Finding ultra-pure water locally...

Ultrapure/lab grade/triple distilled/reverse osmosis water are NOT the same thing.

For example, while reverse osmosis is effective in removing a wide range of impurities including ions and distillation is another technique to head water in the right direction, ultrapure water (also known as Reagent Grade water) will typically involve 6 other processes including, softening, activated carbon filtration, micro/ultrafiltration, ultraviolet radiation, and deionization all done in a certain order to achieve "ultrapure" status.

Ultrapure is a step above Pure/Analytical Grade water and two steps above Pure/Lab Grade water. In my experience, Ultrapure is great for cleaning records.

Hi Albert: I just did a quick web search, coming up with Nerl Diagnostics Reagent grade with those numbers on the Nerl website without pricing and another website offering the Nerl water for sale with pricing.

If I'm not mistaken and reading the priced website properly there is no difference between the -1 and the -5; those numbers appear to be product numbers specifying the amount of water and number of containers (ie. 4 x 32 oz bottles vs 1 x 1 gallon or 5 gallon for example) but the reagent grade water appears to be the same whether -1, -3 or -5.

That being said, the Nerl site appears to show three grades of water with High Purity appearing to be the lowest, the Reagent Grade next and the "best" being described as "Safe and Sure Ultrapure Water". Unfortunately I could not find any pricing on the Nerl website or any other website that offered the "Safe and Sure". So that might warrant a bit more investigation and if the price was not outrageously more than the Nerl Reagent Grade (I would expect that it probably wouldn't be, at least in audiophile terms!), might be the one to go for.

Tbg: My comments regarding distillation were only with respect to the fact that distilled water is a far cry from ultrapure as the original poster intimated (ie. ultrapure, lab grade, triple distilled all essentially being the same).

With respect to softening, it can be and is often used as the very first stage (followed by 5 or 6 others) in producing ultrapure water.

Following is a link to the reagent grade water Albert Porter ordered. One can buy 5 gallons for $50-the issue then is to have some smaller containers to transfer into. While $50 for 5 gallons of water may seem expensive, it is dirt cheap in terms of buying commercial cleaning solutions (and I have found the commercial solutions to be worth their price compared to DIY solutions so I am certainly not a cheapskate). I'm still experimenting with cleaning and steaming ONLY with ultrapure water and no commercial cleaning fluids and beginning to lean toward the opinion that only ultrapure and steaming may actually be the best way to clean records or at least the vast majority of them, and if that is indeed the case, 5 gallons of ultrapure will clean literally thousands of records.

I can't comment on the quality of the linked water as I'm using ultrapure from my wife's lab which essentially goes through the 6 stage process I outlined above in this thread. I know that what I'm using is very pure and I've been really pleased with the results having formerly used the RRL/Mo-Fi products (both Super Deep and SVW). I'm still unsure as to whether I can do without the Super Deep, but I've long since stopped using the Super Vinyl Wash as the Ultrapure Water I'm using is, in my opinion, both a better cleaning agent than the SVW and leaves absolutely no sonic signature like the SVW.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/casco-nerl-water-reagent-grade-9800-5.html

Jtimothya: From the description you posted above, I think you'll be very happy with the water you ordered and that it will every bit as good, if not better than the "ultrapure" being shipped by the various manufacturers of record cleaning products.

In looking at the description compared to a "Contaminant Removal Profile" on ultrapure as described by Pall Life Sciences, the company who provides the water purification equipment used in my wife's lab, the only stage that seems to be missing from Pall's ultrapure profile is a combination Ultrafiltration (UF) and UV photo-oxidation stage just prior to a second stage of deionization and the final .2 micron filtration. This is just a guess, but I would guess that the Nerl "Safe and Secure" ultrapure might be subject to this stage to qualify for its "ultrapure" status.

Good luck and keep us posted. I'm pretty sure you and Albert are going to be quite pleased with the results.

So, let's see....

By my calculations, that makes the Nerl Reagent Grade $5.06 gallon when purchased in bulk (so you'd have to possibly factor in buying a few smaller containers) vs. Lloyd Walker's water at $88 gallon.

Hmmmmmm......

Albert: My guess is that the higher grade "Safe and Sure" will not be much more expensive. This product is being marketed for scientific use and not to audiophiles.

Once the audiophiles start to buy it, someone else will, of course, repackage it and sell it for 5X the money.

The little I know and the information I have would suggest that there would indeed be a difference between the two products; my guess is that it would probably involve higher levels of ultrafiltration. Nerl themselves appear not to apply the "ultrapure" name to their reagent grade water.

That being said, I would expect the reagent grade to be very good and your point as to whether one could "hear" the difference between the reagent grade and the "Safe and Sure Ultra Pure" is well taken.