Ammonia in distilled water!?!?!?

[javajoe]

I have been having a lot of trouble with my tank, it all started when i did a water change with distilled water. after the water change, my royal gramma died, and then 4 days later, wen i used the same distilled water for topping of evaprated water, a whole bunch of the coraline aglae on my live rock died.
Well, i bought a DI filter, and did a water change with that, and got things more in control, but went to do a water change alst night, as my ammonia levels were a little high. I decided to be on the safe side ans test my DI water, and it tested positve for ammonia! (not much, just a trace).
So i thought maybe my tset kit was bad-- so i tested the galloin of distilled water i had left--- it was VERY high in ammonia!
Is this a bad test kit, or is it possible that regular water is being bottled as distilled?
I am going to buy a new test kit today and test again....

 

[tomato clown]

From what I was told from my water co. Distilled isn't really run through a bunch of filters, it is mainly just boiled out to rid of the hard stuff... Minerals and metals.

 

[javajoe]

Distilled water is boiled, the steam goes through a condensro coil, and is evaprated out into pure water. (at least it is supposed to be)

 

[diatom]

Java~
I'd guess bad kit. What kind are you using?

 

[javajoe]

I am using Red Sea test for ammonia, I called the LFS to see if they had another brand- they don't.
So, i bought a different brand of distilled water to test my kit, and sure enough, that brand tested 0ppm for ammonia. Did the test again for the distilled water from walmart, and it tested 2.5 ppm for ammonia.
I called the company that bottles it, and they are having me deal with the vice president directly, as this type of thing i guess is a huge deal for them, and it does happen from time to time. (note- this is the same water that tested positive for copper that i have been having issues with)
He is out of the office this afternoon- so they had me leave him a detailed voice mail- we'll see what happens- i'll post the results...
[ December 06, 2001: Message edited by: Javajoe ]

 

[javajoe]

Update...
I spoke with the people again from the distilled water company (i am purposefully not giving the brand untill i see if the so something for me )
They are looking into it- they get lab results from different batches- they agree there should eb no ammonia in the water, and they got the batch number.
They also wanted to know how much damage- they may compensate me! I was really surprised to hear that- hopefully they will.... We'll see!

 

[tomato clown]

I would hope they compensate you due to impurities in thier water. I usually buy 3 different types of distilled so I'm interested to hear your final outcome here.
Dan

 

[mrmaroon]

I just bought Alaskan falls Purified Water from the grocery store. It says that it is filtered with carbon, multi-media and RO. It meeds or exceeds all FDA EPA & USP purified water quality standards. It comes in a 2.5 gallon jug for $3. I tested it for AMmonia and it was 0. I have not had any problems with it so far.

 

[royce]

I have opted for the RO water from Walmart - $0.58/gallon. a bit of a pain to haul all of the jugs, but a good option if you don't have an RO/DI unit. It has the green label.

 

[javajoe]

Well, i heard back from the water company, and I am fuming.
I will post more details later, I am at work now and can't take the time, but basically, they said that the type of ammonia i tested for is called "N Ammonia" and that the FDA does not require them to test for it- so too bad for me.
Also, they said that as the bottles are opened, their insurance cannot cover any damage caused by the water, as i may have put stuff in it. they only can insure damage caused by water that is unopened. (oh THAT makes a lot of sense). I asked them, "So, this means that the only way i could be covered for damages is if the bottle fell on me and hit me in the head?" They said, "basically, yes."
I am ticked.
more later, i have to cool down, and then call them again when my blood stops boiling.
[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: Javajoe ]