Distilled Water

[Dr Jacoby]

Anyone know a cheap source for distilled water? I was in Tesco the other day and they were selling 2.5 litre bottles for about €3 - way too expensive.

[johnrm]

you could try your local mechanic. They sometimes have a water purifier for  topping up  car batteries

[Will_D]

A few people use reverse osmosis water from the local pet shop that has aquariums.

Some give it away, others may charge a fiver or so for 5 gallons. One shop I went to sold me a drum for a tenner full of RO water.

[mr hoppy]

Not much cheaper, but if its for a refractometer Halfords sell litre bottles for €1.99. Some pharmacists sell "pure" water (which isn't deionised) at 5l for €5. If you want to use it for brewing I'm not so sure.

[Dr Jacoby]

A few people use reverse osmosis water from the local pet shop that has aquariums.

Some give it away, others may charge a fiver or so for 5 gallons. One shop I went to sold me a drum for a tenner full of RO water.

Cheers for that. Out of curiosity, does RO remove all ions? Would the water be more or less equivalent to distilled water that could be used to dilute high carbonate water?

[DEMPSEY]

looking around the net,came across a health site and got this quote from it,

Distillation and reverse Osmosis are not very effective at removing synthetic chemicals. Distillation removes things based on their relative boiling point. Virtually all synthetic chemicals boil at a lower temperature than water and therefore are vaporized and condensed along with the water in a distillation process. Reverse Osmosis removes things based on molecular size. Virtually all synthetic chemicals are molecularly smaller than water and therefore cannot be effectively removed by reverse osmosis..

not to sure if that helps or causes anxiety  :-/

[DEMPSEY]

Reading more of this site,

The following paragraphs give a basic description of how each of these systems work and it's relative comparison to the patented Aquasana multi-stage filtration process.

Point-Of-Use Distillation;
This process passes water over a heated coil, causing the water to vaporize and become gaseous. The steam then rises and transfers to a cooling chamber, where it condenses back into a liquid. This process separates water from inorganic compounds like lead, calcium, magnesium, etc. Distillation also destroys bacteria. This process is not very effective at removing organic chemicals since they typically vaporize at a lower temperature than water and are transferred in the steam. A distiller should always be used in conjunction with a carbon filter. Distillers produce water at a very slow rate and at a per-gallon cost of 20 to 26 cents a gal.

Reverse Osmosis, R.O.
This is a process that exposes water under pressure, to a semi-permeable membrane with a very fine pore structure. Because most inorganic contaminants are of a larger molecular size than water, the membrane rejects certain contaminants, minerals and a large part of the water. The portion of water that passes through the membrane is stripped of inorganic compounds and trace minerals. Because many synthetic chemicals like herbicides and pesticides are smaller, molecularly, than water... an R.O. system must also be used in conjunction with a carbon filter. R.O. systems require adequate water pressure and extensive maintenance. Because most point-of-use R.O. systems produce less than 1 gal. per hour, they require a diaphragmed storage tank. Reverse osmosis typically wastes 2 to 3 gallons of water for every gallon it produces and has an 18 to 24 cents per gallon usage cost.

Pitchers and Carafe Style Filters
In recent years these types of filters have emerged as low cost alternatives to tap water and bottled water. Keeping in mind that any filter is better than no filter, these products are by far the least effective and the most costly to use. Pitchers and carafe filters are sold on the "Polaroid principal"... sell the camera cheap and make it up on the film sales. The result is the same with these pour through pitcher filters, lower quality at a higher price. The average pitcher filter sells for around $25 and includes one 30 gallon filter cartridge. Because of the small size of these cartridges they have a very limited level of effectiveness and a low capacity. While pour-through filters do offer a slightly improved alternative to tap water, they by no means can offer the quality, convenience and economy of the Aquasana System.

Carbon Block And Granular Carbon Filters
These are the most common style of countertop and under the sink systems (POU, point of use). Granular carbon filters and carbon block systems basically perform using the same process of contaminant removal, adsorption, which is the chemical or physical bond of a contaminant to the surface of the filter media. GAC, granular activated carbon, is recognized by the U.S. EPA as the best available technology for the removal of organic chemicals like herbicides, pesticides and industrial chemicals.

Multi-media block filters, like the Aquasana System, utilize the benefits of activated carbon with several added advantages. A blended media is extruded or compressed so that the carbon and other media is in a solid form and can also filter out sediment and cyst type organisms... like Cryptosporidium and Giardia. This configuration also prevents water from channeling around the filter media.

Dual Stage Filter Systems
It is essential for the best performance to be achieved that a multi stage process be used in order to remove a wide range of contaminants.

Aquasana's exclusive dual filter system uses a combination of carbon filtration, ion exchange and sub-micron filtration to produce truly healthy, great tasting water at the convenience of your kitchen tap. Filters out Copepods, chlorine, lead, synthetic chemicals, VOCs, THMs, MTBE, Turbidity, Cysts (chlorine resistant parasites) and leaves in the natural trace minerals, for naturally healthy, great tasting water at the touch of a button! No other product, at any price, has ever produced better results than Aquasana!

[Will_D]

Reverse Osmosis, R.O.
...
Because many synthetic chemicals like herbicides and pesticides are smaller, molecularly, than water... an R.O. system must also be used in conjunction with a carbon filter.

That statement is a load of bollox.

Water is comprised of one oxygen atom and two hydrogens ( the smallest atom )

Lets look at a typical herbicide, Glyphosphate ( used in Roundup )

C[size=8]3[/size] H[size=8]8[/size] N O[size=8]5[/size] P

See attatched image

Red is Oxygen, White Hydrogen, Black is Carbon, Blue is Nitrogen, and the orange is Phosphorous

It is massive compared to a water molecule!

[Dr Jacoby]

So could RO water be used to dilute high carbonate water?

[DEMPSEY]

eeh my most humble apologies to our resident chemist . I was attempting to answer Dr Jacoby's question and fell for the,"if it's written on the web,it must be true" answer. I have no idea if your answer is correct,but I believe you .
As a former Spainish girlfriend would say,
"Will you sorry me".

[Ciderhead]

Will those are massive Balls 

[Will_D]

So could RO water be used to dilute high carbonate water?

Yes is the simple answer.

[Dr Jacoby]

Brilliant. Thanks Will 

[2401keith]

Is halfords water ok for starsan ?

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[Leann ull]

you don't need distilled water for starsan just watch out for it going cloudy in hard water areas.
I've uber soft water but I always make a fresh batch each time I need it the stuff as its so cheap diluted its not worth taking the risk of it becoming less effective over time.