What about one of these to prevent hard water spots?

[USCGRetiredJosh]

What does everyone think of this, to prevent hard water spots? Obviously the Calcite cartridge is a must. Everyones 2cents are welcomed.

 

Water filter housings:

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/garden-hose-filters

 

Hard water filter:

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/products/fc018

 

 

Thanks

Josh

[TheWolf]

Josh, that hard water filter is not something you would want to use to wash your car.  It essentially adds minerals (calcium carbonate or calcite) to raise pH, but the calcite will actually cause more water spotting since it will leave behind calcium carbonate.

 

It terms of preventing water spots, the lower the TDS (total dissolved solids) the better.  That filter increases TDS.

 

Looking at the options they have for cartridges, none will benefit car washing.  A softener cartridge might help some as it replaces harder minerals with sodium, but you will still get spots, they just won't be as harmful, as far as potential for etching your clear coat.

 

Here is a write-up from that website on car washing.

 

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/articles/spot-free-car-wash/

 

If you want a true spot-free rinse without drying, or no chance of spots when washing in the heat/sun, then you have to go with deionized water.  Reverse-osmosis water can get close, but not all minerals are removed.

 

For info on deionizing filters, check out Post #135 in this thread:

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/27009-adamized-the-raptor/page-7?do=findComment&comment=440613

[CadillaChick]

I have 2 of those exact same filters, Running one filter after the other..

As mentioned above I would still have to dry down the car with a blaster sidekick, great white towel and detail spray to 100% prevent any spotting..

Now I only use the filters for filling and refilling my Hot tub other than that I feel it is a waste because it doesn't reduce any amount of time involved with washing/detailing the car..

[Ashley@Adams]

I agree with The Wolf.  Deionized water is the way to go.  

 

If hard water can't be avoided then, right after rinsing (our Car Shampoo will neutralize the water when washing) hit the entire vehicle with Detail Spray ASAP.  This should help prevent any spotting.  Also, make sure you have a good coat of protection with either our sealant or wax, as this helps too.  

[pirahnah3]

All good advice, however I have a question. 

 

How did you determine you have hard water? 

[Mooser]

There are test kits available, check online or a local water treatment store. If your on municipal water, the town should be able to supply test results if you ask.

For a quick and dirty check, run your water for a few minutes and fill an empty drinking water bottle about 1/4 full, add a a little bit (1/4 tsp or so) of basic dish soap (the more basic the better, like that stuff they clean oil off the animals when there is a spill) cap it and shake. if the water stays basically clear and the foam is all fluffy, water is fine, if the water is milky and not much foam or it flattens out quick, the water is hard

 

HIH

M

[TheWolf]

All good advice, however I have a question. 

 

How did you determine you have hard water? 

 

An inexpensive TDS meter will tell you how hard your water is:

 

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=pd_sim_60_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=31u0sy1uLFL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0AZ6BHG574FP1J7QZNRJ

 

While you can get water quality information from your water supplier (ask for an Inorganic Chemicals Report, or IOC), the test results may be an average of all tests if your water supplier has multiple water sources (more than one well or surface water supply).  The IOC from my water supplier lists a TDS of 185 mg/L (same as 185 ppm), but the water from my faucet tests around 140 ppm.

[pirahnah3]

I beg to differ on TDS being a control of how hard your water is. TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. Those solids can be anything from copper and Iron to calcium or even dirt and sand. None of those elements make up "hard water" 

 

Hard water is very broadly defined as a high mineral content in the water. 

 

Now to get into the details would take me quite a bit, however there are easy ways to determine hard water, these again are generalizations, but if you tend to have a higher pH of your water it is usually due to the mineral content and can be a leading indicator, having problems making soap suds when washing hands or dishes or anything can also be an indicator. 

 

I would be happy to spend hours discussing water and all its properties but to simply say a high TDS means hard water is FAR from accurate. 

 

Depending on your water source there might be easy ways to find out about your water. I am going to assume here seeing as you served in our great military that you still reside in the USA, that said it is a requirement if you have town provided water that you receive a report on this once per year. The report is typically called an "Annual Water Quality Report" this will give you a lot of information on the water that you drink and use around your house. There is usually a bunch of information in there that the majority of folks do not understand and there is a lot of filler info that is required by the EPA. You can easily get a copy from your local water department or sometimes even easier is you can find them online. 

 

Now if you have a private well that provides water to your dwelling that will make things a little different and we might have to try a few things. It is not hard, nor costly to learn about your water and it is something we should all do so that we understand a little about what we are putting into our bodies and on our vehicles, 

[TheWolf]

Jim-

 

Yes, TDS is not a direct measurement of hardness, but for the purposes of car washing, TDS is a good indicator of water hardness.  While soft water can also have high TDS, tap water from the ground or surface bodies would not typically be soft (which is why people buy water softeners), so in many cases the TDS meter would be reading the more common minerals in drinking water that contribute to water hardness.

 

While other dissolved minerals that contribute to TDS may not be the specific minerals that cause hard water, differentiating between minerals that contribute to hard water and those that don't, is not going to make much of a difference in having a spot-free wash without drying or being able to wash in the heat/sun.

 

While soft water may have the same TDS as hard water, both will cause spots.  The only difference would be the effect of the specific minerals in the spots.  Hard minerals can etch, soft minerals may not and are typically easier to remove.

 

Dirt and sand do not contribute to TDS, as they do not dissolve in the water.  Dirt and sand would be part of TSS (Total Suspended Solids). 

 

In addition, your statement that calcium does not make up hard water is incorrect.  Calcium is the primary mineral in hard water, along with magnesium.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_water

 

The information in a Water Quality Report can vary by supplier.  My supplier includes nitrate, arsenic, radium, gross alpha, VOC, and lead.  I had to ask for a full IOC report to find out the TDS, along with a long list of other EPA regulated inorganic chemicals.  A full IOC may also include the actual Hardness measurement (not EPA regulated, but may be state regulated).

[BRZN]

Here's part of an email I'd sent out back in mid may of this year in my search for a spot free rinse:

 

A few things I've learned since I set it up.

It still hasn't made the full 35 gallons the tank holds, I'm about 3/4 full after 72 hours.

To make the purified water, tap water is pushed through the membrane filter, what isn't purified doesn't drop into the tank but goes out the discharge line. It discharges 3 gallons of unused water in 30 minutes. A wee bit wasteful. If my math is correct I've already run 430+ gallons of water down the drain.

I bought a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) meter today that reads in parts per million (ppm).

My untreated water supplied by the local municipality is at 240ppm TDS

Water that passes through my carbon filter, a cartridge filter and through the water softener is at 254ppm TDS. Left over carbon and salts I guess makes the difference.

The discharge water that didn't drop into the tank after the Spot Free Rinse membrane filter is up to 260ppm TDS.

The water in the storage tank is at 16ppm TDS.

For comparison; my in house Reverse Osmosis water purification system is at 21 ppm TDS, it's serviced once a year with a clean out and filter replacement in late December. A one gallon jug of distilled water from the local grocery store shows 0ppm of TDS.

 

The system I purchased is this:

Around $650.00

The TDS meter:

About $40.00, if I recall.

 

I couldn't find a cheaper, more effective way to get what I wanted, that served my needs. This system works!

[pirahnah3]

Wolf, you are correct that calcium does contribute but not as a pure source, it needs to be bound with another mineral such as magnesium. 

 

The remainder will not pertain to the discussion at hand of keeping away water spots so for that point ill drop it all. 

 

Di water as mentioned by Dave is the way to go to solve the problem permanently. Soft, hard it wont matter, it will take care of it either way.