Buying RO / DI - I know nothing

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by Myka

You do know that RO/DI water isn't suitable for drinking, right?

Hmm no I did not know this. Why would that be? Pure water is pure water no? Thank you for your reply.

[Myka]

DI water tastes like crap. It's no worse (or any different) than drinking RO or distilled water. In the end, it's all "pure" water. It's actually not good to drink any form of "pure" water as your main source of water as it lacks essential minerals for healthy living. Natural mineral water is much better for you.

[jsmth321]

I use a Aqua FX but without the DI. (Just sediment, carbon and then R/O membrane.) I decided against the DI as I get 0 TDS without it, and the water out here isn't that bad, and I have never had any issues.

[macky]

I have this one from Costco and installed it under my kitchen sink. I use it for my tank and for drinking water. http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....rodid=10300796

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by Myka

It's actually not good to drink any form of "pure" water as your main source of water as it lacks essential minerals for healthy living. Natural mineral water is much better for you.

Sorry but this is some old wive's tale. Water is needed by your body as a source of water, nothing else. Your minerals, salts etc. you get from your food.

The only possible consequence of drinking pure water is you miss out on the probable benefits of fluoride that the water company adds for your teeth.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Myka

DI water tastes like crap. It's no worse (or any different) than drinking RO or distilled water. In the end, it's all "pure" water. It's actually not good to drink any form of "pure" water as your main source of water as it lacks essential minerals for healthy living. Natural mineral water is much better for you.

I second that 0 ppm water is bad, if you drink DI'ed water at 0ppm you body will draw minerals from bones and blood, its not immediately lethal of course, but I would not drink it for sure.
Good rate is about 150-200ppm I drink bottled water sometimes 2000 or more ppm but no longer then a week.
So for drinking: RO tap water is ok DI not good.

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

I second that 0 ppm water is bad, if you drink DI'ed water at 0ppm you body will draw minerals from bones and blood, its not immediately lethal of course, but I would not drink it for sure.
Good rate is about 150-200ppm I drink bottled water sometimes 2000 or more ppm but no longer then a week.
So for drinking: RO tap water is ok DI not good.

As Snaz said this is an old wives tale/urban myth. Drinking purified water will not draw minerals out of your body. No way; aint gonna happen; not possible. The main drawback will be a very bland flavour which many people don't like. Drinking water is a negligible source of minerals for your body. It all comes from your food. Pure water in your gut cannot absorb enough minerals from anything to draw it out of your body. So drink whatever water you want, it doesn't make a difference. Personally, I'm okay with tap water. Nothing wrong with it at all. I save the RO/DI for the tanks

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Ron99

As Snaz said this is an old wives tale/urban myth. Drinking purified water will not draw minerals out of your body. No way; aint gonna happen; not possible. The main drawback will be a very bland flavour which many people don't like. Drinking water is a negligible source of minerals for your body. It all comes from your food. Pure water in your gut cannot absorb enough minerals from anything to draw it out of your body. So drink whatever water you want, it doesn't make a difference. Personally, I'm okay with tap water. Nothing wrong with it at all. I save the RO/DI for the tanks

its Not the water in the gut that absorbs minerals, its what body will do to survive.
For example body will draw calcium from bones if blood has less then enough of calcium for proper hart beat rate.Why ? because hart is more important for survival the bones at the moment.
You can drink 0ppm water for long time without any ill effect, what body will do is it will take required minerals from whatever source available; food veggies etc. or other body parts if levels are critically low.
The point is to supply natural (Not synthetic) minerals to the body at regular intervals.
So yes tap water is OK to drink. RO/DI is OK to drink IF you have enough minerals in perfect proportions, but what we know in this hobby is that, if you don't test it you don't know where you at right?
jmtcw

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

its Not the water in the gut that absorbs minerals, its what body will do to survive.
For example body will draw calcium from bones if blood has less then enough of calcium for proper hart beat rate.Why ? because hart is more important for survival the bones at the moment.
You can drink 0ppm water for long time without any ill effect, what body will do is it will take required minerals from whatever source available; food veggies etc. or other body parts if levels are critically low.
The point is to supply natural (Not synthetic) minerals to the body at regular intervals.
So yes tap water is OK to drink. RO/DI is OK to drink IF you have enough minerals in perfect proportions, but what we know in this hobby is that, if you don't test it you don't know where you at right?
jmtcw

You are right about what your body will do if you have low serum calcium but wrong about what role ro/di water can play. Sorry. The recommendation is that daily calcium intake be around 1000 mg/day. Our water on the west coast is pretty soft so calcium levels in the Vancouver area average around 1.4 mg/L. Areas with very hard water can be up to around 135 mg/L. Most spring water is around 20 mg/L. Mineral waters are higher and average around 200 mg/L. So to get your full calcium from lower mainland tap water you would have to drink over 700 liters every day. With the best mineral waters and given average water intake you could possibly get 40% of your calcium from drinking water. The majority of our calcium and other minerals come from the food we eat. Average daily intake of water is less than 2 liters. So in the lower mainland you are possibly getting 2 to 3 mg of calcium per day from your drinking water, or 2% of your daily intake. So a 2% reduction from drinking ro/di will make no real difference. If you are getting adequate minerals from your food or vitamin supplements then drinking RO/DI water will not change that. The minerals get absorbed by your body and used. If your diet is low in those minerals you probably won't get enough from drinking water to make up the difference unless you are drinking several liters of mineral water each day. You are better off talking a vitamin supplement etc. if you need it.

The type of water you drink will make no difference whatsoever. You are either getting enough in your diet or not. RO/DI wayter cannot and will not pull minerals from your body. It just isn't possible.

Also, I have seen people argue that ro/di water is acidic and therefor bad for you. While true in relation to regular tap water it is not a big deal. I believe ro/di water can get down to pH 6.0 or so by absorbing atmospheric CO2. However, compare this to stuff like pop or citrus juices and they are more acidic than ro/di water so that argument doesn't hold water either (sorry for the pun).

Anyhow, sorry if I sound confrontational. I just get irked by conclusions based on poor science, pseudo science or or just plain wrong information.

[pterfloth]

As an industrial and municipal water treatment consultant I just had to chime in. RO and DI water are fine to drink, they just taste flat. Your body does not rely on minerals in water for nutrition. A single piece of toast has many times the number of minerals several gallons of water has.

RO is used all over the world to produce fresh drinking water from seawater. Many of the bottled water companies use RO pretreatment.

GVRD water has the lowest concentration of dissolved minerals in North America. The need for RO here is marginal at best.