RO or RO/DI for drinking water?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by windcoast reefs

Okay, I have never been to the Dubai plant, but I have been to the Abu dhabi plant. Now as ar as I remember, they do remineralize there water except for floride. I believe they follow the ISO 24000 series. Allot has changed in the past 20 years, and I am going to go with the Information I have learned throughout my schooling and experiences. Now back to the actual discussion in place. I agree with Steve, it think that bypass is to stop you from wasting money on DI cartridges.

ya we went to the dubai, the abu dhabi and another one out there.. the city water services are strait RO with chlorimene (sp) and from what I remember the bottled water plants make two or more types of water.. the largest ones being strain RO, then there are some remineralized brands, which they charge more for in the stores..

I just got back from the kids hockey and one of the guys there works at the kamloops plant here and there is no remineralization, only disinfectant to prevent bacterial growth.. mind you whats in the old pipes of some niebourhoods

I know my place in Victoria was between 6ppm and 12ppm depending on the season, but my buddy in glandford was 110ppm same water, I was just a lot closer to the sourse right off newer pipes, he was in an old area of town.

Steve

[windcoast reefs]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

wasn't talking about you at all, I was talking about the markiting departments, and such that years ago started the misconceptions that people started to take as gospel all for the sake of selling different products.. also the people who say.."what did you buy that for.. you know it can hurt you" only because they figure there is no need for them to have one so they have to justify there position with false hoods, since you have one you don't fit into that either.. so not talking about you at all.

Steve

Cool, no problem, just healthy conversation!

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

this is all silly talk, wives tales.. ect call it what you will by people who just don't know any better and have to say something to put down a purchase some one made that they don't think they needed. it has popped up several times over the last 10 years and it realy suprises me that people still think that way.

Steve

It also comes directly from the RO unit manufacturers. My directions that came with my unit specifically state to not drink the DI water, only the RO water. So I can't see the manufacturer putting down my purchase I made with them.

My tap water tastes great as is and I don't see the point of wasting all the excess water used to make RO water plus the cost of filters unless the tap water has a bad taste to it. Actually my taste buds do not like the taste of RO water at all, it may be pure water but it has a very strong taste to me, almost like watered down hydrogen peroxide.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Actually my taste buds do not like the taste of RO water at all, it may be pure water but it has a very strong taste to me, almost like watered down hydrogen peroxide.

ya I found DI has a "dry" taste, as for RO, never noticed any off taste with it. I know when I go back to AB to see my parents and friends I can taste the tap water from the edmonton system and it is different. not used to it anymore so I notice it. when I go to my gramma's, they use a water softener and I can hardly drink it, and they have a tap that bypasses it as my grammpa likes the hard water and it is very different tasting... I don't know if Edmonton uses floride anymore but they did for the 22 years I grew up there.. no to me using RO is more about getting rid of the crap other people think we need. I don't want chlorine copper, led different salts, and other metals in my drinking water so I get rid of it.

Steve

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

It also comes directly from the RO unit manufacturers. My directions that came with my unit specifically state to not drink the DI water, only the RO water. So I can't see the manufacturer putting down my purchase I made with them.

DI is a form of water treatment that is used for making drinking water. now there are different DI resins that basicly are the same. to sell something for human consumption it falls under regulations and such, so by putting a "not for human consumption" sticker on it they avoid a bunch of red tape. like I said befor, I "t" off befor my DI as the resins are expensive, and in the perfect storm of conditions you can get bacteria growth in the DI cartrages. so do I recomend drinking DI water from our home setups? no, is there anything wrong with proper DI water for drinking it.. no.

even when I was looking at starting to make RO/DI and other tank related "stuff" for sale 10 years ago, I was still going to use not for human consumption stickers on the DI and a few other things... why... liability.. I am not there to maintain your system, to clean it regulary and make sure it is run properly. so why would I accept the responcibility by selling you something for your fish tank and also saying ya drink it. is it safe... ya if run properly and maintaned properly it is perfectly safe.. how many people here do weekly maintenance on there RO setups?

Steve

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

no to me using RO is more about getting rid of the crap other people think we need. I don't want chlorine copper, led different salts, and other metals in my drinking water so I get rid of it.

Steve

I gave up my concerns about this type of stuff. It's got to the point were breathing is unhealthy and anything that doesn't stay airborne ends up in our food. Don't get me wrong, I like free range meats and organic produce because it usually tastes better but it's far from free of contaminants as some would have us believe. But I guess if we can cut down on the intake of purposely added compounds it's probably for the best.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Don't get me wrong, I like free range meats and organic produce because it usually tastes better but it's far from free of contaminants as some would have us believe.

I am opposite.. all free range means to me is that the producer has no idea what all its eating or where its been.. not desiriable to me..

as for organic.. thats a whole different scam to me.. have you read our laws in canada on "organic" foods? its a good joke.

but I do agree with all the things there finding are caused by contamanants, anything we can do to reduce them is something that some one should be looking at.

Steve

[Reef Pilot]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I think I will leave my RO/DI system as is with a separate output for RO only for drinking water, and the DI output for my reef water. While DI might be just as good for drinking, I see the point of not wasting the DI filter media for drinking water just for a few less TDS.