Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 12:12:12 -0500
Reply-To: "Jack R." <jack007@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Jack R." <jack007@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Distilled Water
In-Reply-To: <47A22D2F.7030904@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
John,
I had a similar problem, and even though I am on City Water, and supplied by
Detroit, which is one of the better location. I installed a water softener,
and cut my soap usage down by 50% (less detergent, whiter whites etc. -
starting to sound like an info-merchial - no lime deposits in my shower, no
bath tub ring, no water spots when I wash my Vanagon). I use Potassium in
place of water softener salt, which lasts twice as long, and does not cause
any corrosion issues in the plumbing.
Anyway, I have an under the sink filter, which removes the rest of the crap
that the water softener doesn't catch, and that filter now lasts over 1
year! Vs. only 2 months before the softener was installed.
So, this may be a bit off the string, but I use the filtered water in place
of costly bottled water for all applications, including my Vanagon (required
Vanagon Content).
Jack R.
N. of Detroit
Spot free 84 Westy, totally restored, washed with bubbly water by hand.
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Rodgers
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 3:19 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Distilled Water
In my area I am supplied by the city water supply. It is nasty! Smells
bad, tastes bad. So much so that I won't drink it unfiltered. There is
so much grunge in the water that my little filters I have to replace
every month because they have cleaned out so much sludge in theater.
They literally plug up with the garbage about every thirty days of use,
and the water stops glowing. This is with a city water supply running
through it. These filters have activated charcoal in them and I don't
know what else. Would this filtered water work for the cooling system in
lieu of distilled water?
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Ben Cichowski wrote:
> Hi Jake and All,
>
> Question: "Where would I find out
> if the Vancouver BC water supply has these polyphosphates? I think
> they use chloramine as an anti-bacterial...."
>
> You should be able to just put in a call to your city works and ask them
if they are using any polyphosphates (zinc orthophosphate is one of the more
common ones and may be a more familiar term to whatever city worker you
happen to get on the phone). Also, Canada follows suit with EPA on just
about everything, so I would bet that each year, every customer is shown a
"consumer confidence report" either as a mailing or on the web. This CCR
will give you all the information about the water coming in through the tap
(test results, what chemicals they use, etc.)
>
> Again, I'm not sure if Canada does these CCRs, but I would bet that they
do. If you're in the US, you get one for sure (but may not notice it).
>
> As for chlorine, I don't think it should be a problem for anything. By the
time it reaches your tap, it is so unbelievably low in concentration (and
continues to be used up over time).
> If you're worried about it, set it out in an open container for a day and
it'll probably be gone.
>
> -Ben
>
> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:14:18 -0800
> From: crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com
> To: aquasheck@hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: Distilled Water
> CC: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
>
> Thanks Ben, that's good to know. Where would I find out if the Vancouver
BC water supply has these polyphosphates? I think they use chloramine as an
anti-bacterial....
>
>
> On Jan 31, 2008 7:59 AM, Ben Cichowski <aquasheck@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm only a shade-tree mechanic, but my full time profession is as a water
quality engineer. I personally used distilled. If your tap is supplied by a
municipal system in a town larger than 3,300 people, chances are your tap
water will be sufficiently free of minerals that may precipitate out in your
system (but also read my last line).
>
>
> The big 4 to worry about are Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Manganese. When
you used to see a lot of antifreezes containing phosphates, these were put
in for corrosion control, as well as to sequester minerals like Iron
(surround the molecule so it doesn't precipitate out). But, then they
started to find that phosphates destabilize under high temps and actually
precipitate out of solution themselves...thus adding to the problem.
>
>
> One thing to keep in mind is that, even if you are using tap water, your
municipal system may be using polyphosphates to sequester iron (if your area
has high iron concentrations), or for corrosion control of distribution
lines. If you use tap water in this situation, it is essentially like using
an antifreeze that contains phosphates - not good.
>
>
> In short, go with distilled and live on the safe side.
>
> -Ben
>
>
>> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:31:53 -0500
>> From: d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM
>> Subject: Re: Distilled Water
>>
>
>
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>
>> Yes, arouand that time as many new coolant formulations were being
>> introduced,many cooling system issues were found to be related to
minerals,
>>
>
>
>> ions and other stuff in tap water that reduced the effectiveness of
coolant
>> and cuase precipatation, (deposits that clogged) and abrasion of cooling
>> system parts. Most large diesel engines reqiure distilled water fill and
>>
>
>
>> many antifreeze suppiers now sell pre mixed with distilled or deionized
>> water. If you have hard water, you want to use distilled. If you think
there
>> is a lot of confusion with automotive antfreezes, try the truck and
>>
>
>
>> industrial engine world.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: Vdub Guy <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
>>> Reply-To: Vdub Guy <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
>>>
>
>
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Distilled Water
>>> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:26:04 +0000
>>>
>>> OK, I knew I wasn't dreaming, a search of the archives brought up many
>>>
>
>
>>> hits about how distilled water should be used with coolant. I only went
>>> back as far as 2003, and don't have time to sort through them all, but
has
>>> opinion on this changed? Jeff
>>>
>
>
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