The largest independent coolant manufacturer here states that reverse Osmosis water is as good as anything as far as they are concerned and it's what they use in their 'complete' formulations. The levels of trace elements are virtually 0.
It's all I've been using for years too.
From the Tectaloy tech info book...
Quote:
Distilled Water
Distilled water is created by a process of
heating water until it turns to steam, this steam
is passed through a condenser of some kind,
the steam is cooled and reverts to pure water.
This process is very efficient for the
production of high quality water. The
description Distilled Water is often misused,
quite often demineralized water is referred to
as distilled water, this is technically incorrect
as the process that creates distilled water is
very different from the process to create
demineralized water. True distilled water is
becoming harder to obtain due to the cost of
production and the energy required by the
distillation process.
Demineralized Water
Demineralized water can be produced in
several ways, the most common ways of
production are, passing water through a
mixed bed deionizer or twin column
demineralizer. These machines contain either
a weak base ion exchange resin or a strong
base exchange resin depending on the quality
or quantity of water required. The quality of
good demineralized water will in most ways
be equal to that of distilled water.
Reverse Osmosis Water
Often referred to as RO water. RO water has
several advantages over the other systems,
it consumes less than 10% of the energy
required to distil water and uses no acids or
caustics like the demineralizers do. RO water
is of very high quality when it's produced by
large commercial machines. The RO machine
produces water by a pressure process. Feed
water is pressurized into a membrane that will
remove up to 99.8% of minerals and salts
contained in the feed water, good quality water
is collected and the waste water carries away
the salts and minerals. RO machines not only
produce high quality low conductivity water
they also have the ability to remove bacteria.
Rain Water
It is very hard to predict the quality of rain
water as it is subject to its environment and
the quality of any storage vessel used to collect
it. In an industrial area, rain water can be a
cocktail of chemicals and general fallout that
is washed from the roof into the collection
tank. If you believe rain water is the answer
just reflect for a second on the damage it does
to gutters and tanks, and they're usually
galvanized against corrosion.
Tap Water
The quality of mains water is too unpredictable
to be relied upon, try and avoid using it in
automotive cooling systems.
Spring Water
Spring water is totally unsuitable for use in
the cooling system as it is full of minerals and
salts, just read the bottle if you're in doubt.
Bore Water
Bore water is similar to spring water, it's full
of minerals and salts of all kinds depending
on the source. Some bore waters actually
contain more salt than sea water. Avoid the
use of bore water except in an emergency.
Sea Water
Although I doubt that anyone would
intentionally use sea water in a radiator I felt
it was worth a mention as I saw reference to
the use of sea water in the radiator on a
corrosion inhibitor product. Sea water is totally
unacceptable for use in the radiator.
Suitable Waters for use in the Cooling
System.
Distilled, Demineralized and RO waters are
the most suitable as they are always of similar
quality and purity. Rain water can be
acceptable but only from a known source that
has been tested, all other waters are basically
unsuitable.
When water is required in a formulation,
Tectaloy products use only the highest quality
low conductivity RO water. We manufacture
our water in-house using the latest and most
efficient equipment available. We only
manufacture radiator products so we make
sure we do it right.
WARNING! All pure waters are more
aggressive if used untreated. Always use a
quality corrosion inhibitor such as Tectaloy
Xtra-Cool Gold in conjunction with distilled,
demineralized or reverse osmosis water
It's all I've been using for years too.
From the Tectaloy tech info book...
Quote:
Distilled Water
Distilled water is created by a process of
heating water until it turns to steam, this steam
is passed through a condenser of some kind,
the steam is cooled and reverts to pure water.
This process is very efficient for the
production of high quality water. The
description Distilled Water is often misused,
quite often demineralized water is referred to
as distilled water, this is technically incorrect
as the process that creates distilled water is
very different from the process to create
demineralized water. True distilled water is
becoming harder to obtain due to the cost of
production and the energy required by the
distillation process.
Demineralized Water
Demineralized water can be produced in
several ways, the most common ways of
production are, passing water through a
mixed bed deionizer or twin column
demineralizer. These machines contain either
a weak base ion exchange resin or a strong
base exchange resin depending on the quality
or quantity of water required. The quality of
good demineralized water will in most ways
be equal to that of distilled water.
Reverse Osmosis Water
Often referred to as RO water. RO water has
several advantages over the other systems,
it consumes less than 10% of the energy
required to distil water and uses no acids or
caustics like the demineralizers do. RO water
is of very high quality when it's produced by
large commercial machines. The RO machine
produces water by a pressure process. Feed
water is pressurized into a membrane that will
remove up to 99.8% of minerals and salts
contained in the feed water, good quality water
is collected and the waste water carries away
the salts and minerals. RO machines not only
produce high quality low conductivity water
they also have the ability to remove bacteria.
Rain Water
It is very hard to predict the quality of rain
water as it is subject to its environment and
the quality of any storage vessel used to collect
it. In an industrial area, rain water can be a
cocktail of chemicals and general fallout that
is washed from the roof into the collection
tank. If you believe rain water is the answer
just reflect for a second on the damage it does
to gutters and tanks, and they're usually
galvanized against corrosion.
Tap Water
The quality of mains water is too unpredictable
to be relied upon, try and avoid using it in
automotive cooling systems.
Spring Water
Spring water is totally unsuitable for use in
the cooling system as it is full of minerals and
salts, just read the bottle if you're in doubt.
Bore Water
Bore water is similar to spring water, it's full
of minerals and salts of all kinds depending
on the source. Some bore waters actually
contain more salt than sea water. Avoid the
use of bore water except in an emergency.
Sea Water
Although I doubt that anyone would
intentionally use sea water in a radiator I felt
it was worth a mention as I saw reference to
the use of sea water in the radiator on a
corrosion inhibitor product. Sea water is totally
unacceptable for use in the radiator.
Suitable Waters for use in the Cooling
System.
Distilled, Demineralized and RO waters are
the most suitable as they are always of similar
quality and purity. Rain water can be
acceptable but only from a known source that
has been tested, all other waters are basically
unsuitable.
When water is required in a formulation,
Tectaloy products use only the highest quality
low conductivity RO water. We manufacture
our water in-house using the latest and most
efficient equipment available. We only
manufacture radiator products so we make
sure we do it right.
WARNING! All pure waters are more
aggressive if used untreated. Always use a
quality corrosion inhibitor such as Tectaloy
Xtra-Cool Gold in conjunction with distilled,
demineralized or reverse osmosis water
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