RO Water vs. Distilled Water

[strohl71]

Can anybody tell me the difference between RO water and store bought distilled water? I know that both are soft and have no dissolved mineral content. However, beyond that, I do not know the difference.

Thanks in advance for any input....

 

[fishgeek]

r/o water is filterd under pressure through a fine membrane

distilled water is vapourised and then recondensed

distilled water is likely to be closer to the 100% H2O although both are considered pure

you can use them the same way

 

[strohl71]

Thank you FishGeek.

I use store bought distilled water (and then I add Kent RO Right) because the water that is produced by my private well is terrible for apistos. Glad to know that RO water and distilled water are pretty much the same thing.

 

[tjudy]

If you are using a lot of pure water an RO unit or distiller would be a good investment. There are trade-offs to each.

RO - lower up-front cost, faster, uses less energy... wastes a lot of water

Distiller - very pure water, wastes no water... higher up-front cost, slower, uses a lot of energy.

Both require space for the unit and reservoir.

I use an RO/DI unit and get a 0 conductivity. I have very low carbonates to start with, so my unit takes care of the buffers in the well. If you have a lot of carbonate hardness a distiller will get rid of it better than an RO will.