Distilled vs De-ionised

[Brum Man]

Is there any difference is using the two? Would one be better for your system than that other?

[pissboy]

You'll want to use distilled water. For all purposes, it is clean like you want it. DeIonized water will not stay DeIonized once it hits the atmosphere. I read a lot of people use it because its "non-conductive", but what they fail to realize is once there is any dirt in it, its conductivity goes up. This happens just by exposing it to the "dirty" air.

[MaxxxRacer]

distilled means it was boiled and the steam that was boiled was collected and is the water that you see in the bottle.

de-ionized is when they put the water through a special machine that takes out all of the debris in the water and pulls out all of the anion and cation water molecules in the water. doing this makes it non-conductive and it also sucks up (quite literaly) dirt when you wash something. di-ionised is mainly used for cleaning becuase of its ability to attach to fine particles of dirt and drag the away.

But de-ionized becomes conductive right when particles start getting in it. so when you add zerex or WW (both highly conductive), or even get some dirt in there it will become conductive agian... so dont think its great for its non conductivity.

So in the end either one of these is good.. just that the distilled is alot more readily available and cheaper.

[Butcher_]

Either works. The main reason for using distilled or deionised is so that there are no mineral salts or other impurities dissolved in the water. Both distilled and deionised will work just fine for this. If anything deionised is cleaner than distilled, though for watercooling purposes you won't notice the difference.

[tinker77]

Nice explanation there MaxxxRacer =)

/me always wondered ;)

What kind of water is the bottle watter at the stores??

[Butcher_]

If you mean bottled water for drinking, that's neither. If you mean the stuff you get for cleaning and such, that'll probably be distilled if it doesn't say otherwise.

[tinker77]

yeah, I meant drinking water...how is that water processed(purified)?

[nikhsub1]

yeah, I meant drinking water...how is that water processed(purified)?
Depends, some goes through RO (reverse osmosis) and some is just purified by removing contaminates while LEAVING minerals. Minerals in water are good for us to drink, not good for our systems. The ONLY drinking water worthy of consideration is Aqua Fina as this is tap water that undergoes RO which removes pretty much everything from the water. I myself use whatever distilled water the market has.

[saratoga]

Mineral (bottled) water tends to contain minerals. Use distilled or DI.

[Brum Man]

I can only find de-ionised, not distilled. Looks like I'll be using that then.

[Magnj]

De-Ionized...then distilled...:-P

[Disposibleteen]

I can only find de-ionised, not distilled. Looks like I'll be using that then.
distilled you can find at your local grocery store in gallon (or liter if your in europe) jugs, all of the big chains carry it

[Butcher_]

distilled you can find at your local grocery store in gallon (or liter if your in europe) jugs, all of the big chains carry it
Not here they don't. ;)
I'm not sure what I'd actually use distilled or DI water for except water cooling and maybe topping off a car battery. :p

[tinker77]

I've always liked Aqua Fina for myself, hehe =)

[zabomb4163]

De-ionised water is extreamly corrosive as well as distilled water. i hope you realise that.

http://www.finishing.com/320/35.shtml

it wont stay de-ionized for long. it will corrode your copper until it is neutral.

"Care must be exercised when using DI water. The very lack of ions also makes this coolant unusually corrosive. Called the "universal solvent," DI water is one of the most aggressive solvents known. In fact, to a varying degree, it will dissolve everything to which it is exposed. Therefore, all materials in the cooling loop must be corrosion-resistant."

http://www.lytron.com/support/di.htm

[tinker77]

hmmm

[MaxxxRacer]

i dont think distilled has that effect.. DI is special like that.

[Wstinkbait]

Better artical, same source

Deionized water vs. Distilled water in heat exchanger (http://www.finishing.com/138/06.shtml)

[Brum Man]

De-ionised water is extreamly corrosive as well as distilled water. i hope you realise that.

http://www.finishing.com/320/35.shtml

it wont stay de-ionized for long. it will corrode your copper until it is neutral.

"Care must be exercised when using DI water. The very lack of ions also makes this coolant unusually corrosive. Called the "universal solvent," DI water is one of the most aggressive solvents known. In fact, to a varying degree, it will dissolve everything to which it is exposed. Therefore, all materials in the cooling loop must be corrosion-resistant."

http://www.lytron.com/support/di.htm

So what do you use?

[Butcher_]

anti-freeze or any other anti-corrosion agent will ionize the water anyway, I use DI water and it hasn't eaten all my metal parts. Besides which the amount of copper required to ionise a typical cooling system charge of water is pretty small, unless you flush your system and put new water in it like twice a day it shouldn't be an issue.

