Distilled Water for the Battery

[goldencub]

Do all of you still use distilled water for the battery? If so, where do you get it - drugstore? bottled drinking water (like Evian)? well water?Somewhere else? Thanks - Al D

[Eugene]

Grocery store or drug store should have distilled water.

I use tap water.

[Don McCombs]

I use distilled water from the grocery store. Less than a dollar per gallon.

[Dale Finch]

Grocery store...but it's right next to the mineral and "filtered" waters...make sure it is distilled, if that is what you want. It's what I TRY to use.

[Rob in NH]

use water from the dehumidifier

[smallfarm]

if you ever fixed or scrapped out a dehumidifier, you wouldn't think the water was distilled. I use tap water with a low mineral content and neutral ph. Had one battery last 15 years.I used a hand crank to start and ran the ignition on battery with no generator -- just hit the charger to "top it off" before heading out. I think the water issue was from years ago when people filled a tin can with stream water to fill their batteries and radiators. I saw a few rocks in the water jacket of an old engine once during a tear down.

[hoosier]

I use distilled water on sale. Small bottles are easier to pour. Those cheap lawn tractor batteries used to last me about a year....sometimes. They last 3 and 4 years now. Have a lot of lime in the water here in middle Tennessee. Makes a differance here.
My two cents.

[havoc1482]

Use distilled water in a battery. Anything else will reduce the longevity.

[Bus Driver]

Given what our well water does to pipes, I use distilled for batteries and radiators. Things harmful to those are not necessarily bad for people. Water from dehumidifiers at my house is used to water plants.

[havoc1482]

Distilled water is mineral and particulate free. Any electrochemical cell will be damaged by regular water. I've been around fuel cells long enough to know that you are significantly reducing the life of your battery if you use water out of the tap.

[RustyKnuckles]

Some can use tap water, but ONLY if it is "soft" and very mineral-free. In many parts of the country, there is a lot of lime and sulfur in the water - so avoid! But distilled is cheap enough, and a gallon will last a long time.