Where on Earth can I get distilled water in the UK?

Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2013
Posts
3,322
Location
Caistor
De-ionized water and distilled water can't be compared and you can't say one is purer than the other because they're two different purification process geared to remove different impurities.

The comparison lies between how strict both of these process are controlled.

Also, both types of water will become ionized once in contact with metal, that's not an exclusive feature of deionized water.
 
Don
Joined
7 Aug 2003
Posts
44,275
Location
Aberdeenshire
Distilled is just as ionic as de-ionised water.

Distilled is pure due to it being recondensed water vapour. De-ionised has solids filtered out to a size that's irrelevant from a water cooling point of view and then dissolved material is removed by de-ionising it.

From a water cooling point of view it's the same stuff.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,814
Many years back I ran a couple of Swiftech kits being impatient I used deionised water from IIRC Halfords for one the other I did a few days later with an additive - there was quite a difference in the state of the block 2-3 years later when I broke them down :D both were working fine to the end with no differences in temperature though.
 
Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2014
Posts
1,130
Many years back I ran a couple of Swiftech kits being impatient I used deionised water from IIRC Halfords for one the other I did a few days later with an additive - there was quite a difference in the state of the block 2-3 years later when I broke them down :D both were working fine to the end with no differences in temperature though.


Oo interesting!

When you say the state, as in what algae growth or tarnished etc?

Interested in your observations about this.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,814
Can't be 100% sure what it was down to but its a fair bet - one had like gunky tarnishing while the other was just slightly discoloured.

There was some differences though - one was on a rig that was in use like 24x7 crunching numbers (compiling game world data back in the days when it could be days of number crunching to compute baked in lighting, etc., video encoding, some folding) while the other was a secondary gaming PC that saw moderate use.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 May 2009
Posts
22,100
I was always of the understanding that Deionised water was as pure if not purer than distilled water?

Pretty much, in some countries it's easier to get ahold of distilled, in some (like the UK) it's easier to get ahold of DI, for PC water cooling it makes zero difference really (in practice).

It's impossible to avoid corrosion or bacteria in a watercooling loop, you can only impede it. Any type of water will leech particles from the various metals in the loop and transport those particles around the loop, likewise bacteria will always be an issue unless you use radiation to sterilise the loop when it's built/sealed or something. The reason why we use corrosion inhibiting biocides in water cooling is to slow these issues.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Dec 2015
Posts
38
I went through all this aggro with distilled water last year on my first build. In the end I tried my little hardware store in the high street (every town seems to have one - the one with all the buckets, brooms and cr@p out front) and they had a load of it 5L for about £2........

if this helps ;)
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Aug 2011
Posts
5,307
Location
Sheffield, UK
I've had a watercooled PC for roughly 3-4 years now, always used De-Ionised Water from Sainsburys, its £1 for 5L, throw a silver kill coil in the res and I've never had any problems. I do clean the loop, change the pipes and liquid every 6-8 months though.

Mainly because distilled in difficult to find in the UK, and the coolants are expensive AF
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,814
I've had a watercooled PC for roughly 3-4 years now, always used De-Ionised Water from Sainsburys, its £1 for 5L, throw a silver kill coil in the res and I've never had any problems. I do clean the loop, change the pipes and liquid every 6-8 months though.

Mainly because distilled in difficult to find in the UK, and the coolants are expensive AF

Sadly I'm too lazy for regular maintenance on stuff like that especially if it needs stripping down and draining lol.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,814
I used to use AIOs more recently (had full watercooling kits in the past) - don't bother these days as more often than not the pump whine offsets the benefits :s
 
Associate
Joined
15 Sep 2008
Posts
2,477
I use battery water from Halfords with a little car antifreeze and don't have any problems.

Someone once told me to use the water that collects in a condensing type tumble dryer. Not sure for a cooling loop but it's great in the iron :).
 
Back
Top Bottom