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c/analog-photo-loungeharpery47harpery474d agoProlific Poster

Why does nobody talk about how bad tap water is for developing film?

I spent 6 months getting muddy negatives and thought it was my chemistry mixing. Finally ran out of distilled water one night in Portland and used filtered tap instead. The whole roll came out clear and sharp. Now I check my water hardness at 180 ppm and switch to distilled for the stabilizer step. Anyone else fight with water quality and not realize it?
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3 Comments
wells.olivia
Think you're overthinking it, I've used tap water for years with no issues.
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wendyprice
Oh man, same here, I spent months blaming my developer before realizing my tap water was wrecking everything.
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noahmartin
Did they use all that fancy gear just to figure out their water was the problem? Sounds like an expensive science experiment.
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