Does Snow Fluid Need Distilled Water?

Does Snow Fluid Need Distilled Water?

Short answer: your machine will run on tap water, and the snow will look the same. Distilled water is better for the long term life of the machine.

Here is the honest version, because nobody in this business seems to want to give it to you straight.

What The Water Actually Affects

Tap water carries dissolved minerals. Calcium and magnesium, mostly. How much depends on where you live.

When that water passes through your machine, most of it leaves as snow. The minerals do not. They stay behind and build up in the pump, the lines, and the nozzle.

This is the same thing that happens inside a coffee maker or a steam iron. It takes years, not weeks.

What It Does Not Affect

Your snow output. Run FoamDaddy Snow Fluid with tap water and the snow looks the same as it does with distilled. Same flakes, same coverage, same float.

If someone tells you tap water ruins your snow, that is not what is happening.

So What Is The Real Difference?

Machine life.

A machine run on distilled water should last longer than the same machine run on hard tap water, season after season. How much longer depends on how hard your water is and how often you run it.

For most operators, a snow machine gets replaced or upgraded before mineral buildup is what ends it.

So it matters, but not as much as people think. It is worth doing, not worth panicking about.

Why Machine Makers Push Their Own Fluid

Manufacturers recommend their own branded fluid, and they point to water quality as the reason. That part is fair. Mineral free water really is better for the machine.

But their fluid ships ready to use. You are trusting that their water was clean, and you have no way to check it.

FoamDaddy Snow Fluid is a concentrate. You add the water yourself. Buy distilled at any grocery store for around a dollar a gallon, and you know exactly what went into your machine.

Same mineral free result. You are the one in control of it.

What We Recommend

• Use distilled water when you can. It is cheap and it is better for the machine.
• Do not cancel an event over it. If you are out of distilled and the party starts in an hour, use tap water and run the event.
• Know your water. Hard water areas build up faster. Phoenix, Las Vegas, and most of the southwest are hard. Much of the Pacific Northwest is soft.
• Flush after the season. Run clean water through the machine before you store it. This matters more than which water you used.
• Check your warranty. Some manufacturers specify fluid or water requirements. Read yours before you decide.

How Much Distilled Water Will I Need?

Size	Add distilled water	Makes	Price	Cost per finished gallon
8 oz	1 gallon	1 gallon	$24.00	$24.00
32 oz	4.5 gallons	5 gallons	$89.00	$17.80
1 Gallon	19 gallons	20 gallons	$315.00	$15.75
55 Gallon Drum	See label	1,100 gallons	$7,500.00	$6.82

A 32 oz container needs 4.5 gallons of distilled water to make 5 gallons of finished fluid. At about a dollar a gallon, that is roughly five dollars of water per tank.

See our snow fluid compatibility page for the full list of machines this fluid runs in.

Questions? Call our experts at 1-888-731-4415 or email us at info@foamdaddy.com. We look forward to helping you!