Finding ultra-pure water locally...

Albert and Cincy_bob - what sort of storage container do you plan to use? From the Finding Pure Water thread, I read amber colored glass jugs should work better than plastic.

With regard to storage, I ran across the following from a Wikipedia article on Dionized Water:

"Laboratory grade ultra pure water cannot be stored in glass or plastic containers because such materials leach contaminants at very low concentrations into the water. Storage vessels made of silica are used for less demanding applications but for highest purity uses, containers made from ultra pure Tin are used."

With regards to buying, to follow up on Hdm's earlier posts, the numbers 9800-1, -3, -5, appear to be product numbers for different packagings of Reagent Grade Water from NERL Diagnostics, a division of Thermo Scientific. Likewise the "Safe & Sure Ultra Pure Reagent Grade Water" appears to be a higher grade and has a different product number. It doesn't seem to be sold on-line by the various supply houses, however one can get a quote for it from Thermo Scientific

If that is the case, MedicalMailOrder.com is offering the 20 liter (~5 gallon) 9800-5 Reagent Grade water at $25.32 plus shipping ($8.27 UPS ground to my zip in upper Midwest where it is a balmy 3 degrees F.)

I'll find out how much fun is a five gallon box of frozen water. (Not just any water, Mr. Bond, reagent grade laser water.)

My theory is that the "Safe & Sure Ultra Pure Reagent Grade Water" could be a marketing niche than a unique product. First off, no one is selling it on-line which makes me wonder about demand. Secondly, I think the key words are 'Reagent Grade Water' - those words *I'm speculating* have an "industry standard" meaning, wherease the additional "Safe & Sure Ultra Pure" may not - at least I certainly don't see the latter terms in use beyond the seller. But that may not mean much, although, neither the NERL nor Thermo Scientific site specifies a difference other than claiming the one is "our highest grade".

I would like to know the physical difference between the 'Safe & Sure Ultra Pure' product and the other Reagent Grade Water. And of course .... can we hear a difference, and is it a positive improvement. Heh. Listening to water ... you got ears only an audiophile's mother could love. :-)

the information I have would suggest that there would indeed be a difference between the two products; my guess is that it would probably involve higher levels of ultrafiltration. Nerl themselves appear not to apply the "ultrapure" name to their reagent grade water.

This makes sense. That Thermo Scientific is packaging Safe & Secure UltraPure as qty 6 1- pint bottles suggests this is water for special needs not requiring larger volumes and those needs are not so great that it is commonly saleable on-line.

As best I can tell, the description for both the 'simple' 9800-5 Reagent Grade Water and the S&SUP read identically, viz.: "ideal for reconstituting chemistry or coagulation products, preparing analytical standards, or rinsing delicate electrodes. Prepared at 18 megohm/cm specific resistance using reverse osmosis, mixed bed deionization, activated carbon filtration and final filtration to 0.2 micron, our water is essentially free from organic and inorganic particulate and soluble contaminants."

Fwiw, the MedicalMailOrder.com folks shipped the 44lb box in less than 24hrs, so that's a good sign. I didn't do the math but I'm gonna guess that at roughly $34 for 5 gallons, its still cheaper than Dasani. :-) And if its as good as the stuff Lloyd sends out then my wallet, my records and Ms. Loricraft will all be happy. I'll clean, listen and letcha know.

Here's a follow-up on using NERL Diagnostics' Reagent Grade Water for record cleaning.

I purchased a 5 gallon container for roughly $33 (including shipping) via the link I referenced above and it arrived at my door in less than a week after ordering. I compared that cost to Lloyd W's water at ~ $88 per gallon or Osage/Audio Intelligent water at ~ $72/gallon (both w/out shipping).

The NERL Diagnostics Reagent Grade water comes in a thick plastic 'bag' inside a cardboard box with an analysis printed on the side. I was very happy to find a spigot included. It was easy to attach the spigot, then turn the box on its side for easy dispensing of the water into an empty 32oz water bottle from my Walker Prelude kit.

So... how's it work? Works just like water. For record cleaning I've used the RO water from my home's system and of course the water that comes with the Prelude kit, but otherwise I don't have a lot of basis for comparison. And I don't have a fancy methodology, so no pretense of Science here.

The bottom line is I am now more convinced than ever that pure water rinsing is a key critical step in effective record cleaning. I started with records that had been rigorously cleaned with the Prelude system using my Loricraft machine, listened to them, then cleaned them again with one pass of the Prelude Step Two cleaning fluid and 2 rinses with the Reagent Grade water. One record was from an EMI box set of Richter and Kagaan at the Touraine festival playing Mozart sonatas and the other was the Telarc Slatkin Mahler Titan.

The records each sounded remarkably cleaner (substantially reduced noise and faintly increased harmonic information) after the second cleaning and rinsing. I've had both these records for many years and frankly I was surprised and delighted to hear them virtually free from pops n clicks. I can't say if the NERL water is 'better' - not sure how I'd know that - but including it in the regimen yields the best cleaning results I've had over many years of record cleaning.

I then cleaned a copy of the Marriner Argo Handel Water Music and declared victory. For a multi-year supply delivered to my door for a little Web research and less than the price of a new Speakers Corner reissue I'm quite pleased with the NERL water. Its my new reference water! (Heh - always wanted to say something Valinesque.)

Tim

With the record mounted on my Loricraft, I squirt water on it, then turn on the platter and hold a carbon fiber brush to the surface so the water gets distributed as the platter turns. Then vacuum off the water.