Filtered instead of Distilled

[Arthur]

Hi all. I got one of those 'water pictures' with little plastic fish inside that bob about in streams of bubbles. For 20 month old daughter's entertainment purposes. The instructions say to use distilled water..but will Britta filtered water be good enough?

thanks

Arthur

[Owain]

"Arthur" wrote | I got one of those 'water pictures' with little plastic fish inside | that bob about in streams of bubbles. For 20 month old daughter's | entertainment purposes. | The instructions say to use distilled water..but will Britta | filtered water be good enough?

I think probably, but I'd also suggest boiling the filtered water vigourously and then cooling before using. AFAIK jug filters don't kill bacteria, spores, etc. Although if there is any chance a 20 month old could get at and drink after the contents have been fermenting, it might be wiser to follow the mfr's instructions exactly.

Owain

[Arthur]

The display is wall mounted and plugs into the mains (power consumption =

5w). I was only concerned about damaging the electrics.

arthur

[mike ring]

"Owain" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I would have thought tap water would be better - one of the reasons filtered water can go off is it hasn't got the preservatives of tap water any more, so I have to clean out the algae regularly

mike

[Dave Liquorice]

The chlorine will disipate fairly quickly, tap water is then fairly nutrient rich and well oxygenated... Depend on how hard your tap water is, scale could be a problem as well.

One easy source of "distilled" water is the ice crusting from your freezer. If you pick bits without the normal freezer detritus the melt will be pretty clean, low in oxygen and nutrients.

[Ian Stirling]

Possibly. Do you have a dehumidifier? I don't know if the Britta 'filter' is just a filter, or if it removes other stuff too. They probably are worried about sca;e amd other stuff depositing on things and making pump bits last not quite as long.

[Arthur]

entertainment

I should have figured that out for myself.

Thanks.

Arthur

[N. Thornton]

no, 2 totally different animals.

[Andy Dingley]

Use any water that's clear enough to see through.

Then add a splash of 20 month old daughter's Milton sterilising liquid, to stop it going green from algae. If it's for a 20 year old son instead, use a Campden tablet from his home-brew gear. No matter how clean the water when you add it, you'll get algal growth if it's exposed to the air and has sunlight.

Filtered water is quite different to distilled (or what's more likely these days, de-ionised water). Either will have been filtered and more or less de-bugged. However distillation will also remove dissolved minerals - just try filtering salty water some time (just before you change the filter).

If there's any evaporation, use distilled. This avoids rings of limescale forming around the top.

[Ian Stirling]

Though the concern about bacteria is probably reasonable too.

[Ian Stirling]

You are unlikely to do this. I used a 10.99 B&Q "pyramid water fountain" (the ugliest desktop "water feature" I've ever seen), for pumping copper plating solution. Worked well, for about 6 months. (IIRC, 10% sulphuric acid, copper sulphate, ...)