RO unit..To drink or not to drink? That is the question
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ophiura
Active Member
I don't see why not... :notsure:
Perhaps the confusion is with distilled water. Though there were proponents of drinking it in the past, distilled water is actually pretty harsh all considering - but that is basically if you are drinking it as your primary water. You can't put fish in it, for example.
There is certainly nothing harmful in it, that is kinda the whole point. It'll have less junk than the tap water!
Perhaps the confusion is with distilled water. Though there were proponents of drinking it in the past, distilled water is actually pretty harsh all considering - but that is basically if you are drinking it as your primary water. You can't put fish in it, for example.
There is certainly nothing harmful in it, that is kinda the whole point. It'll have less junk than the tap water!
A
allenk
Guest
When I bought my RO/DI unit, there was a warning about drinking the water. My understanding of the situation is that RO water is fine for drinking. However, RO/DI water may be too pure for drinking. There apparently is a theory that it is so pure that it might "suck" minerals out of your body as it goes through.
blemmy_guy
Active Member
interesting theory allenk..... i was under the impresion it could be drank. some homes have the big units for all the house??? hopefully someone here will know for sure???
todd
todd
scotts
Active Member
I used to work at a place that made ultrapure DI water. I mean very clean water. As the safety guy I spent some time trying to find information about if it was safe to drink DI water or not. At the time, 2 years ago, I was not able to find anything good or bad. I had heard what has been said here that DI water is not good to drink, and the reasons, as stated above, sounded good to me. So I warned people not to drink it.
RO water while much cleaner than what comes out of the faucet should still have enough "stuff" in it that it is OK to drink.
I can't put it in terms of TDS but the RO water had a resistivity of about 1 Mega Ohm and the DI water had a resistivity of 18 Mega Ohm
Let the debate and flaming of me begin.
Scott
RO water while much cleaner than what comes out of the faucet should still have enough "stuff" in it that it is OK to drink.
I can't put it in terms of TDS but the RO water had a resistivity of about 1 Mega Ohm and the DI water had a resistivity of 18 Mega Ohm
Let the debate and flaming of me begin.
Scott
A
allenk
Guest
There is a difference between RO/DI and RO. The DeIonization is the last stage of an RO/DI unit. If yours does not have the DI stage it should be drinkable. The other thing that the instructions for my RO/DI said was that the deonionized water would not taste good. Never tried it. I guess I am going along with the theory that if the manufacturer says you shouldn't drink the RO/DI water that comes from their unit, I'll take their word for it. However, you can take the DI cartridge out and the its only RO.
greatfullreefer
Active Member
DI is safe to drink but frankly totaly pointless, the deionization process much like distillation removes electrolites from the water. No electrolites = no rehydration if all you drank was DI then your thurst would never be quenched. So it is safe to drink as long as it is not all you drink as you would end up severly dehydrated.
A
allenk
Guest
Got it. It is perfectly safe to drink, but if you decide to drink it as your sole source of hydration you will die.
On another subject, I have heard that the discharge (waste) water from RO or RO/DI units is supposed to very tasty. Haven't tried it myself.
On another subject, I have heard that the discharge (waste) water from RO or RO/DI units is supposed to very tasty. Haven't tried it myself.
turningtim
Active Member
There any advantage to your tank between RO and RO/DI?. Is there anything bad about the "waste water"? Can you use this water for other things like FW tank, plants,Is it drinkable w/o DI?
I would like to buy a unit but, would hate to waste that water. I'd rather not drain my well.
I would like to buy a unit but, would hate to waste that water. I'd rather not drain my well.
J
jamie907
Guest
So you can't put fish in deionized water? You can put them in distilled water, I'm sure.
A
allenk
Guest
Well, that is a good point. If it would dehydrate a human, why not a fish?
Again, I fall back on the manufacturer's warning not to drink DI water. I don't know the scientific explanation, but they seemed the believe it would leach minerals from your body. That was good enough for me. I don't know why it wouldn't have the same effect on fish. My guess would because the saltwater mix adds the minerals and other stuff needed to prevent it.
Again, I fall back on the manufacturer's warning not to drink DI water. I don't know the scientific explanation, but they seemed the believe it would leach minerals from your body. That was good enough for me. I don't know why it wouldn't have the same effect on fish. My guess would because the saltwater mix adds the minerals and other stuff needed to prevent it.
salty tank
Member
You are right. RO/DI takes everything out of the water. Our drinking water needs some things that Rodi takes out.
jerthunter
Active Member
I am sure this topic has been fully covered but I am bored and I used to work making pure water used in power plants... From what I learned drinking DI water is supposed to actually strip minerals away from your body, even if this was not true the point was brought up that drinking pure DI water won't actually hydrate you. I do not believe it is harmful to you to drink DI water because I drank quite a bit when I used to work.... Of course the question was about RO water, which is perfectly safe to drink and distilled water is also safe to drink. Another thing to keep in mind, the DI filters that most of us have probably are no comparison to the DI filters used in making true pure water so I doubt they would be that bad. The RO/DI filter I purchased actually claims it can be used for drinking water.
Hmmm.. hope I made some sense...
Hmmm.. hope I made some sense...
acrylic51
Active Member
Originally Posted by allenk
There is a difference between RO/DI and RO. The DeIonization is the last stage of an RO/DI unit. If yours does not have the DI stage it should be drinkable. The other thing that the instructions for my RO/DI said was that the deonionized water would not taste good. Never tried it. I guess I am going along with the theory that if the manufacturer says you shouldn't drink the RO/DI water that comes from their unit, I'll take their word for it. However, you can take the DI cartridge out and the its only RO.
You could also plumb the RO/DI unit with a valve that you can bypass the DI filter to get drinking water.....It is safe to drink RO water but the minerals are missing once it goes through the DI filter.....
There is a difference between RO/DI and RO. The DeIonization is the last stage of an RO/DI unit. If yours does not have the DI stage it should be drinkable. The other thing that the instructions for my RO/DI said was that the deonionized water would not taste good. Never tried it. I guess I am going along with the theory that if the manufacturer says you shouldn't drink the RO/DI water that comes from their unit, I'll take their word for it. However, you can take the DI cartridge out and the its only RO.
You could also plumb the RO/DI unit with a valve that you can bypass the DI filter to get drinking water.....It is safe to drink RO water but the minerals are missing once it goes through the DI filter.....
mudplayerx
Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
I don't see why not... :notsure:
Perhaps the confusion is with distilled water. Though there were proponents of drinking it in the past, distilled water is actually pretty harsh all considering - but that is basically if you are drinking it as your primary water. You can't put fish in it, for example.
There is certainly nothing harmful in it, that is kinda the whole point. It'll have less junk than the tap water!
Can't put fish into distilled water? I've been using distilled for my tank since day 1!!!
What are ya talking about Ophiura?!
I don't see why not... :notsure:
Perhaps the confusion is with distilled water. Though there were proponents of drinking it in the past, distilled water is actually pretty harsh all considering - but that is basically if you are drinking it as your primary water. You can't put fish in it, for example.
There is certainly nothing harmful in it, that is kinda the whole point. It'll have less junk than the tap water!
Can't put fish into distilled water? I've been using distilled for my tank since day 1!!!
What are ya talking about Ophiura?!
susieq
Member
I may be able to answer this. I'm a bio teacher. Our body cells have chemicals in them. If you drink too much pure water (RO/DI) water will move from areas of higher water concentration to areas of lower concentration. (Into body cells) If too much water moves in, the cells burst. It probably depends on how much pure water you plan to drink. It may also take the fluorine out of drinking water which would mean cavities for everybody.