Colour processing and water quality

[jennym]

I would appreciate some advice on water quality for E6 processing. We moved to Tuscany a few weeks ago, and the water is so hard here that we had limestone (yes, stone) forming on the bottom of our kettle within 10 days. We use well water and we get through around 40-50KG of salt to soften the water each week. I am only starting to find some time to get out with the Ebony, but now that I have a few trannies to develop, I need to think about any potential issues with processing. Does anyone have any advice on how the water quality affects processing? Many Italians use bottled water in their kettles, and I am wondering whether I need to do the same thing for a) mixing chemicals and b) rinsing? Can I get away with just using bottled water for mixing? Any advice gratefully received before I try out different conditions.

Many thanks.....

[Oliver]

First, congrats (and huge envy) from me on moving to such a lovely part of the world

Second, when we lived in the UK's South Downs and drew water from SE Water, we had a similar experience with limestone in the kettle. It was amazing, and quite frightening, how quickly it formed. I found that the alkaline content of the water affected development chemistry (by changing the pH), and also the dissolved chalk tended to leave streaks on washed film if the film was left immersed (pre-soaking, for instance). So yes, water "hardness" will have an effect on your processing.

I'd advise against using bottled water for processing, because it, too, often contains chemicals that, however harmless (even beneficial) they might be to human organisms, can affect the way that your chemistry works. I found that filtered water was best for mixing solutions, making sure to renew the filter well before its "lifespan" expired. However, washing film in continuous running water isn't likely to be a problem.

[IanG]

You could buy a water filter, the Britta jug type or similar. They work perfectly for photo chemistry and are quite cheap to buy use.

It only needs a kettle to be boiled once with tap water where we live in Turkey before my wife says it's ruined and if you boil a pan of tap water there's a definite scum.

The chemistry itself should be able to withstand the hard water most contain softening agents, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Unlike Oliver I would recommend bottled water if you don't have a filter, I've been using ours for 4 years for final washing etc and in particular it solves the problems of drying marks.

It's actually very important that you don't use the tap water for the final rinses, it's also likely there's small amounts of solid calcium salts in the water, our kitchen tap has a built in filter.

Thanks for the meter instructions BTW

Ian

[jennym]

Many thanks for both of you. I should have mentioned that we use a counter top water filter for both our drinking water and for filling the kettle, and we still have a serious problem with deposits on the kettle. I think I will try and check the pH of the filtered water and bottled water and see if there is any difference. I don't want calcium deposits on my film! It sounds as though I can use the filtered water for the chemistry, but maybe bottled water for the final rinse. Or should I use bottled water for all rinses? Does anyone know if there is an acceptable range of pH for film chemistry?

Many thanks again for your help.

Jenny

[Georges Giralt]

Hello Jenny,
When young, I lived in a place where water was very hard. And suffered, sometimes, from organic contamination.
We used to boil it for 5 minutes prior to mix photographic chemistry. Boiling make the organic contaminants to transform into scum, and deposit the lime on the kettle. Then you have to filter the water to get rid of the scum and floating lime.
This way the chemistry kept very well and ran as planned. (we used this regiment also for E4 bathes..)
Use either boiled and filtered water for the final rinse and the stab, or buy bottled water for babies for these two. (normally the water suitable for making babies' milk has nothing other than water in it ... )

[Charles Twist]

In the south of France, we used water that had been distilled for our scientific experiments rather than tap-water. You can buy it in large volumes to put in steam irons. Would that be any good for this chemistry?
Regards,
Charles

[IanG]

Chemistry contains chelating agents to counter water hardness so the filtered water should be fine unless the pH is wildly alkaline or acidic, again chemistry is buffered to control pH. Georges suggestion of boiling the water first also helps enormously, you should then leave to cool overnight so the sediment settles.

Bottled drinking water should be fine for the final rinses and is easier to get than distilled water.

Ian

[timparkin]

I received an osmosis water 'purifier' from Baxter Bradford when I bought his developing unit and it's been absolutely brilliant. I filter the water when I need it (it fills 200ml in about 4 mins) and so far the quality has been very good. I haven't got any filters on the 'in between' wash supply (might have to buy one next but everything seems clean so far).

You can get the osmosis units for about 250 I think...

Tim

[Baxter]

I looked at the different options when setting up my home processor. Not fancying buying loads of de-ionised water I settled on an aquarium reverse osmosis water filter. Output is far lower than a domestic unit and so was the price, about £70 I think. I bought from Eb*y. Simple to fit to a drain hole and came with all fittings needed. Recall that they come in different types and I paid a bit extra for one with another cylinder in it, though function of it now escapes me!

When I moved house, I didn't refit and simply used tap water for 18 months. However I appreciate this is clearly not an option for you Jenny.

When I used it, I did it in sessions and filled up lots of 2 litre milk containers. Suggest using it for mixing chemicals and final rinse only.

[jennym]

Many thanks to everyone for their helpful comments. I think I will try and source some distilled water, and if that is not possible I will try with bottled water and boiled, filtered water and see if there is any difference in results. I'll let you know how I get on!

Jenny