Buying RO / DI - I know nothing

[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.

[macky]

So, maybe someone can help Snaz with some useful information about RO and RODI units instead of debating weather or not you can drink the water from the unit and remain healthy.

[fkshiu]

You can pick up a 5-stage ebay unit for $100-$150 and turn it into "zero waste" by simply directing the reject water into your washing machine or outside to water the lawn.

Just make sure that it has:

1. 3-stage pre-filtering (mechanical filter, GAC, carbon block)
2. Genuine Dow Filmtec RO membrane
3. Manually refillable DI container

If you want to use it for drinking water (most come with it) then a "taste" cartridge with coconut husks for re-mineralization will be included. A holding tank is also useful.

A lot of people here (including myself) have Aquasafe ebay units which have proved very reliable. Unfortunately, that company is now DOA but there are many equivalents around. All the parts of RO systems are pretty much interchangeable and standard sizes so you can just buy new filters/parts in bulk from places like bulkreefsupply.com, for example.

While it is true that water quality in the Lower Mainland is excellent and that you really won't be improving water QUALITY by much with an RO unit, another reason to get one that is just as important is water CONSISTENCY - you know exactly what you are getting each and every time. All it takes is for a crew to be mucking outside without your knowing to turn pristine Vancouver tap water into silty run off. Also, after big storms the city will often add extra chlorine. This would all be bad news if were doing a water change or a top up.

[mike31154]

I just ordered a system from BWI Plumbing. Decided on them since to the best of my knowledge it's a Canadian company, I was able to order on their website and paid Canadian $. I had also checked out Bulk Reef Supply and Buckeye Field Supply both of whom offer similar products at similar pricing, but once I calculated US$ exchange, shipping and possible brokerage fees, BWI seemed like the best option. The unit I ordered is their 4 stage system with auto shut-off/top-off options. It doesn't come with TDS meter, pressure guage or flush kit like the ones from BRS & BFS, but at just under $200 I thought it was the best bang for the buck. I have a handheld TDS meter and the flush kit, pressure guage etc. can be purchased locally and added on.

[alfredshouse]

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/RO...+-+50+GPD.html
just a thought.