No...you can NOT use Sea Water RO for you Batteries!

[SV THIRD DAY]

No, you can't use RO Water made from Sea water for your batteries.

This is a question I get from time to time and last week the local La Paz, Mexico cruisers radio net was abuzz with this topic. So I wanted to help get the word out and stop the spread of what I call "dock or chat room internet rumors".

Battery water should be under 10ppm (parts per million of dissolved solids) and the lower the better. Adding water to your batteries with dissolved solids will shorten their life. As the water evaporates the ions in the water (the dissolved solids) will either form precipitate sludge with your battery acid and drop out of solution Or they can adhere to your battery plates. A bad thing...a really bad thing.

It's important to understand that not all "RO Water" is the same. The confusion happens because people confuse RO water made from sea water and RO Water made from Fresh water. Sea water RO has a PPM range of 120 to 500ppm. Fresh water RO has a ppm range from ZERO to 20ppm.

So if you are out in the middle of nowhere and need battery water, run your water maker in the fresh water flush mode with water from your tanks and now you will be making RO Water from fresh water and the TDS will typically be under 10ppm. The best battery water is distilled water but if you have to use RO Water to top off your battery make SURE that it is Fresh Water RO and Not Sea Water RO. Your batteries will thank you.

One additional word of Caution. I have checked the TDS of 3 brands of "Battery Water" sold here in La Paz, Mexico and all three of them had a TDS level HIGHER than the 5 gallon garafongs of water delivered for drinking water. The three readings were 388ppm, 1322ppm and the lowest was 122ppm. So to be safe, ALWAYS check the TDS of your battery water before adding it to your batteries.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

No, you can't use RO Water made from Sea water for your batteries.

This is a question I get from time to time and last week the local La Paz, Mexico cruisers radio net was abuzz with this topic. So I wanted to help get the word out and stop the spread of what I call "dock or chat room internet rumors".

How about melting the frost built up in your freezer? According to this site, it's very low dissolved solids.

Condensate Water Introduction

They are talking primarily about aircon condensate, but it's the same process.

"The quality of this water is essentially the same as distilled water; mineral free and a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level of near zero. "

[CatNewBee]

You can also distill some water if needed.

A distillation gadget can save your life on the ocean when run out of fresh water and you can also distill other stuff too.

[zeehag]

thankyou rich for confirming the quality of garafon water... i use that for batteries.