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  #1  
Old 10th January 2012, 04:25 PM
Reuben Reuben is offline
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Default Distilled water

Now its not perfectly pure -but very close and a free waste product of a dehumidifier that I have in my conservatory!

It produces plenty of it in the winter, and is ideal for mixing up stock solutions or the final wash for film.
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Old 10th January 2012, 05:39 PM
JimW JimW is offline
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To quote from an earlier thread re dehmidifiers....

Quote:
Vincent, as an Air Conditioning Engineer I cannot stress strongly enough - DON'T DO IT

The condensate collects almost everything from the atmosphere, dust, hair, dead skin, oils from cooking and lots more besides.

Just to add to the cocktail it has its own microbiological cultures too, which in their spare time like to eat metal

The only thing condensate is fit for is a drain.

If you have tap water quality issues then commercial demineralised or reverse osmosis water is reasonably affordable.

Try your local car parts shop for Battery Water or pharmacy.

Martin
Search 'dehumidifier' on this forum. We have some posts concerning the condensate.
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  #3  
Old 21st January 2012, 01:33 PM
Reuben Reuben is offline
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Hmmm yes some interesting points, it will always have some airborne contaminates, form a fat /microbiological perspective, the amount of fried food I'm 'allowed' is next to zero ( a breakfast roll from a van is such a treat when I'm let out on my own!) and the dehumidifier is located about 50' from the kitchen.

It collects a surprising amount of water in the winter, and have tried the water by letting it evaporate off a piece of neg v tap water (in a puddle in the centre)- the contents of the dehumidifier has obviously less dissolved materials in it, and no dust I could see.

I agree bottled deioised /distilled water is an option as is a unit, both are more reliable and consistent with regard to what they produce.

However for free, the quality I get is ok for my playing in the darkroom. If it's something critical of course its not recommended. What I'm suggesting is to try yours and see.
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Old 22nd January 2012, 12:47 PM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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If you are worried about particale you can alway filter it.
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Old 24th January 2012, 09:50 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photomi7ch View Post
If you are worried about particale you can alway filter it.
Particulates are the easy bit

Its the microbiological material you need to wary of

Martin
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  #6  
Old 25th January 2012, 11:04 PM
Rob Hale Rob Hale is offline
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Default Maybe ?

Hi

Ummm interesting. I have been using “de ironed” water from our small mobile indoor de-humidifier for several years, probably about 5 years. I use it for letting down stock solutions and mixing chemistry and so far no problems.

The bucket / catcher is a pale cream colour and would show up visible contamination in the water and the water is always crystal clear. Dust would float on top and thus be visible. Oils umm well here in the bay on a summers evening when the sun is at a low angle one can definitely see sulfur soot from the trucks if the air is still which is not often.

Our house is 400 meters from the local road and about 3 miles from one main road and 2 from the other. I have always considered funguses / molds to be my biggest risk so I boil in a spotlessly clean pan for about 2 mins and cover while the water cools, then decant into clean plastic bottles ( tonic / ginger beer etc ).

So I guess a lot will depend on where you are and how clean your air is ?

The bigger built in air conditioners around here are a whole different ball game and seem to produce all sorts of “interesting coloured” growths around the drain pipes.

Regards

Rob
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Old 3rd September 2012, 12:34 AM
madmike madmike is offline
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We have pretty hard water here so all I use is distilled water for mixing my chemicals and rinsing my films, seems to work well so far.
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Old 4th December 2012, 09:57 AM
John King John King is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
Particulates are the easy bit

Its the microbiological material you need to wary of

Martin
I cannot agree more. Bacteria which can cause an outbreak of Legionares disease are born in such systems. Just look at how many outbreaks have been traced back to air conditioning systems which are only another version of a de humidifier.

If you can BOIL the water for about 10 mins afterwards and let it cool it will be safe but I wouldn't take the risk
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Old 4th December 2012, 09:00 PM
Paulographic Paulographic is offline
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I've used the water from my small home de-humidifier for years for the final rinse/soak before drying film and have had no problems.If needeing filtering I use kitchen towel in a sieve.
Previously I had drying marks as the local mains supply having organics, the cats water bowl would have a slime around the rim if topped up without washing for example. I keep it in thoroughly washed plastic containers, gaseous permeability is not an issue just solids.
It works well in the steam iron too and dilutes watercolours/inks best.

After the house being flooded this year I have rather a lot. :-)
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  #10  
Old 4th December 2012, 10:07 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
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Would you drink that water ? Using it to wash negaives or prints is asking for long term issues even if you haven;t seen it yet.

But then again some people aren;t botheredx about the long term affects on their negatives. How many go back and reprint 10, 20 30 or even 40 or 50 year old negatives or have prints in archives and collections ?

Ian
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