We all know deionized water is best but what are the next best options? The reason I ask is that I have an RO system at my house that puts out 0 ppm dissolved solids. What's the difference between this and distilled water that you can get at Walmart? Also, I was up at Pep Boys today and noticed one of the big brands (I think Peak) now has a water for mixing with antifreeze or to put in batteries. It doesn't say anything about being distilled, deionized, etc. It just says not meant for human consumption so it must be at least distilled. They were selling it for $3 a gallon. Any comments?
Best water for cooling system mix
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I use RO water from my house in my coolant systems and have seen a marked improvement compared to when I used to use tap water.
ro is de ionized water as good as distilled
bruce
bruce
Other option is to buy the coolant that is already diluted, though what water do they use?
I get Great Lakes water at the tap. Very soft. Generally no problem using in cooling system, batteries, etc, though I will use distilled in the battery if I have it.
I get Great Lakes water at the tap. Very soft. Generally no problem using in cooling system, batteries, etc, though I will use distilled in the battery if I have it.
That sounds like a marketing ploy for the ignorant (i.e. say it's for "cooling systems", and then more than triple the price)! Personally, I just use "steam distilled water" I pick up from the grocery store for maybe $0.80/gal.
You want the "distilled" (vs the "drinking water"), because the important thing is to avoid the minerals in the water (and the distilling process removes those minerals you don't want). However, IMHO it really doesn't matter what brand of "distilled water" you buy, or what the "official use" of that "distilled water" supposedly is (the water I got lists "safe for babies" on it). The important thing is to just make sure the water is "distilled" (vs some other sort of bottled water), and then buy on price!
BTW:
I use the distilled water for both diluting the coolant, and also to help flush out (rinse) the previous coolant out. And yes, that does means I may end up using a few gallons of distilled water, every time I change my coolant (because I can easily "waste" 2-4 gallons just doing a complete "rinse"). However, IMHO that's still VERY CHEAP compared to the alternatives. For example, with "distilled water" easily attainable for under $1/gal, "pre-mix" is still more expensive than getting concentrate and then paying to add in your own distilled water, and you also don't have any options to properly "rinse" the old coolant out when going with pre-mix (whereas you can easily go with multiple drain and fill with distilled water cycles, to do a good rinse/flush, followed by adding enough coolant concentrate on the last cycle to get a proper water/coolant mix).
Yeah, yeah, because on the net, everything is the truth. Man-made global warming is on the net too!
Help me out here if you don't mind. Got some specific links?
Don't know about the RO being bad for your health. That is the first I have ever heard of it. I can't seem to find it in 60 seconds on Google either.
One thing I do know is that my RO removes 95% of TDS, but I still have a PPM level of about 20. So I would think Distilled would still be better. Maybe my RO really stinks - I don't know.
One thing I do know is that my RO removes 95% of TDS, but I still have a PPM level of about 20. So I would think Distilled would still be better. Maybe my RO really stinks - I don't know.
A quick google came up with this. There are many others. Even if you don't buy what said, why risk it?
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:UbgE...=clnk&cd=12
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:UbgE...=clnk&cd=12
This is a pretty complex subject, and it is difficult to make generalizations because of the differences in efficiency of the various methods as well as the differences in the feed water. (95% reduction of the feedwater, so the quality is going to depend on how contaminated the original water is...) One reference mentioned the illnesses associated with cruise ships and RO, eventually bacteria breaking thru. People like to use charcoal filters on their drinking water, but if you don't change them out on a regular basis you can end up with worse water than you are treating. One person I know was advised to drink distilled water by his doctor based on the conductivity of his urine, but I was always told that it was unhealthy to drink pure water because it removes the electrolytes from the body. One item found on a search talked about how great tasting pure water was, but actually I think it is totally devoid of taste, as it is the minerals in the water that impart flavor. I was a Chemical Engineer at a supercritical power plant, and in charge of the demineralizers that processed the feed water. A supercritical boiler operates at 3600 psi and 1000F, and is a once thru boiler, i.e., everything in the feedwater goes thru the turbine. When you say demineralized water, that can cover anything from a single bed mixed bed deionizer to multiple beds, the one at the plant consisted of statified bed cation units, then it passed thru a vacuum degasifier to remove CO2, then anion units, then a mixed bed. The water coming out of it was as pure as can be made on a large scale system (up to 600 gpm). When you distill water typically some of the impurities get carried over with the steam, it varies with the volatility of the individual impurities and the pressure. In other words, not all demineralized (or deionized or demineralized) water is the same. An easy test is to use conductivity, we produced water that had a conductivity of 0.055 micromhos if I recall, or greater than 18 megohm water. (conductivity is the reciprical(sp?) of resistance...) All of this is subject to the fraility of my 65 yo brain..... Is everyone dozing off yet???
????? As a long time (and I mean long time) fish hobbiest, and keeping everything from Angels to Cichlids to a 7000.00 dollar reef system, I can honestly say that is bovine scat. Now, back on topic, RO is fine for cooling systems, and your drinking water, if you care to. The flip of the coin is that most folks would be really scared if they actually knew all the stuff dissolved in their local tap water supplied by the public works folks.
Sorry, I'll have to disagree. We have been using RO water for all of our drinking, including coffee and tea for 23 years. You can't be sure what minerals are in water depending on the locality.
The RO water that we use is free of chlorine and is guaranteed sterile. If anything I think it is the one thing that has improved our health. I have never had kidney stones.
Health risks from drinking demineralized water from WHO:
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf
Draw your own conclusion.
While you, or the fishes, wouldn't die from lack of minerals you would be worst off without them. My 2 cent.
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf
Draw your own conclusion.
While you, or the fishes, wouldn't die from lack of minerals you would be worst off without them. My 2 cent.
That's talking about underdeveloped countries where people's diets are so poor, they need the minerals from the water. same for their plumbing, they'd compromise their health to keep the pipes working.
Carbon is what we need to remove pesticides and organic chemicals solvents, chlorine and tri-halo methanes that form from chlorination. The RO is to remove everything else, including bacteria and TDS.
Carbon is what we need to remove pesticides and organic chemicals solvents, chlorine and tri-halo methanes that form from chlorination. The RO is to remove everything else, including bacteria and TDS.
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