If you only have DI and you're worried, drop a small piece of copper in the water and leave it for a few days before filling the system.

[Brum Man]

Found a place that sells Distilled water on line in the UK

http://aqwsafe.co.uk/

[Wstinkbait]

LOL

£3.00 / liter is about £11.36 for a US gallon. That's $21.36 a gallon for water. A gallon sells for 79 cents in a US grocery store.

[Butcher_]

Mine cost about £2 for 5 litres as I recall, you can get it a lot cheaper than that.

[shugg]

Found a place that sells Distilled water on line in the UK

http://aqwsafe.co.uk/

It would be more cost effective to buy a resin cartridge and produce your own DI water, that price is way over the top.

[Brum Man]

True, but seeing as I can't find anywhere that sells distilled in the UK. No suupermarket, petrol stations etc sell it.

Butcher, are you on about distilled or de-ionised as you state you are using de-ionised earlier?

[shugg]

True, but seeing as I can't find anywhere that sells distilled in the UK. No suupermarket, petrol stations etc sell it.

Butcher, are you on about distilled or de-ionised as you state you are using de-ionised earlier?

Ok here's some sites

http://steamdistiller.com/
http://www.meaningoflife.i12.com/Water.htm
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20684&item=4360630044&rd=1

note the person selling the distiller on ebay is in the west midlands. You can also buy them cheaper in the states.
I think you would be better just boiling your water, let it cool then put it through a Britta and see how you go before spending money on DI/Distilled. The method above will remove some salts/organics and metals in the water.

If you want further improvements then best to find a metal finisher there's loads in the brum area they have demin plants, I guess you could get one of them to give you some DI water for a small fee. If you get some make sure you dilute it with boiled/filtered water as the purer the water the more aggressive it is. To be really sure re the exact purity of the water you would need a conductivity meter.

Hope this helps :)

[MaxxxRacer]

wtf. lol.. just buy a jug of it.. im sure there is a place around there that sells it.. ask some ppl..

[shugg]

wtf. lol.. just buy a jug of it.. im sure there is a place around there that sells it.. ask some ppl..

wtf indeed ;) just giving the chap options, not a prob for me as I get the stuff for free

[Butcher_]

True, but seeing as I can't find anywhere that sells distilled in the UK. No suupermarket, petrol stations etc sell it.

Butcher, are you on about distilled or de-ionised as you state you are using de-ionised earlier?
DI. I got it from a local hardware type shop in Ely (where my parents live). Also you should be able to get DI water from halfords or a similar car parts place.

[Brum Man]

Yeh I think I'll just get some DI from the petrol station.

And to WTF, just buy a jug, do you not think I would if it were that easy? Can find DI no probs, distilled is a different matter. Just because it is easy to get in America doesn't mean it is here. I'll just get some DI and be done with it.

[Wstinkbait]

It amazes me that distilled water in Europe is rare. Yet DI water can be bought at a gas station. LOL. It's been sold here to housewives since the invention of the steam Iron to avoid build up in the steam tank. We put in our car batteries, fish tanks, carpet steamers and now the computer. We don't drink it, but rather import spring water from France, go figure. I would think someone would market it UK and get rich.

[Butcher_]

Steam irons here take tapwater so there's no real market for it other than cars and computers. ;)

I can remember a time many years ago when you could buy distilled for irons etc. in a supermarket, but they all stopped carrying it years ago because everyone bought tap water compatible irons.

[saratoga]

Yeh I think I'll just get some DI from the petrol station.

And to WTF, just buy a jug, do you not think I would if it were that easy? Can find DI no probs, distilled is a different matter. Just because it is easy to get in America doesn't mean it is here. I'll just get some DI and be done with it.

Use DI then. Its not going to make a difference. The quanity you use will ionize almost instantly. You could just let it sit in the air for a couple minutes if you're really worried about loseing a few nm woth of copper off your block. Some CO2 will ionize well enough.

[shugg]

Steam irons here take tapwater so there's no real market for it other than cars and computers. ;)

I can remember a time many years ago when you could buy distilled for irons etc. in a supermarket, but they all stopped carrying it years ago because everyone bought tap water compatible irons.

This is true, now the emphasis is on softened water as the marketing folk can make more money out of scale prevention products.

[Butcher_]

My tap water is pretty soft already. ;)
I really notice the difference when I visit my parents who live in a hard water area.