I have been able to duplicate my lab work at EK. I installed standard home water filters for particulate matter and eliminated that problem. I never ever use distilled water for mixing chemistry or washing the final film or prints. It isn't necessary as long as the water has been filtered and the chemicals have no floating or suspended particles. Ron Mowrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth_harper Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 Do you know anybody who works in a power plant or a chemical works etc.. Lots of industrial works have water purification plants. If the local supermarket ain't selling it cheap ask at your local garage, they might have plenty for topping up batteries etc.. You should be able to find a free or good value source somewhere. Either that or just use it for the developer and rinsing film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim kerr Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 Mark, I don't know what's available in England, but here in central Indiana, USA, we have very hard water out in the country where you have to have your own well. So a lot of people have a water softener, which to me is great for alot more than just photography. I have been using this soft water for almost everything for 40 years without a problem...Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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