I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

....or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

You're in the civilised end of England aren't you? Not far from me?

If so, then in God's Own North we have tap water that's probably clean
and soft enough to use in car batteries, so that stuff you're on about
should be fine!

--
Pete M - OMF#9
Range Rover V8 Turbo
Range Rover 4.6 HSE
"Wait! We can't stop here, this is Bat Country"

You're in the civilised end of England aren't you? Not far from me?
If so, then in God's Own North we have tap water that's probably clean
and soft enough to use in car batteries, so that stuff you're on about
should be fine!

We cover a large patch though, so it probably isn't suitable from all
available local sources...

In article ,
says...
You're in the civilised end of England aren't you? Not far from me?

Warrington's water is so hard now, if Jesus tried his party trick the
locals would say "so what, I do that to cut 10 minutes off my walk to
work".

We tend to throw away 1 kettle a year because even through we descale
every couple of weeks, it works into any joints so when you clean it it
eventually leaks.
--
Carl Robson
Audio stream: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com:8000/samtest
Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 08:40:08 +0100, Elder wrote:

We tend to throw away 1 kettle a year because even through we descale
every couple of weeks, it works into any joints so when you clean it it
eventually leaks.

Flippin heck I thought St Albans was bad with a descale every month or
even here before they switched the feed from the limestone adit on the
hillside a mile away to Burnhope Reservoir.

Guess you need to find a good old fashioned metal kettle not some flimsy
snapped together plastic thing.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

you are buying in the wrong place. battery top up water is about a pound a
gallon at maccess for instance

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)
you are buying in the wrong place. battery top up water is about a pound a
gallon at maccess for instance

I'm still trying to find out what it costs us, this is just a
potential project i've had in mind for years...

"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message g...
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

....or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

Our air con in reception makes about a gallon of water a day, I use that to
top-up the forklift.

Fred wrote:

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

RO Water is absolutely fine.

Colin Wilson coughed up some electrons that declared:

I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

When I were a lad and we still had car batteries that you needed to top up,
it was always done with de-ionised water from Boots/Halfords/etc.

Cheers

Tim

On 4 Jun, 23:18, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

RO and de-ionised water is usually better quality (lower TDS) than
distilled. Distilled is usually mentioned because that was the only
process available until fairly recently. Distilled is still used where
micro-organisms are a concern.

You should be able to get a maximum conductivity or TDS rating for
suitable water quality. I wouldn't use tap water, regardless of how
soft it is, or condense from AC units.

In the US heating contractors will often fill heating systems with de-
ionised water and anti-freeze; the price mentioned for bulk purchases
was something like 10c a gallon.

Colin Wilson wrote:

I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

I remember much debate about this in the 60's. It transpired that Rolls
Royce recommended tap water as being entirely suitable for its batteries, a
view supported by Dagenite. (Who made them.)

It was also the case that the Post Office, who were responsible for
telephone communications nationally in those days, only ever used tap water
for the vast amount of lead acid cells in their exchanges.

WRT your question, I worked at a large company for 36 years. During the
whole of that time, the only water used for topping up fork lift trucks
came from a treatment plant just as you have described. The fleet was
around 30 trucks on average; the company who supplied and maintained the
batteries was perfectly happy with what was used, and never advised
anything different.

HTH

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

Any decent tropical fish stockist will fill you a huge carrier with RO water
for a pound or two.

Just out of curiosity I was Googling for distilled water suppliers to see
how much it cost and came up with this extraordinary document.

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf

It's their safety data sheet for distilled water. I had no idea how f***ing
dangerous that stuff is. Some snippets.

Do not discharge into drains or rivers. Contain the spillage using bunding.
Clean-up procedures: Absorb into dry earth or sand. Transfer to a closable,
labelled salvage container for disposal by an appropriate method.

Hand protection: Protective gloves.
Eye protection: Safety glasses. Ensure eye bath is to hand.
Skin protection: Protective clothing.

Stability: Stable under normal conditions.
Conditions to avoid: Heat.
Materials to avoid: Strong oxidising agents. Strong acids.
Haz. decomp. products: In combustion emits toxic fumes.

I'm wondering what you'd want in the eye bath to wash your eyes out with if
they got splashed with distilled water? Ummmm - more water?

Handy to know it emits toxic fumes if you put it on a fire though. I'd
better phone up my local fire brigade and see if they're aware they've been
using the wrong stuff all these years.

Oh, it's also obviously no use for the OP if he wants to put it in batteries
if one of the materials to avoid with it is strong acids.
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines

"Dave Baker" wrote in message
...
Just out of curiosity I was Googling for distilled water suppliers to see
how much it cost and came up with this extraordinary document.

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf

It's their safety data sheet for distilled water. I had no idea how
f***ing dangerous that stuff is. Some snippets.

Do not discharge into drains or rivers. Contain the spillage using
bunding.
Clean-up procedures: Absorb into dry earth or sand. Transfer to a
closable, labelled salvage container for disposal by an appropriate
method.

Hand protection: Protective gloves.
Eye protection: Safety glasses. Ensure eye bath is to hand.
Skin protection: Protective clothing.

Stability: Stable under normal conditions.
Conditions to avoid: Heat.
Materials to avoid: Strong oxidising agents. Strong acids.
Haz. decomp. products: In combustion emits toxic fumes.

I'm wondering what you'd want in the eye bath to wash your eyes out with
if they got splashed with distilled water? Ummmm - more water?

Handy to know it emits toxic fumes if you put it on a fire though. I'd
better phone up my local fire brigade and see if they're aware they've
been using the wrong stuff all these years.

