Watermaker water to refill batteries

[a64pilot]

I hadn't thought of it before but the ice in your freezer is distilled as its condensed from water vapor like Emouchet said

[accomplice]

Very pure water is recommended because as the water evaporates and you refill, the contaminants build up. Thus, infrequent use of RO water, when no other is available, may be a reasonable option.

[a64pilot]

Back to its better than letting them go dry, but isn't optimal.
Similar to engine oil, if I for some reason were real low, and could not get the correct oil, I'd put the incorrect grade of oil in as opposed to running very low, wrong oil is better than no oil.
Unfortunately though, your unlikely to change battery electrolyte

[ObiWanSand]

Thanks all!

To me that was a very informative discussion

The points are duly noted. Head out with a gallon or so with distilled water, should you end up in a pinch try the condensed water from your fridge/freezer (duly filtered..) or, last resort, use som from your watermaker.

Jolly good !

Thank you very much indeed

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Better than letting them go dry, but not by much.
Use distilled water, or if you can't get it, use airconditioner condensate as its distilled. ( I will get argument with that, watch )
I believe a watermaker as far as RO units go is not a real good unit, it produces drinkable water, but not "pure" water. Actually water like from a Dialysis RO unit will eat up plumbing, its so pure and water being the universal solvent, it will dissolve the metal in pipes and fixtures etc.
You don't want to drink "pure" water by the way, it tastes like crap and will leech minerals from your body. ( bet I get argument on that too )

The only thing I really dispute is the "not by much" comment. It depends in part, how much, and of course on the situation. You could also use the water from the water maker to easily create your own distilled water. it won't be as "pure as the stuff you buy, but will be a significant improvement over the source or any of the sources mentioned. As to the arguments anticipated by a64pilot, they are deserved and may even be appropriate.

BTW, rainwater has been returned to liquid form, much like condensate, but it is not distilled.

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Better than letting them go dry, but not by much.
Use distilled water, or if you can't get it, use airconditioner condensate as its distilled. ( I will get argument with that, watch )
I believe a watermaker as far as RO units go is not a real good unit, it produces drinkable water, but not "pure" water. Actually water like from a Dialysis RO unit will eat up plumbing, its so pure and water being the universal solvent, it will dissolve the metal in pipes and fixtures etc.
You don't want to drink "pure" water by the way, it tastes like crap and will leech minerals from your body. ( bet I get argument on that too )

You sir are correct.. watermakers are not suitable for batteries not are the commercial ones sufeccient for dialysis (depending on feed water quality) which is why they are followed up usually by Deionizers to polish the permeate before going through a UV sterilizer and 0.2 micron filtration before being used in the dialysis process. Funny you bring up dialysis with RO because the hollow fiber dialyzers were first used in RO many moons ago while the plate membranes were used in dialysis. Things switched and are now just the opposite. I designed Accute systems for Osminics and Zyzatech many years ago. Thanks for the memory.. BTW, NOTHING WRONG WITH AC CONDENSATE for batteries..

[thunderhoof]

Rainwater well filtered?

[a64pilot]

Rainwater is a condensate and therefore starts out as what could be considered distilled, however I believe it often condenses on airborne particulates, which could of course be anything from dust to pollution.
Every heard of acid rain?
Really distilled water is so cheap and easily obtained just carry some, and if you run out for whatever reason, like maybe the jug breaks, then use the cleanest water you can get.
A TDS meter if you have one is a good way to find the most pure source you have.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by ObiWanSand

Hi all!

I was wandering if there is any merit to the idea of using watermaker water, to refill batteries? After all the water is quite sterile having gone through 5 micron filters?

Has anyone tried and are willing to share experiences ?

PS!
Sorry if this has already been discussed, would be happy if someone could post the relevant links.

Not very close to sterile. 5x larger than most bacteria and 100x larger than most viruses.

Additionally, all water makers leak some over size material through and none are rated as biological purifiers. You still need per-chlorination.

