Zero Water vs Distilled Water

Tc99m

Tc99m

Member
Anyone use their Zero Water(ZW) filter instead of buying Distilled Water(DI)?

Now, I`m just a hobbyist. So a CR system is more money than I want to spend at the moment. We use ZW at home for our drinking water. Here in Newnan Georgia our water is slightly hard. From the tap we get on average 50-60 ppm. From the filtered water from the Fridge 26ppm. And you guessed it 0ppm from ZW filter.

Had the idea last night after I used my last gallon of DI. Just curious if anyone else has tried this?


I know DI is cheap per gallon. Just being lazy and don`t want to drive to store. :P
 
Test ZW by putting it out to dry/evaporate on a flat object that would traditionally see water spots. No water spots and your good:)
 
Some people are confusing distilled water with de-ionized water.
Distilled water is water that is turned into steam (or vapor) and then condensed back into liquid form, but without most of (but not all) of the minerals, chemicals, and contaminants that may have been found in the original water source. Multiple distillations will produce an almost pure, mineral-free water.
Deionized water is deeply demineralized, ultrapure water used in microelectronics, printed circuit boards, instrument manufacture, pharmacy, washing liquids, etc. In order to obtain the high quality, pure de-ionized water a multi-stage water purification process can be used. After pre-cleaning, the water is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane, and then the water is filtered through a special deionization medium, which removes the rest of the ions in the water. The purity of deionized water can exceed the purity of distilled water. I think that`s the type of water a CR-Spotless water filter system produces, although not to clean-room or laboratory specifications, but mineral-free enough for car washing, so that when used a rinsing solution, it will not leave mineral-spots if left to dry (evaporate) on its own without the aid or use of some type of drying medium (air blow-off or chamois or microfiber waffle-weave drying towel). Those of you who have to use hard water know the pain this can cause when washing a car with the traditional 2-bucket method. It`s also the reason so many of you have changed over to rinse-less washes like Optimum Polymer Technologies No-Rinse (or ONR, as it`s know here) and use distilled or deionized water for this expressed reason.

I would think that the water filtration system to produce Zero Water is similar to a Brita filter to produce clean, healthy tap drinking water. One other thing that a Brita filter does is to filter out cryptosporidium (amoeba) that can cause serious health issues. This is especially true in areas that have ground water contamination from farm-waste (manure) run-off. (like the Dairy State of Wisconsin, with its fractured karst limestone bedrock). I have no idea how much heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, radium) are eliminated because they do not use a reverse-osmosis process or distillation process, but it must be enough to meet current EPA drinking water guidelines and standards.
 
Lonnie said:
Some people are confusing distilled water with de-ionized water.
Distilled water is water that is turned into steam (or vapor) and then condensed back into liquid form, but without most of (but not all) of the minerals, chemicals, and contaminants that may have been found in the original water source. Multiple distillations will produce an almost pure, mineral-free water.
Deionized water is deeply demineralized, ultrapure water used in microelectronics, printed circuit boards, instrument manufacture, pharmacy, washing liquids, etc. In order to obtain the high quality, pure de-ionized water a multi-stage water purification process can be used. After pre-cleaning, the water is supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane, and then the water is filtered through a special deionization medium, which removes the rest of the ions in the water. The purity of deionized water can exceed the purity of distilled water. I think that`s the type of water a CR-Spotless water filter system produces, although not to clean-room or laboratory specifications, but mineral-free enough for car washing, so that when used a rinsing solution, it will not leave mineral-spots if left to dry (evaporate) on its own without the aid or use of some type of drying medium (air blow-off or chamois or microfiber waffle-weave drying towel). Those of you who have to use hard water know the pain this can cause when washing a car with the traditional 2-bucket method. It`s also the reason so many of you have changed over to rinse-less washes like Optimum Polymer Technologies No-Rinse (or ONR, as it`s know here) and use distilled or deionized water for this expressed reason.

I would think that the water filtration system to produce Zero Water is similar to a Brita filter to produce clean, healthy tap drinking water. One other thing that a Brita filter does is to filter out cryptosporidium (amoeba) that can cause serious health issues. This is especially true in areas that have ground water contamination from farm-waste (manure) run-off. (like the Dairy State of Wisconsin, with its fractured karst limestone bedrock). I have no idea how much heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, radium) are eliminated because they do not use a reverse-osmosis process or distillation process, but it must be enough to meet current EPA drinking water guidelines and standards.
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Sorry for the Distilled Water as (DI). My goof! I was comparing the filter for ZERO water to my Reverse Osmosis System for my aquarium. The Zero filter is a five-stage water filter system, putting the water through sediment, carbon, and De-Ionizing (DI) resin. So in my mind it functions sort of like a mini Reverse Osmosis (RO)/DI water system. Thank you all for your input. I`ll starting an evaporation side by side tonight. Love all the knowledge this forum has to offer. Thank you all.
 
I used to buy Distilled water from WalMart. At about 90 cents per gallon it was not that bad. I used it to do rinsless wash.
I later started investigating the CR system and other systems of DI water.
I ended up buying a On The Go Spotless Portable Dual Bed Deionizer. It was pricey as I am like you a hobbyist.
Buying gallons of DI or Distilled water was much cheaper. :)
But oh well I have a bit of OCD.

