Australia's Science Forum

Hello

I am about to purchase a a water distiller for our Science department. The literature I have read and comments posted on other threads suggest that water distillers are not environmentally friendly and that water deionisers are the way to go.

Can anyone help me with recommended brand(s), how well they work and how long the filters last?

Thanks

Ergaster

Too much water is wasted with a Still. I buy distilled water as I need it and make up solutions with tap water unless specifically asked for solutions made up with distilled water.

Hi,
we have never looked back after buying in our distilled water commercially. It costs about $11 for 20 litres. Saves so much tap water - we once measured the water running to waste, 97 litres for 1 litre of distilled water.....
Cheers,
Robyn

Ri - that makes me wonder if your still was working properly!

I agree that there is water wastage with stills, but what about all the plastic waste from purchasing bottled water? What do you do with your empty bottles?

A couple of years ago, my conscience got the better of me. There was no water in Warragamba dam, but I was pumping 100L of water out the window on to the grass for each litre of distilled water I made. I took the plunge and bought a Vertex filter from Serrata.It works brilliantly! When the filters are new, the conductivity is absolute zero (!!!), and the water passes all my tests with flying colours. Every bit as good as distilled water. (beautiful clear Silver nitrate solutions, etc)

The filter apparatus cost just under $700, and it has two filters that need to be replaced every year or so. The Activated Carbon filter costs $64 and they recommend replacing it every 6 months (I only replace mine every year or so) The Mixed Bed Resin filter costs $85 and needs to be replaced every year or so. So that is $150 per year just in Filters!!) The conductivity does start to go up when the filters get older.

I filter around 150L of water per year, so that works out at about $100 per Litre, plus the initial cost of the filter, which is about twice what Robyn is paying for commercial distilled water. I think I have seen Demineralised water at IGA for just over $2 for 2L, so probably you might be better off scrapping the filter and just buying the water commercially (but NOT from Mitre 10 or Bunnings. They tend to be a bit more expensive ($4 for 2 L)

cheers
Ian

Yes I buy distilled water in 20L refillable drums for 50cents a litre, from a car battery supplier. Definitely cheaper than supermarkets or hardware stores.

Hi Rosalie,
the distilled water comes in 20 litre plastic containers each with a tap. Delivery is free if we recycle 3 at a time. It's nice to have the back-up of 2 spares. They are taken away to be refilled when empty. At prac exam time, we use lots of distilled water. I could not ever interest the teachers in de-ionised water.
Hope this helps,
Robyn

RosalieM wrote:Ri - that makes me wonder if your still was working properly!

I agree that there is water wastage with stills, but what about all the plastic waste from purchasing bottled water? What do you do with your empty bottles?

There is a company that takes back the empty ones, and just keeps recycleing. They are at Silverwater.

I purchased distilled water in 20L bottles when we were on water restrictions. They cost us $20 each and that was after negotiations to bring the price down because we would be purchasing several indefinately. I then had to remind them every time I went to buy them that they were selling them to us with a slight discount...

Ri, would you please send me a PM with details of where you get yours from? I'd be interested to know if they will deliver to Tamworth.

I don't particularly enjoy seeing all that water going down the drain, but the still was purchased because the bottled water was too expensive and the plastic waste was too much. (This happened before I came here). I can't see that the cost of the water and the time it takes for me to go get it is worth it. I know it sounds harsh, especially when everyone is so water conscious these days, but the reality is, if it costs too much money, it won't be approved. Perhaps if we can purchase it at a reasonable price and not have to worry about the containers going to waste, we might be able to purchase it too, or maybe purchase some and distill some as well.

I'm interested in that info also, as we're looking into the alternatives to using a still, and contemplating buying a deioniser next year.

Would like to hear more about other's experiences and opinions too, please!

We buy water from the local people who supply the wate for water coolers and have no problems; the water's good for general use, zero conductivity and no chlorides. Best of all it's $10 or so for 20L and cheaper still when you recycle the containers.
Liz

I must admit I have thought of putting the hose from the distiller out the window to the ag plot, to water something, but they only have weeds there, so it doesn't seem worth the effort.

Hi All,
I couldn't be happier with my water distiller. I got it earlier this year. It does 4 litres at a time, in three and a half hours, no waste at all, and you just turn it on and forget it. It turns itself off. It cost about $380, and comes with spare filters, and a special cleaning agent to clean it. The water has passed all the tests, and I'm not wasting a drop.
I'm happy to pass on more details via PM to anyone who wants to check them out.
Cheers,
Lisa

My water still was purchased befor I statrted working here. After expressing concern about the amount of water wastage I was told by the maintenence guy who i had asked to rig up a hose to take the water outside that we dont have a water problem up here in Darwin so there was no point saving the waste! so like many of you my water wase just goes down the sink!

Yes, please, Labman!

Have been talking about this thread with my HT this morning, and he suggested we research stills to see what other options were available.

I'm keeping a file on all these suggestions and will also bring it up for discussion at our local network meeting this afternoon, so any input would be most appreciated

Thanks everyone,

Hi All,

I have a DELTA water still, from LABGLASS... This is an expensive bit of gear but this is one that I requested that we buy and I never look back.

Just google Delta from Labglass and go from there. You won't be disappointed but YES you do pay for what you get. This is top of the range.

Cheers,

Robb.....

P.S. Queensland company..

Thanks, Robb, I'll check it out.

Mine is the slightly less expensive single boiler form Labglass the Cascade, little sister of the double boiler Delta. Still an expensive piece of equiptment though.