I know most of what I say here is in left field and not the same approach that you all are taking, but maybe my experience will help in some small way.
It is not difficult to get 12V/50mA from Wal-Mart distilled water with out additives, although I normally use only a two electrode system which is not all SS. My electrical anode is SS and the cathode is carbon rod varying in size from 6mm to 12mm with electrode spacing of some 5cm. I found three types of distilled water, 1) Ozone treated, 2)Carbon Filtered and 3)Pharmaceutical grade. They do act differently within a cell with all parameters the same except the water. Not being a chemist I really will not speculate why. Using SS for both electrodes in my work requires a much higher input voltage than of course the carbon of one electrode. Likewise the preferred connection is with the cathode using carbon and the anode SS. Reversed direction will have a marked current difference. Early in treating cells a CCW rotation is found which varies from 1/2.35 to 1/3.58 RPM, this rotation stops after 18 hours. Anomalous bubbles may appear from normal water degassing. I will normall leave water sit with a goose neck for 48 to 72 hours before doing a test. pH varies from 6.9 to ~8.0 and then drops back to almost 7.0 (point where rotation stops). What ever this may be worth, otherwise sorry for taking your time.