It has lasted for months with minimum appreciable change of ppm. I think it started at 0 and now it is around 1or 2.
I used it for rinsless wash and final rinse of for regular wash. Yes I was impressed that the car dried out in the sun with no water spots.
i am not sure of the economies of scale with the zero filter pitcher. If you use a few gallons for your rinsless wash how often you have to replace the filter how much does it cost? if you use 30 gallons of water per one filter and the filter is costing $10 then it is cheaper than buying individual Distilled gallons from waly mart as it would cost me around $25,

if you want to wash your car normally and at least rinse it with DI water then I am not sure you can do that with Zero filter pitcher.

Regards

Nick
 
Nick:
At lease you understand the concept of "economies of scale" when comparing the cost in buying individual gallons of distilled or deionized water versus the cost of a DI water system and having to maintain it for car washing purposes.

There is a play-on-words when I say "economies of scale" and referencing "hard-water scale" that was unintended, but then no one caught that but me.
 
Yeah cost for distilled is cheap per gallon. I`m curious for those few times I run out. It`s a 45min drive roundtrip for a $1 gallon of Distilled water.

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sometimes I buy distilled water, most times I fill up my RW mixtures and steamer with my RO system water. No complaints/issues yet. To be safe I`ll probably buy the refill RO water this summer for washing since my system might need a filter replacement(or not, haven`t bothered checking).
 
d79bd3742375c02c44c9e93c2524d03c.jpg
Here are the results from a quick test. Zero water on left and tap on right. Zero water measured 0 ppm and tap measured 68 ppm. Will repeat after I get some more Distilled water.

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The drinking water fill station at Walmart or any grocery store is RO DI water. Best part is it`s really cheap and you can get a 5 gallon jug. I used to get it when I had saltwater fish. Now I have an RO DI filter for that.

I am in WI, the water is very hard. But it tastes great!!! Lol.
 
I know this is off-topic, but water quality "problems" associated with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), or large-scale dairy farms, is one of BIG concern in Northeast Wisconsin, especially with its underground karst limestone (AKA, the Niagara Escarpment). I cannot diss the corporate dairy farms in this area as they produce something I think all Autopian detailers like and need:food, or more specifically milk to make cheese (unless you are lactose-intolerant or do not like pizza!). However, if these corporate farms are, indeed, polluting the ground water used as a drinking water source for their rural neighbors, then it becomes a "problem" for everyone. Water quality and CAFO -induced pollution is a huge issue for both parties involved that has no easy economic answers. It is being closely followed by many, considering the national attention given to the lead problems in the water supply in Flint, Michigan. We all need to eat and we all need to drink clean water. Let`s hope we can continue to do both within economic reason.
 
Tc99m said:
d79bd3742375c02c44c9e93c2524d03c.jpg
Here are the results from a quick test. Zero water on left and tap on right. Zero water measured 0 ppm and tap measured 68 ppm. Will repeat after I get some more Distilled water.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


My DI system came with a PPM meter. my tap water is like 80 ppm. Out my DI system is 0 up to 5 after months of using it.
I will measure this weekend one more time and see what it shows.

Regards


Nick
 
titsataki said:
My DI system came with a PPM meter. my tap water is like 80 ppm. Out my DI system is 0 up to 5 after months of using it.
I will measure this weekend one more time and see what it shows.

Regards



Nick
Click to expand...

So I tried to measure it this weekend and guess what I did not flash the water out of my hose leading to the DI filter and it was frozen solid.. Temp in the northeast was barely over 20 so I will have to try mid week..

I did take a measuring of the tap water and it is actually a around 99-104 PPM. LOL almost like sand paper for us OCD cleaners. ;)

Nick
 
up from the dead.. finally we hit 50F in New England and I run my D ionizer system. Still showed around 6-8 PPM. I have been using it for a almost a year washing 5-6 personal cars in a staggered way every 3-4 weeks I am not sure when I would think I need to replenish the resins (refill is $90 so not a cheap thing). I would say if it hits 30-50 or so..

Regards

Nick
 
titsataki said:
up from the dead.. finally we hit 50F in New England and I run my D ionizer system. Still showed around 6-8 PPM. I have been using it for a almost a year washing 5-6 personal cars in a staggered way every 3-4 weeks I am not sure when I would think I need to replenish the resins (refill is $90 so not a cheap thing). I would say if it hits 30-50 or so..

Nick
Click to expand...

CR says to replace resin when the TDS reading is 20 ppm.
 
The zero water website says if you are 51-200 TDS then your filter will last 25-40 gallons. Obviously the higher the TDS score then the shorter life span it will have.

Each filter today`s price is $15 each for the name brand on amazon so it would be less than distilled water to buy that if you had low enough TDS.


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titsataki said:
up from the dead.. finally we hit 50F in New England and I run my D ionizer system. Still showed around 6-8 PPM. I have been using it for a almost a year washing 5-6 personal cars in a staggered way every 3-4 weeks I am not sure when I would think I need to replenish the resins (refill is $90 so not a cheap thing). I would say if it hits 30-50 or so..

Regards

Nick
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing your measurements. This helped confirmed my hunch about the amount of particulates in water.
 
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