5 ms·

Yes, that's the minerals in the water. Using distilled water prevents this.

by mfkp 7y ago

TeMPOraL 7y ago
I discovered this when doing a post-assembly indoor test of a Luftdaten air quality sensor I built[0]. I kept it running for few hours and then looked at the data, and saw some ridiculously high levels of PM2.5 and PM5 in the evening. I've decided to investigate it. Over the next two days, I figured out that the increased levels happen at times when our air humidifier is running, which led me to discover that those ultrasonic air humidifiers essentially atomize everything that was mixed with/dissolved in the water - and we were using filtered tap water with ours. With distilled water in the humidifier, the sensor did not show increased particulate levels. We've mostly stopped using the humidifier now, because I can't find a source of distilled water that doesn't involve buying plastic bottles. -- [0] - https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/ https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/
- mfkp 7y ago
  I've encountered the same issue (high plastic bottle waste along with high cost). Short of boiling your own water outdoors to avoid polluting the indoor air, it's challenging to find a source for bulk distilled water.
  - im3w1l 7y ago
    Boiling your water indoors will humidify the air.
    - mfkp 7y ago
      Yes, and it will also release the impurities/minerals into the air, which is what we're trying to avoid by using distilled/boiled water. I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm), and the evaporated minerals are very visible in the air (and it leaves a white residue on the surrounding area).
      - OJFord 7y ago
        > I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm) Tangential, but being curious how hard that was relative to mine led me to discover that Thames Water (i.e. only useful to anyone reading in London) has a pretty good page at [0] - a summary on the site itself but the PDF is really worth a look, lots of numbers. Maybe it's a regulatory requirement, but I wouldn't have expected it to be so easy to get so much information from them about my specific (it serves many districts in and around London with different sources and equipment) water supply. [0]: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/check-the-water-quality-in-your-area https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/...
        oska 7y ago
        It's actually quite common for water authorities to publish quite detailed analyses of the water they provide. Doing such analyses is a core competency of being a water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned, then published for consumers, often at a fairly detailed level.
        OJFord 7y ago
        > water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned Not here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies (E.g. Canada Pension Plan, Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong based investment trust) As I said, it may be a regulatory (Ofwat) requirement, but it isn't just a public body doing right by its citizens. Interesting anyway, not that much of it means anything to me. Though apparently if/when I try brewing beer again I should add some magnesium. (It even lists the range that's helpful as a yeast nutrient, and above which contributes unwanted taste.)
      - IndrekR 7y ago
        Boiling water will not get much of the minerals into the air. This is why distillation works.
      - Cthulhu_ 7y ago
        Would filtering it first help with that?
  - oska 7y ago
    Rain is essentially distilled water (evaporation from terrestrial water bodies and then condensation in the atmosphere). It picks up some contaminants in the atmosphere and some dissolved gases when it condenses but it's going to be mostly free of minerals (i.e. not be hard). So collecting rain water is one source of bulk 'distilled water'.
    - bitxbitxbitcoin 7y ago
      Depending on where he lives, that might actually be illegal to do.[1] [1] https://bestlifeonline.com/illegal-collect-rainwater/ https://bestlifeonline.com/illegal-collect-rainwater/
- jcims 7y ago
  We also have a air purifier that watches for particulate and they would battle each other constantly lol. Moved to an evaporative humidifier, my air quality appliances now operate in peace.

Yes, that's the minerals in the water. Using distilled water prevents this.

by mfkp 7y ago

Yes, that's the minerals in the water. Using distilled water prevents this.

I discovered this when doing a post-assembly indoor test of a Luftdaten air quality sensor I built[0]. I kept it running for few hours and then looked at the data, and saw some ridiculously high levels of PM2.5 and PM5 in the evening. I've decided to investigate it. Over the next two days, I figured out that the increased levels happen at times when our air humidifier is running, which led me to discover that those ultrasonic air humidifiers essentially atomize everything that was mixed with/dissolved in the water - and we were using filtered tap water with ours. With distilled water in the humidifier, the sensor did not show increased particulate levels. We've mostly stopped using the humidifier now, because I can't find a source of distilled water that doesn't involve buying plastic bottles. -- [0] - https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/ https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/

mfkp 7y ago
I've encountered the same issue (high plastic bottle waste along with high cost). Short of boiling your own water outdoors to avoid polluting the indoor air, it's challenging to find a source for bulk distilled water.
- im3w1l 7y ago
  Boiling your water indoors will humidify the air.
  - mfkp 7y ago
    Yes, and it will also release the impurities/minerals into the air, which is what we're trying to avoid by using distilled/boiled water. I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm), and the evaporated minerals are very visible in the air (and it leaves a white residue on the surrounding area).
    - OJFord 7y ago
      > I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm) Tangential, but being curious how hard that was relative to mine led me to discover that Thames Water (i.e. only useful to anyone reading in London) has a pretty good page at [0] - a summary on the site itself but the PDF is really worth a look, lots of numbers. Maybe it's a regulatory requirement, but I wouldn't have expected it to be so easy to get so much information from them about my specific (it serves many districts in and around London with different sources and equipment) water supply. [0]: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/check-the-water-quality-in-your-area https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/...
      - oska 7y ago
        It's actually quite common for water authorities to publish quite detailed analyses of the water they provide. Doing such analyses is a core competency of being a water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned, then published for consumers, often at a fairly detailed level.
        OJFord 7y ago
        > water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned Not here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies (E.g. Canada Pension Plan, Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong based investment trust) As I said, it may be a regulatory (Ofwat) requirement, but it isn't just a public body doing right by its citizens. Interesting anyway, not that much of it means anything to me. Though apparently if/when I try brewing beer again I should add some magnesium. (It even lists the range that's helpful as a yeast nutrient, and above which contributes unwanted taste.)
    - IndrekR 7y ago
      Boiling water will not get much of the minerals into the air. This is why distillation works.
    - Cthulhu_ 7y ago
      Would filtering it first help with that?
- oska 7y ago
  Rain is essentially distilled water (evaporation from terrestrial water bodies and then condensation in the atmosphere). It picks up some contaminants in the atmosphere and some dissolved gases when it condenses but it's going to be mostly free of minerals (i.e. not be hard). So collecting rain water is one source of bulk 'distilled water'.
  - bitxbitxbitcoin 7y ago
    Depending on where he lives, that might actually be illegal to do.[1] [1] https://bestlifeonline.com/illegal-collect-rainwater/ https://bestlifeonline.com/illegal-collect-rainwater/
jcims 7y ago
We also have a air purifier that watches for particulate and they would battle each other constantly lol. Moved to an evaporative humidifier, my air quality appliances now operate in peace.