Is RO Purified the Same As Distilled???

[Volt_Ampere]

RO won't remove dissolved minerals only solids. Use Distilled Water. It's cheap and available.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by birddog5

I've got access to Ultrapure water - am I better off using that then anything else?

It's overkill, but won't hurt the batteries.

Probably won't make them last any longer either.

I certainly wouldn't risk my job for it when distilled water only costs about $2 a gallon.

[Revolution]

Ultra pure deionized water is way overkill, The only real difference between good distilled and DI is the level of dissolved co2 in the water. To keep DI water deionized you have to keep it out of contact with air or it will self ionize very quickly. Just pouring it into your batteries will start the process.

[rbuggies48IN]

RO, DI and distilled processes are all different methods for removing Total Dissolved solds/TDS from water. RO is a semipermeable membrane that is also one heck of a filter, i.e.; can get to submicron levels, but it would normally be used as a pre-treatment to deionization for ultra high purity water applications in industry, etc. You'll see a lot of RO usage in drinking water and seawater to drinking water applications. I would not use RO water on the batteries unless the bottle says zero dissolved solids, which will require a more sophisticated RO system to equal what normal DI and distillation can achieve. I didn't read Trojan's white paper as referenced by JohhnieB, which probably answers what actual TDS feedwater the batteries can handle. If you buy a ZERO water maker they claim you will get 0 TDS. They use a small amount of ion exchange resin for the deionization process, unlike Brita, which is just a particulate filter and activated carbon for taste (chemical absorption of chlorine, iron, etc.).

[radioman]

I bought a gallon of distilled water for $1 at a Family Dollar Store.

[rbuggies48IN]

RO will remove dissolved solids/minerals. Some membranes remove as much as 99% of them.