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Countertop Water Distillers

  • Thread starter jimscott
  • Start date

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Anybody have experience with these? I've never heard of them until recently. If it's really CP safe I'd request one for Christmas:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=gmail&rls=gm&q=countertop+water+distillers&revid=1712701763&ei=BRcFTObbAoOglAeio43XBg&sa=X&oi=revisions_inline&resnum=0&ct=broad-revision&cd=4&ved=0CG4Q1QIoAw

ipaTmyAzeG534b_mplfzoRfsbEGzWne8k3AqK327E1GIgsjr6ZyPyqJnX64V3BwBAfdiW-P_4NSR2vfZD6HVj5h3gsGF5FUnPi_xpjX82_pRZWnhNZWm5TGHc6Yt7HvqNdGd38tuLY02TP4wUNf8CFvpzMhm0d99nVTfJoqsNA
 
IMO...

They are kind of pricey, slow (4hours to make 1 gallon), use alot of energy (800w/hour) = 3200w or 3.2kwh for one gallon. If you don't mind the cost and the electricity usage they are certainly convienent and should produce good quality water low in minerals.

A small RO filter would produce equally good water much faster and for noticeably less money.
 
You'd be even better off with a solar water distiller... they're pretty easy to make. That is, if you want to make your own distilled water.
 
Some Questions...

Is it more cost efficient to drive to the store and buy 10 gallons of water a week, then?

How exactly are RO systems less costly?
 
Is it more cost efficient to drive to the store and buy 10 gallons of water a week, then?

How exactly are RO systems less costly?

Say it costs a buck for a gallon of distilled water, which is an underestimate for me. For ten gallons a week, that's 520 bucks a year. A moderate RO machine costs about 100 bucks, and a 50 dollar filter can last for thousands of gallons. It pays off if you use more than a few gallons a month.
 
Do the math:

I'm spending $3.00 a week for 10 gallons of water from vending machines. Cost of gas not included. That's $156.00 a year. You can buy a RO unit for that amount. I live in an apartment which is why I haven't bought one, although counter top units are a possibility.

After that it's just whatever the utility company charges for water and cost of new filters/membranes - maybe $30-100 a year depending on how often you go through filters/membranes.
 
Ah, that makes sense, I suppose.

My question is, just how do you get 10 gallons of water for $3.00? Like, what brand, what kind of water, because for me, it IS about $1/gallon, so that'd be far superior.
 
Ah, that makes sense, I suppose.

My question is, just how do you get 10 gallons of water for $3.00? Like, what brand, what kind of water, because for me, it IS about $1/gallon, so that'd be far superior.

some water refilling machines give you the option of refilling your jugs with distilled water for like 35 cents (guesstimate). all i know is that the machines are cheaper than buying new gallons every time you need water and that some machines offer distilled water option.
 
It's still 25c/gall for most parts of CA, whether that be machine or a persons store.. (yes, we have those).
 
  • #11
If you know people who have to run dehumidifiers in their basements, they should be able to supply most of the water you need for outdoor plants. Distilled water is the waste product, so the cost is free, other than for the time to collect it. I can get a couple gallons of water per day out of mine in midsummer. I have a 7.5 gallon covered tub that I dump the water into and I fill plastic jugs from that. I used to have 20+ gallons of storage to bridge dry periods and I thought about getting a drum or two. The process works fine until the dew point drops in September and the basement gets dry again. But the outdoor water demand drops at that time too, so it isn't a huge problem, especially if you can store a lot.
 
  • #12
i<3carnivores you have to bring your own water carrying receptacle to get it cheaper. If it's already in the gallon jug it's higher. If you bring your bottle(s) or a big 5 gallon pail back with you next time you only pay $0.30 a gallon around here whereas you pay $0.99 a gallon if you get it along with their jug.
 
  • #13
Thank you!! =)
 
  • #14
some water refilling machines give you the option of refilling your jugs with distilled water for like 35 cents (guesstimate). all i know is that the machines are cheaper than buying new gallons every time you need water and that some machines offer distilled water option.

I tried googling Glacier Water and places that would provide this. I can't find any in New York State. Obviously, California has this... but it must be a West Coast thing. Maybe I'm not using the correct search verbiage?

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------

If you know people who have to run dehumidifiers in their basements, they should be able to supply most of the water you need for outdoor plants. Distilled water is the waste product, so the cost is free, other than for the time to collect it. I can get a couple gallons of water per day out of mine in midsummer. I have a 7.5 gallon covered tub that I dump the water into and I fill plastic jugs from that. I used to have 20+ gallons of storage to bridge dry periods and I thought about getting a drum or two. The process works fine until the dew point drops in September and the basement gets dry again. But the outdoor water demand drops at that time too, so it isn't a huge problem, especially if you can store a lot.

Supposedly, the AC discharge water is clean... but I don't entirely trust it.
 
  • #15
I used to catch the water dripping from my neighbor's AC. Like what comes from my dehumidifier, I wouldn't say it's clean, but it should have relatively low TDS. I've never tested the water I use and I wouldn't rule out that it might have elevated levels of copper and zinc, but plants have done fine with it. I wouldn't trust using it for aquatic animals without further testing.

Commercial ACs must drain water to something and, if you can tap into one of those, you'd get more water than you'd ever use. The problem is that you'd have to make sure you aren't tapping into a line draining blow-down water from an evaporative cooling unit. Those should be much less common in NY than they are out west, but what they drain is even more concentrated than tap water.
 
  • #16
Supposedly, the AC discharge water is clean... but I don't entirely trust it.
I would assume that any other vapours that are in the air would also get into it. I used to have a condenser tumble dryer and the condensed water used to smell of washing powder/fabric conditioner, so I never dared to try it on my plants.
 
  • #17
I have also noticed an odor from collected water of a PVC spout. I'll take a picture later on... not that a visual really proves anything...
 
  • #18
I asked a Lowes associate about getting purified water other than through Walmart that might be cheaper. she suggested an organic store called Feelrite. There is one in Hamburg and she thinks there might be one in East Aurora. I'll have to Google this.

http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3718940113/feel-rite-fresh-market-buffalo

It turns out that they had a store location in West Seneca nearby. They do indeed have purified water and you if bring in your own gallon jug it costs 59 cents. That's a ~30 cent savings per gallon. I really have no idea how to calculate the cost of electricity with a countertop unit per gallon. But this is easy enough!
 
  • #19
Buy a R/O package off Ebay.
CHEAP and great quality.
Peace,
Zero
 
  • #20
There are devices you can buy that you punch in the cost per Kilowatt Hour and then plug in what ever you want to monitor.

Or dig up your last electricity bill and go to this Electricity Cost Calculator

So also this thread.

I currently pay $0.30/gallon from the machines in front of supermarkets and drug stores. It used to be $0.25 but went up around the same time that sales tax did in the City of Los Angeles.

You can try contacting the Glacier Water Eastern Region Sales:

Jim Shukert
Director of Sales, Eastern Region
(817) 416-8500 phone
(817) 481-0728 fax
jim.shukert@glacierwater.com

PS: Jimscott like myself is renting. The landlord may not like him punching holes in the pipes and sheet rock for an under the counter RO unit. Counter top RO units are much more expensive and you may not be able to get enough pressure from the faucet hookup for the unit to operate efficiently.
 
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