Oh, it's also obviously no use for the OP if he wants to put it in
batteries if one of the materials to avoid with it is strong acids.
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines

LOL. Brilliant link mate.

Adam

On Jun 5, 4:02*pm, "Dave Baker" wrote:
Just out of curiosity I was Googling for distilled water suppliers to see
how much it cost and came up with this extraordinary document.

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf


Class, absolute class.

--
Malc

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:57:56 -0700 (PDT), Malc wrote:

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf

Class, absolute class.

Nasty stuff dihydrogen monoxide. Should be banned.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:57:56 -0700 (PDT), Malc wrote:

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf
Class, absolute class.

Nasty stuff dihydrogen monoxide. Should be banned.

"Inhalation: No symptoms".

Really?

Andy

In article et,
says...
On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 01:57:56 -0700 (PDT), Malc wrote:

http://www.lindchem.co.uk/data_sheet...ED%20WATER.pdf

Class, absolute class.

Nasty stuff dihydrogen monoxide. Should be banned.


And addictive.
I've never known a regular, or even casual user who could live without
it for the rest of their lives after even one experience.
--
Carl Robson
Audio stream: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com:8000/samtest
Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

This should cut your costs down a bit

http://www.farmchem.co.uk/distilled-...tres-121-p.asp

£6.95 for 25 litres
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines

This should cut your costs down a bit
http://www.farmchem.co.uk/distilled-...tres-121-p.asp
£6.95 for 25 litres

Thanks - they're not actually "my" costs, as i'm not paying for it -
i'm still trying to get hold of someone who knows...

My thinking was it might be more environmentally friendly to "make our
own" than buy it in, and have it shipped from who knows where.

On Jun 4, 11:18*pm, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:
I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

Depends how well it's de-ionised I suppose.

Evaporating a small amount on a clean sheet of glass gives some idea
of dissolved solids.

cheers,
Pete.

Pete C wrote:
On Jun 4, 11:18 pm, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:
I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

Depends how well it's de-ionised I suppose.

Evaporating a small amount on a clean sheet of glass gives some idea
of dissolved solids.

cheers,
Pete.

We have very hard water here in Hampshire. I buy Reverse Osmosis water from
Maidenhead Aquatics (£4 for 25 litres I think) for my tank and insectivorous
plants. It passes this test with ease.
ISTR from school days you could test hardness by shaking tap, then
distilled, water plus a known amount of liquid soap in a measuring cylinder
and comparinging the height of the "head". It was reasonably accurate
compared to evaporating to dryness and weighing the residue on a chemical
balance.
--
LSR

In article ,
"LSR" writes:

We have very hard water here in Hampshire. I buy Reverse Osmosis water from
Maidenhead Aquatics (£4 for 25 litres I think) for my tank and insectivorous
plants. It passes this test with ease.

I use rainwater for insectivorous plants. I have occasionally
used brita filter jug water, and that seems to be OK too.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

A small still is only about £400. At least it was when I bought one for the
radiotherapy machines in Cheltenham about 8 years ago. BDH Chemicals I think
it was that sold them. IIRC we could produce a gallon of distilled in less
than a day.

--
Malc
Do not use the area outside this door for a urinal

On Jun 5, 9:24*pm, "malc" wrote:
Colin Wilson wrote:

I'm a bit crap on the chemistry side of things, but we use a lot of
wet cells (i.e. several thousand of them) at different sites.

I've been wondering whether water filtered using a reverse osmosis
unit (typically comes out as laboratory / food grade pure water), and
then de-ionised - would be suitable for topping up the cells.

...or does it have to be distilled ?

The cost of one of these units - even an industrial grade machine - is
only several hundred pounds, whereas distilled can cost £40 for 25
litres (depending on where it's bought from)

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom !

A small still is only about £400. At least it was when I bought one for the
radiotherapy machines in Cheltenham about 8 years ago. BDH Chemicals I think
it was that sold them. IIRC we could produce a gallon of distilled in less
than a day.

a ready made dehumidifier is way less and uses much less energy.
Conductivity is very good if kept clean. Or a home made still can be
made for sod all. Pressure cooker, microbore, and a thingy to
connect the 2.


NT

On Jun 5, 11:16*pm, wrote:

a ready made dehumidifier is way less and uses much less energy.
Conductivity is very good if kept clean. Or a home made still can be
made for sod all. Pressure cooker, microbore, and a thingy to
connect the 2.

True but I think we're talking about a commercial application here. A
home made still probably wouldn't pass safety regs.

--
Malc

Malc coughed up some electrons that declared:

On Jun 5, 11:16*pm, wrote:

a ready made dehumidifier is way less and uses much less energy.
Conductivity is very good if kept clean. Or a home made still can be
made for sod all. Pressure cooker, microbore, and a thingy to
connect the 2.

True but I think we're talking about a commercial application here. A
home made still probably wouldn't pass safety regs.

--
Malc


Do you still need a license to operate a still (of any kind)?

Tim

On Jun 6, 8:24*am, Malc wrote:
On Jun 5, 11:16*pm, wrote:

a ready made dehumidifier is way less and uses much less energy.
Conductivity is very good if kept clean. Or a home made still can be
made for sod all. Pressure cooker, microbore, and a thingy to
connect the 2.

True but I think we're talking about a commercial application here. A
home made still probably wouldn't pass safety regs.

I dont know what size of solar still would produce a gallon a day, or
whatever the op wants. No pressure vessel there.


NT