Distilled water in UK, for developing

[max zappa]

I have just developed my first film, Ilford Delta 3200. I have a few drying marks on the film and after reading some of the forum entries, it appears that the use of distilled water in the rinsing process is recommended to help alleviate this problem.

However I an unable to locate a cheap source of distilled water in England, UK. Our local chemist wants £3.20 for 5 litres, which is about $5 to our US.( aint that robbery )

Do any British photographers out there know where I can get my hands on large quantities of distilled water at a reasonable cost?

[tom_musselman]

Hi Max. I do what most everybody else seems to do. I use tap water for the rinse after fixing. Following that I pour in a solution of Kodak Photo-Flow or something equivalent, 1 ml per liter. I stopped using distilled water for the Photo-Flow solution because of the cost, but mostly because I have to carry the DW. I now use purified drinking water. It works just fine.

[chris_waller]

I live in a hard-water area but I find that using Paterson

wetting-agent at is lowest concentration (2 drops per 100 ml) I

can get perfectly clean negs. However, failing that, you can buy

battery top-up water for cars from such as Halfords (this is

de-ionised, not distilled). I collect the ice that forms in the freezer

compartment of my fridge and allow that to thaw. That is prefectly

pure water but the process is a bit laborious and long winded. If

you really want large quantities then I suggest you try a supplier

of laboratory equipment and get a price for an electric laboratory

still. But I suspect that would be expensive.

[david_tolcher]

I second the use of Halfords water for the photoflo part. As its the final final wash and is only really there to do the photoflo part I re-use this wash water. 5l goes a long way in this case - theoretical contamination is at best that so you could use it indefinitely.

 

Best regards

 

Dave

[nige_buddy]

check your supermarkets, ours (Aussie) sell it although it's not as cheap there as the K-Mart like shop I get mine at (Big W) where it's about 75p for 5lt.

[mrbob]

Here in New York City I can buy steam-distilled water for about $1 at my local drugstore. (American drug stores sell everything from canned foods to hair dryers and cosmetics as well as fill prescriptions.) I guess some people drink it and others use it in steam irons to prevent corrosion or mineral build-up.