![]() Bottom line for Wheeling, WV tap water test #2…the water is dirtier, but smells better. The area circled in red had free-flowing grit in it that can be readily scooped up. Not too much of a smell this time around, but the residue was loaded with grit and debris. I retested the Wheeling tap water in the winter to see if there was any seasonal difference between test #1. I don’t know what the brown residue is, but the toilets and many factories dump waste into the Ohio River and that is where most of the tap water comes from.ĭistillation residue (test #2) from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV city tap water. The resulting distilled water has to be distilled a second time to make it taste like spring water that has been distilled once. The water left a brown residue that has a foul smell. I had heard that fracking is causing water to become radioactive in some areas, so I have tested some of the water samples for radioactivity.ĭistillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV city tap water. But it gives you a glimpse as to what is in your water after you boil off the water as steam and condense the steam back into water leaving behind the heavier waste components that won’t boil off. It is amazing what is in your water that you can’t see.ĭistillng does not give you the results for bacteria content, chemicals, radioactive or volatile components that will boil off as gases. Distilling water is a quick acid test you can do to find out what residue is in your water. Water pollution as well as water scarcity is in the news a lot nowadays. Primo / Culligan / Wal-Mart self-fill water vending machine Glacier / Water Island / Kroger self-fill water vending machine Giant Eagle / Creekside Springs Water Company (spring) Woodsfield, Ohio (spring water unfiltered ) Well, Spring, Rain, Snow and River Water Tests: The vending machines also did an excellent job at cleaning up the water. If you filtering your water for darkroom use the ZeroWater filter tested the best. Here are the residue results of distilling tap water, well water, spring water, melted snow water, rain water and purified water (processed and filtered tap water.) At the end of this post are tests for water filters, filtering water pitchers, a self-fill water vending machine and a water distiller. Well, so much for the coffee filter idea…Īs I have been traveling around the US shooting for my project The Americans…60 years after Frank I have picked up samples of tap water from various locals. Required an acid cleanup.Ībove: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of the same Wheeling, WV tap water above that was filtered through a double layer of paper coffee filters. Here are the results of the coffee filter test…Ībove: Distillation residue from 1 gallon of Wheeling, WV unfiltered tap water. (At least that is what I see from the majority of them.)Įven so, you would think their anal nature would be all over distilled water to obtain the purest and best form of liquid gold for their wet processing instead of trying to use a coffee filter. So, let me set the anal wet darkroom processors straight as to what is actually in their water, or at least what could be, as water varies greatly by region and municipality. They love the chemistry process more so than producing iconic images. ![]() Most of the film devotees of the current era are of the anal ‘chemist’ types. Vintage 1974 Agfa Brovira print left ~ Modern 2012 Hahnemühle Ultra Smooth Matte Inkjet print rightĪ person on a photo forum wanted to use a coffee filter to filter tap water for his darkroom chemical mixing. Still I produced some decent work in my makeshift darkrooms. Back then I used the kitchen or bathroom for my darkroom. for the chemicals I mixed up in my darkroom, I didn’t have any extra $ for distilled water. Freestyle was another source for cheap chemicals. In the early 1970’s we used to pay about a buck a gallon for a premixed D-76, Dektol or fixer at Mel Pierce or Pan Pacific Camera. When you see what is in a gallon of tap water you can see tap water can be pretty filthy stuff. Sure, you can use it, but if your after the most consistent and best results in your processing efforts, then distilled water should be your choice of water. I’ve tested a fair amount of tap water in the US and found it to be a poor choice for mixing up darkroom chemicals. I don’t have the time to go back and fix thousands of photos in hundreds of old posts… but I’m sure you will still get the message. When this blog was changed into a zine theme the formatting and spacing of the photo used in the old posts were also changed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |