Distilled Water

[herd]

My friend in town who sells batteries, tires, and other things told me when I bought new golf cart batteries that it is ok to draw well water and let it sit for 24 hours and it would be the same as distilled water. I wonder how much truth is there to that but on the other hand, I have been following his advice.

The old fashioned rainwater caught in a clean glass container does the job for me , had some on the shelf for nearly 5 years good as the day it fell.

 

[rsewill]

My friend in town who sells batteries, tires, and other things told me when I bought new golf cart batteries that it is ok to draw well water and let it sit for 24 hours and it would be the same as distilled water. I wonder how much truth is there to that but on the other hand, I have been following his advice.

No truth. The minerals will still be in solution, only the sediment would settle. Most store distilled water is reverse osmosis. I don't know where to get the real stuff except to make your own.

 

[sparc]

No truth. The minerals will still be in solution, only the sediment would settle. Most store distilled water is reverse osmosis. I don't know where to get the real stuff except to make your own.

I agree with you on the contaminants still being in the well water after sitting. Settling does not thing but let those contaminants that are suspended in the water settle out; a crude but effective method of removing a large portion of those particles; but not the best.

You state "most store distilled water is reverse osmosis"; how do you know that? And if it is true how do they get away with labeling it as distilled when it is not. I would think it would have to be labeled as Filtered Water, not distilled.

I believe one could say that rainwater is the original distilled water. It is the same process as we mortals use to distill water. Only problem is that in some parts of the world there is so much junk in the air that when the rain falls it gets contaminated with whatever it washes out of the air, hence Acid Rain and other unwanted extras get into your rainwater, steams, and lakes.

I'm not some ECO-**** just saying that's what happens.

 

[ScottyChip]

Just to add a differnet spin to the discussion. There are several grades of water, especially when referring to medical grade. Distilled water would be considered the most basic, or in lab terms type III. During the boiling and cooling of the water (distillation) some components of the water (ions) can be transferred to the final product. When you look at reverse osmosis water it uses a pump with pressures that would be equivalent to a hydraulic pump to force water through a filter material (membrane). It will allow some chemicals to pass through, so this system is not perfect. On its own it will not produce lab grade Type I water.

To achevie the "best water" you must use a combination of technologies, usually the combination of ion exchange with reverse osmosis followed by treatment with UV light will produce Type I lab grade (medical grade) water.

This water while being great for your battery (acidic) is not really tasty to drink.

 

[patrick_g]

The old fashioned rainwater caught in a clean glass container does the job for me , had some on the shelf for nearly 5 years good as the day it fell.

Yup... Acid rain, battery acid... same difference.

 

[IslandTractor]

My friend in town who sells batteries, tires, and other things told me when I bought new golf cart batteries that it is ok to draw well water and let it sit for 24 hours and it would be the same as distilled water. I wonder how much truth is there to that but on the other hand, I have been following his advice.

No truth to that statement. Distilled water has no salt minerals which is the key point for battery use. Salt will never disappear from well water so 24hr or 365 days of waiting will leave exactly the same concentration of salt. Of course if the well water is soft then the amount of salt is minimal and would likely have little effect on a battery.

 

[tracter]

No "acid rain" downunder :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[PossumHound]

Just to add a differnet spin to the discussion. There are several grades of water, especially when referring to medical grade. Distilled water would be considered the most basic, or in lab terms type III. During the boiling and cooling of the water (distillation) some components of the water (ions) can be transferred to the final product. When you look at reverse osmosis water it uses a pump with pressures that would be equivalent to a hydraulic pump to force water through a filter material (membrane). It will allow some chemicals to pass through, so this system is not perfect. On its own it will not produce lab grade Type I water.

To achevie the "best water" you must use a combination of technologies, usually the combination of ion exchange with reverse osmosis followed by treatment with UV light will produce Type I lab grade (medical grade) water.

This water while being great for your battery (acidic) is not really tasty to drink.

Good explanation and exactly right. I worked in a clinical lab for 15 years and had responsibility for the lab grade waters during some of that time. When we made the switch from our old distillation apparatus (very old, and probably contaminating each run) to a polypropylene the results of our tests became much more precise, and we felt the better water was the cause of the improvement though no tests were run to prove that. As for plastic leaching into the water that will happen but plastic shouldn't interferon with the battery. Bottom line - use the water.

PH

 

[patrick_g]

My friend in town who sells batteries, tires, and other things told me when I bought new golf cart batteries that it is ok to draw well water and let it sit for 24 hours and it would be the same as distilled water. I wonder how much truth is there to that but on the other hand, I have been following his advice.

With advice like that he probably sells more batteries.

Letting is set for 24 hours will let the dissolved air out as the water warms up and it will taste flat like distilled water. If it is really super soft water (unlikely) it would not be too bad to use but for the price of a little distilled water which keeps indefinitely in its original container when out of the sunlight, why risk expensive batteries.

Pat

 

[rsewill]

You state "most store distilled water is reverse osmosis"; how do you know that? And if it is true how do they get away with labeling it as distilled when it is not. I would think it would have to be labeled as Filtered Water, not distilled.

It is stated on the jug that it is processed using RO. I don't know about the labeling. Filtered is much different than RO.