Disposing of Distilled Water

FMTopfan

FMTopfan

FMTopfan

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I'm about to start flushing my rads with Mayhems ultra pure distilled water and it crossed my mind that maybe it isn't a good idea to pour this down the sink, looking at 6 litres for flushing for new rads.

Checked forums, Google and looks like people are doing it all the time. I'm not sure what the implications of this are and prefer to dispose of it properly, what's the consensus on this?
 
davido_labido said:
Just chuck it down the drain, it's only water...
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I hope so David in wanting to act responsibly. My thinking is that because this distilled water is too pure, ie toxic to consume, that it will be recycled and this normal process won't be able to deal with it unlike disposing of it via other specialist means and that normally means very expensive.

Could do with a water quality scientist to give their expert opinion, or I will make sure by contacting Mayhems what to do with the waste water.

There's a Mayhems rep here on OcUK and because we can't use trust to PM for anything but MM how I am to contact this person?
 
DI isnt toxic. Chuck it down the sink. You are mistaking your 'too pure' idea with high oxygenated air.

*Clarification purpose: i mean you are making a mistake thinking that water becomes toxic when it is 'too pure'. Ultra pure water has nothing dissolved in it, so it picks up minerals easily and it is presumed that enough of it could technically be detrimental by 'cleaning' the minerals from you. This would take a lot of water and is practically impossible.*
 
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Thanks for the replies this early in the morning, had to get more work done on a build and this was playing on my mind at the time :)

Avenged7Fold said:
DI isnt toxic. Chuck it down the sink. You are mistaking your 'too pure' idea with high oxygenated air.
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Sorry but it's not my idea about it being too pure, it's straight from Mayhems as it removes 99.999% of impurities through their multiple filtration process you simply can't get cleaner water.

Not meaning to be rude but you are mixing up deionised water (ID as you stated) that only has it's mineral ions removed unlike distilled that has all organic compounds removed making it ideal for flushing.

When not using for flushing ie mixing with dyes you need biocides because of the introduction of oxygen which encourages bacterial growth but that's another matter and not relevant because I use pre-mixed coolant for topping up the loop. As for coolant though, this bit of advise from Mayhems rep was helpful and leaving it here for others - link.

The Old Coolant can re bottled back up and either taken down the waste disposal and left with the oil deposits section or you can send it back to us and it will be disposed off with our normal chemical collections.
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/facepalm

As someone who used de-ionised water and distilled water in labs, including making it for 'lab controlled' purposes, let me tell you what it is...

Distilled Water: made not by filtration. It boils water so that steam can be lead elsewhere to condense in another container. This is pure AND has NO organic material. (think of how strong alcohol is distilled). Ultra pure water is obtained by filtering and distilling and is essentially still the same outside of microchip manufacturing purposes.

De-ionised Water: This is essentially water with minerals and impurities taken out through a number of chemical reactions (using a weird resin). The minerals combine with combinations of hydrogen and oxygen compounds to remove minerals and recombine to make water without minerals which can conduct electricity. This practically pure except for organic matter which is not really effected by what you use to de-ionise it.

Organic growth is not related to purity or we wouldn't have lakes/ponds/rivers. Organisms take oxygen from the water. Oxygen is not introduced by purifying it.

This is it.

/University Physics
 
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Absolutely nothing wrong with pouring DI or distilled water down the drain. Worst case scenario it contains additives such as anti-corrosion or biocide. In which case anti corrosion won't eat your pipes and biocide will only harm any nasties living in the sewer (probably not at all considering how diluted it is).

The magic of our waterways is that its purified (somewhat) before coming back to you :D

Pretty sure the dont drink is protecting their backsides. Who blames them for being careful. Iirc distilled water can be drank but its not reccomended due to lack of natural minerals our body needs and there's always the slight .01 chance it has somthing nasty left over from distillation.
 
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If i wasn't prepared to pour distilled water down the sink through fear of damaging the enviroment, i wouldn't dare flush my toilet after using it. Imagine what attrocities that could cause! :p
 
Heck after some visits I've had to the toilet I hate to think what fallout (or sentient beings)I've caused by flushing :D

I tend to create attrocities in my toilet though :D
 
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You can use the trust for other things than Mm but only the contact via email bit, not the positive/negative/neutral feedback bit and the comment bit.

