"Mark" wrote in message
om...
Bruce in Alaska wrote:
It really depends on the amount of dissolved minerals in your tap water.


There's a fair amount in the municipal water here (showerheads clog
with time) and I screwed up and ruined the batteries, they only lasted
nine years.

Using distilled water is a wise idea, though; 'specially in third
world countries. And it doesn't have to be steam distilled, an RO
system produces distilled water too.


No, an RO system does NOT produce distilled water. Very pure, yes. But
distilled, no.

Distillation is the condensed vapor resulting from the evaporation of water.
Heating the water (boiling) speeds the process.

Sloppy distillation of very impure water can produce polluted distilled
water, but, assuming the process is righteous, distillation yields the
highest purity commercial water available.

I might use RO water for a battery if I didn't have distilled available, but
I'd rather use distilled water. Besides, commercial distilled water is
pretty cheap.


Ed