RO or RO/DI for drinking water?

[windcoast reefs]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

actualy they don't.. I have been in the water processing plant a couple times in Dubai, and I have been involved in setting up emergency water supplies after natural desasters.. (which in some cases have become warer sourses for over a year) no remineralization. Oh.. I forgot previously, the city of kamloops is a RO plant also... no remineralization.

I have been working on industral sized RO, Distillers, and Ionization plants for the last 22 years, so I am not just talking out my you know what.. I have seen all kinds of studies and wives tails that were put to rest from studies... and yes it has been studied to death and there are no credable studdies that show a direct health risk from pure water.. only from drinking to much water and they used tap water for that one.

think about it.. you take a mouthfull of water and what happens.. your saliva renders it back to non pure water..

there is some merrit in your sweat thing as this does seplete salts and electrolites, but if you depend on water to replace these something is not right. unless you are an elete athlete who regularly extreamly exerts himself there is going to be no need to suplement your body with water that has minerals and electrolites added. like gator aid. I enjoy the tase of some of the products but thats about it, it realy doesnt do anything for me even when I am playing hockey.

local food in hot climats tends to be heavy in salt and spices, which did tweo things.. in the old days preserved the foods, and also ensured you werte getting your minerals in a extream hot enviorment. pure water is drank with abandon, and especialy now with the bottled water craze.

mineralized water is a sales gimic and nothing more. it will let a RO installer sell a add on that you don't need, or it will make people buy a different bottled water because they think it is better for them where infact they might be consuming to much of different minerals and such when combined with there diet.

Steve

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.

[Aquattro]

The DI essentially completes the purification through ion exchange. The concern with DI is that the resins "could" possibly leach back the salts associated with the H and OH. I suppose this could happen, but then a decent TDS meter would pick that up.
Consuming RO or RO/DI is not a bad thing. As I pointed out above, even if it did adsorb back what was removed, using K as the salt discussed, it is such a miniscule amount that it isn't worth discussing. It isn't going to weaken your bones or any other harmful effect. Any re-mineralization done is probably done on a "just in case" basis, or to quell the consumer lack of confidence based on rumors on the web. For every single article stating one thing, there is an article disputing it.
The purpose of water is to keep you hydrated and to carry the minerals you've consumed throughout your body; not supply the minerals to begin with. The human body has specific nutritional requirements, regardless of regional distribution, and assuming this diet is met for the most part, water is water is water. Reading the chemical composition of the water delivered to my house, I'll stick to the RO stuff. Not DI, because I'm cheap

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

The DI essentially completes the purification through ion exchange. The concern with DI is that the resins "could" possibly leach back the salts associated with the H and OH.

actualy the biggest concern with drinking DI (which should be mentioned) is the possibility of bacterial growth in the resin its self as the chlorine has been stripped out so there is nothing to prevent growth, but on the other hand the water is pure so growth is limited.

also the water can't adsorbe minerals from your body as that is a bilogical process, but the biggest concern which was mentioned by windcoast, is that it can fail to be able to replenish the salt and electrolites lost due to sweat, but as mentioned unless you have some medical condition which prevents your body from adsorbing these from the food you eat it is of little concern for 99.99999999% of the population

Steve

[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