deionized water for humidifier

[runcyclexcski]

Hi all --

I've got another Sunday DIY post, if I may. I've been experimenting with a basic Boneco humidifier (£160 or so on amazon) for the last few days. I run it non-stop b.c. I also have proper ventilation going on. As a result I have to re-fill the small 3L tank every 4-5 hrs. It manages to raise the humidity from 38% to about 50%, but this is during the current mild temps.

Until today I did not realize how horrific my local tap water was (image attached was taken only after 4 tank changes -- i.e. 1 day of operation). Thus, I am looking at bringing 20L jugs of di water from my lab every day. I should probably reduce my ventilation air flow at least 4x (currently at 200 m3/hr, should try 50m3/hr). Still, I wonder if anyone knows how to produce decent quality di water at home. It would not practical for showering etc, but 20L per day for humidification purposes should be doable. The pharma-grade unit I have at work is too costly to operate at home, and it won't use regular tap water as input (must be pre-treated using at least one distillation cycle).

[Troilus]

Have you looked on YouTube? Just about everything is on there😁

[runcyclexcski in reply to Troilus]

well, I was hoping for specific recommendations of stuff people have tried.

Looking at the specs of cartridges that ELGA cells (ELGACAN), for example, it appears that each cartridge can produce between 20 and 200L of diwater, depending on how dirty the input is. I have a conductivity meter at work, so I should test my tap water.

Each cartridge is about £50 (they are sold in packs of 4). In the worst case scenario (i.e. if I only manage to get 20 L from one), 1L of di water would cost me £2.5 -- this is more expensive to what Tesco sells it at. The final product is 1 Mohm per cm though, whereas my lab water is 18Mohm (18x better). I am tempted to take di water from the lab.

[Pipsqueak77 in reply to runcyclexcski]

HiYou will need some form of cartridge filtration which will obviously cost and will provide various levels of purity depending on how much!

Bear in mind that the condy of tap water changes daily so this may also be a problem for you (as feed) especially if you live in a big city.

I am not sure that it is best practice to take it from your work…. My workplace like yours has ultra pure water systems for analysis that cost a fair bit and they would not be happy if I helped myself to 20L a day!!

Maybe assess sourcing it already de-ionised from a supplier if you really need it that much.

😊👍

[runcyclexcski in reply to Pipsqueak77]

>>>if I helped myself to 20L a day!!

I could reduce that to 5L with tweaks to the system, I think

I did not realize that the conductivity of tap water changes daily, wow! All I know is that there's plenty of bacteria on ours.