Quick question for all of you who have ran water injection. I have slowly been piecing my system together and had one plain and simple question regarding water. I have heard guys claiming if you do not run distilled water in your system your going to run into problems... Now I understand the logic behind this with mineral deposits floating around in tap water but on the other hand I'm not paying 20 bucks everytime for distilled (79 cent gallon at Wally World) Iwhen I fill up both my fuel tanks. The idea behind it all was during the winter I could run washer fluid that I will just purchase 55 gallon drums of, but during the summer I am using a hose from the house to fill it up.

I pull our water out of a 980 foot deep well in the rockies of CO. We have very minimal mineral deposits and our water is considered to be hard water. Put it this way it took over 18 years to form minimal calcium deposits on our shower head., and I swear its the coldes best tasting water on the planet

My issue is why do I HAVE TO USE DISTILLED water??? I have read guys who have been running tap water for 10 years without issue. If it is solely a concern of blocking up the nozzle, heck I can buy 2 nozzles for 20 bucks and it will take a lot longer than 2 tanks of gas to foul one up. Are there any other issues it may cause?

I would like to hear the good and the bad from those running it, or those have worked on trucks running it who have seen the side affects...

Thanks again fellas

 

I sort of agree with you on that. People are just overly nit-picky about things like that, but it's not like our diesel fuel is sediment free anyways.

 

It depends on what kind and how good your tap water is.

If you filter it,
if you have salt or heavy rust in yoru water.
heavy sulfur.

If you have heavy fluoride in your water cause its city water, I woudln't run it then either.

 

You could always distill your own water. A turkey fryer burner and a large stainless pot with a capture device on top. You might end up spending more in propane than you would in buying the water. Of course if you live in the mountains maybe you have an abundance of firewood you could use.

Another option is to do some research and find a good filter setup or reverse osmosis setup. We have one for drinking water, it takes about 24 hours to get 5 gallons of clean water. This would be a larger initial investment but it may pay for itself in time.

 

As long as it's not water like William listed, I wouldn't worry too much. My water has high sulfur, so I'm not injecting that into my engine. I do have RO(reverse osmosis) I could try i guess.

 

Well I will comment that sulfur and salt are non existent in the water here... We have had had many water tests done over the years, and our water is filtered. I'm not going to distill my own water by any means. I'm planning on changing the nozzle every 3-5 years an earlier if need be I was just wondering opinions from those running it. Fellow on PSN has been runnin git for 10 years and has never used distilled and has had nill issues with nozzle change outs time to time. I was more worried with buildup inside the heads.

However the steam cleaning of carbon buildup has me slightly intrigued

As of now I'm planning on just running it straight out of the tap into the 26 gallon tank...

If I am towing heaving in the dead of winter throwing some washer fluid in there won't hurt, but I typically don't tow in the winter.... I'd be surprised if most washer fluid is even made from distilled water.... I know some is but I'd be interested in the percentages of nondistilled vs distilled bassed water/meth washer fluid.

 

Here is the tank

Ace / DenHartog 20 Gallon Applicator Rectangle Tank With Sump (A-SP0020-LC)

 

I want to figure out a way I can do it with beer.

 

A little off, but on topic. I owned a business building and maintaining saltwater reef aquariums. You want absolutely pure water to make saltwater for coral. This company Reverse Osmosis Systems, Water Filters, Water Filtration | Aquasafe has very very reasonably priced RODI units that make 100 gallons per day, measuring 0 with a total dissolved solids meter. A 55 gallon rubbermaid container, a simple plastic float valve, an adaptor on the washing machine inlet, and a drain along side the washer outlet hose and your in business. It will make all the pure water you can stand, and shut off when its full. I dont know that its needed, or not, in your situation, but if it is, this system worked great for me.
Steve

 

now if they can figure out a way to remove floride from water.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I ran tap water & wiper fluid the entire time I was injecting it (about 3 years). When the heads came off for gaskets & studs I did have some minor streaking in the runners on the middle 4 holes, but other than being super clean there was no evidence of anything on the pistons/walls.

 

Thanks for the info... Sounds like tap water will be just fine!