Why outside?? Does it make a difference if you leave it inside for a day?? All you are doing is letting the chlorine evaporate out of the water right??Screw water filters. Just fill a buvket place outside for a day and use it.. kiss method is key. Keep it simple stupid. And grow on. Thats my 2 cents
How does the distilled water pH? Do you get varying readings before you add anything to it?If you have decent water you use it fine. I prefer distilled or ro water. For me personally it is easier to ph. My tap water takes alot of ph down to come down, where distilled water is a drop or two. The zero filters are good but they take forever to filter water. I love berkey filters and they are great for drinking water, but still keeps minerals in. I like adding everything myself so I know exactly whats in there. All personal preference though.....
I believe that the reason you get a different reading after shaking the pen is because water changes pH when it interacts with air, that is why pure distilled water should be, in theory, 7.0pH, but in reality it is more often about 5.5-6.5 due to the interaction with the air during the distillation process.The water out of the tap reads 143-145. We have a zero water filter, without a doubt it reads 000, but it doesn't have a steady pH. Stick pen in water and it reads 8.5, pull it out shake it off stick it back in and it reads 6.0. Set pen in 7.01 solution, reads 7.0, stick it back in water and reads 8.0!!!!!