Also if you really need to contact him, his email address is dotted around the website ([email protected] I think it is) and failing that pop me a message and I'm currently helping him with a small forum (liquidcoolant.com)

He will be more than happy to help, but as mentioned. It's not a problem to just throw it down the drain =)
 
Now that you have made me aware of your experience in this matter Avenged7Fold, I took on board your opinions and any misinformation is unintentional. I do work from my what information is available to me when I am looking at building complicated loops in my spare time and I'm happy you've added important info on what I thought was correct at the time :)

Thanks David too, from the responses here I'm happy to throw it down the drain and it's nothing harmful - good luck with the new forum and nice builds there too :)

Assuming that this warning label on the bottle is irrelevant (it's not coolant or I am wrong again :o) I am free to dispose freely, and the general warning as per my previous quote of the Mayhems rep?

Please keep the bottle and do not pour the coolant down the drain. Use the bottle to dispose of the fluids after use in an environmentally and safe manner.
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I think it's probably coloured coolant, pastel coolant and aurora coolants etc.

Just ultra pure distilled should be fine =)

Il send mike a link to this thread now so he can give you the official line from mayhems =)
 
FMTopfan said:
I hope so David in wanting to act responsibly. My thinking is that because this distilled water is too pure, ie toxic to consume, that it will be recycled and this normal process won't be able to deal with it unlike disposing of it via other specialist means and that normally means very expensive.

Could do with a water quality scientist to give their expert opinion, or I will make sure by contacting Mayhems what to do with the waste water.

There's a Mayhems rep here on OcUK and because we can't use trust to PM for anything but MM how I am to contact this person?
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He's the founder and CEO of Mayhems :) Mayhems is only a very small company yet the best water cooling liquid company in the world. :L
 
Hi there ive been asked to post from david.

Personally i would not waste that much fluid :/ . Wash you rad out with tap water first then add some bicarb + water (this will help neutralize the acid in there). The rise out with the Mayhems UP if you wish Then add coolant.. It can all go down the drain. :D

If how ever you were running pastel in you liquid cooling system before hand you should re bottle up the pastel and dispose of it in a environmental friendly manner. You can do this normaly at you local tip. How ever if you cannot do that just send the liquid back to

Mayhems
12 Whessoe road
Darlignton
Co Durham
DL3 0QP

Mark the envelope / box (DIS RET) And we will dispose of it for you.
 
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Appreciate the response Michael (wrote down your advice with flushing and I only use premixed coolant, my council would take the coolant) and thanks to David for taking time to notify you :D

I am hesitant to using any tap water because of some corrosion I experienced last year when building a new loop for a friend because he wanted to save up for a new GPU at the time. I'd connected the rad to a couple of hoses 1/3 pressure for half an hour so on the slowish side. I do live in a hard water area if that makes any difference.

Generally my hassle-less method with Mayhem Ultra Pure H20 is to heat in a stainless steel pan to a safe 50°c and let it level off at 50°c (takes 10 seconds via induction), pour into the rads, and leave to soak for an hour, half empty then screw on filler cap and shake for 10 minutes, empty into a bowl to see what comes out. Normally this only takes three flushes for a new rad and the heat really helps cuts down on the number of flushes too because its doing its job, sometimes a few bits get stuck but that's because I didn't shake it enough.

I know some are going to say its not necessary to heat it up but rad flushing isn't an exact science with different opinions/techniques. If it takes more of your magic fluids to clean rads quickly then so be it, otherwise I'd love to use Mayhems fluids especially formulated for flushing and maintenance runs ;)
 
Pouring distilled water or de-ionized water down the drain is the least of are worries compared to what industry pours down.:eek:
 
I was going to say, people pour far worse down :D. I think they've got things covered on the chemical front for recycling the mains...

Or at least I hope so...wonder if anyone drank those old cyanide pills I misplaced.


:D
 
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