Organisms
Size range (μm)
Example (size in μm)
Cysts (NSF 53 filters 4-14 Cryptosporimium (4-8)
Prokaryotes


Bacterium: typical rod
1.0-0.5 x 1.0-10
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.5 x 0.5)
Bacterium: typical sphere
1.0 diameter
Bacillus megaterium (7.6 x 2.4)



Eukaryotes


Fungi: filamentous
Red Tide
8-15 x 4-8
5-75
Mucor hiemalis (8 diameter)
(disolved toxins may be present in red tide)
Fungi: yeast cell

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (29-49.1 μm3)
Alga
28-32 x 8-12
Chlamydomonas



Viruses (NSF P231 filters)


Virus
0.015 x 0.3
Poliovirus (0.03 x 0.03)


Tobacco mosaic (0.02 x 0.3)

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Rainwater is a condensate and therefore starts out as what could be considered distilled, however I believe it often condenses on airborne particulates, which could of course be anything from dust to pollution.
Every heard of acid rain?
Really distilled water is so cheap and easily obtained just carry some, and if you run out for whatever reason, like maybe the jug breaks, then use the cleanest water you can get.
A TDS meter if you have one is a good way to find the most pure source you have.

So it might have a trace of sulfate in it (same as battery acid).

A bunch of samples were tested for the below article. Rainwater, distilled water, and dehumidifier water passed vendor specifications. Tap water, water maker water, and air conditioner water failed. We had lots of discussion regarding why it was different from dehumidifier water, but the bottom line is it was considerably different over 4 different units.

Rainwater, dehumidifier water, distilled water, or home RO (not fed by seawater) are your safe bets. Freezer frost sounds right, but someone should test it.

Watering Batteries - Practical Sailor Print Edition Article

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Rainwater is a condensate and therefore starts out as what could be considered distilled, however I believe it often condenses on airborne particulates, which could of course be anything from dust to pollution.
Every heard of acid rain?
Really distilled water is so cheap and easily obtained just carry some, and if you run out for whatever reason, like maybe the jug breaks, then use the cleanest water you can get.
A TDS meter if you have one is a good way to find the most pure source you have.

Actually, TDS meter is conductivity. Not even close for reading "pure, deionized, or distilled water". It is read from a resistivity monitor, and a vented distiller will read 18.3 Meg ohms resistivity. That is the relitive theory of H2O. A/C condensate will read between 12-15 Meg ohm. Rainwater will read TDS or conductivity and I wouldn't put it in my batteries. If anyone is in doubt, I suggest looking up the ASTM Spec on battery water.

[a64pilot]

I really didn't understand that, but if you have three sources of water, a TDS meter won't tell you which one has less dissolved solids?

[buzzstar]

Serious questions that are not quite on, but...

1/ Why is deionized water better in a battery?
2/ Is it because the preexisting ions might infer with the chemical process in the battery? 3/ 3/ How is deionized water different than distilled water?

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I really didn't understand that, but if you have three sources of water, a TDS meter won't tell you which one has less dissolved solids?

There lies the problem.. On a TDS meter, they will all read zero which is why "pure" water is read in resistivity. Water is actually a very poor conductor of electricity and it's the impurities that are in the water that act as the conductor.

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Serious questions that are not quite on, but...

1/ Why is deionized water better in a battery?
2/ Is it because the preexisting ions might infer with the chemical process in the battery? 3/ 3/ How is deionized water different than distilled water?

Deionized or Distilled water has nothing in it that will react with the chemical process and create excessive sulfates that build over time. RO water or rain water would. Even the TOC's (organic carbons) that attach to rainwater as it falls through the atmosphere will cause a rise in sulfates.

Purity wise, there really isn't any difference between Deionized water and Vented Distilled water. The processes are just different. One uses heat, and the other uses ion exchange exchanging positive cations for Hydrogen (H) and negitive anions for hydroxide (OH). Thus H2O. This is of course through a mixed bed deionizer and not two tanks in series.