RO/DI water unfit for human consumption?

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Stammer, Oct 29, 2011.

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  1. Stammer

    Stammer Bristle Worm

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    After reading many posts on this forum I was really surprised to find out after I had ordered my SpectraPure RO/DI unit, that the water output from these units is not recommended for human consumption because it has zero mineral content. These minerals are what our bodies need for nutrients. My question is then why is it fit for delicate marine life? Is it too sanitary? The only thing I can deduce is that my salt mix contains the necessary "life supporting additives"?:confused:
     
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  3. Ducksmasher

    Ducksmasher Purple Spiny Lobster

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    so does the food you eat..
     
  4. Stammer

    Stammer Bristle Worm

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    I guess what I was saying is that is what I read from some of the posts here. I guess human consumption typically would only use an RO only unit. I am surprised and slightly curious by that, that's all. Yes, I understand, my food has life supporting elements in it, and luckily my wife has not put me on a water only diet yet! ;)
     
  5. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    Yes the salt does contain said minerals. If we were to drink the ro/di water without adding any minerals then alls we'd be doing is flushing our bodies of all the minerals without replenishing them. Something like that anyways :)
     
  6. Reef-a-holic

    Reef-a-holic 3reef Sponsor

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    This is a "myth" that pops up again and again so I have to add my .02 cents on drinking RO/DI...it's all the same stuff folks. Pure water (or in reality something close to pure water as we are not producing true "lab grade" water) is all pretty much the same for our purposes...it makes no difference how you produce it...the end result is the same product...you are using some type of process to end up with two atoms of hydrogen bound to one atom of oxygen while effectively trying to remove everything else...water produced using DI will not effect you any more or less than RO or distilled that has been processed and filtered to the same level. People seem to get hung up on the term Deionized...that somehow DI does something different to the water. It's just a different method of achieving the same goal. You can produce 0ppm TDS water by distillation, multiple passes through RO, or just DI by itself. The reason we employ sediment, carbon, RO & DI together is no one of them is completely effective by themselves. By using a combination of methods we can extend the life of some components and make the process more efficient and cost effective.



    Here is an excerpt from a peer-reviewed article by Dr. Eugene A. Thiers on drinking pure water:


    Is Pure Water Harmful to Your Health?

    Arguments against drinking purified water fall into two major types of categories. In the
    first category, the argument can be summarized as follows:”Essential minerals are removed from
    pure water—and that’s bad.” This is the nutritionist argument. The second type of argument
    typically states that “pure water leaches minerals from the body—and that is also bad.” This is
    the pseudo-medical argument. We’ll briefly examine the merits of each.
    The nutritionist argument rests on the premise that minerals that are dissolved in natural
    water are essential for the body, and that is false. What is true is that humans require certain
    minimum nutrients (e.g., over 2,000 calories for the average adult) which include trace elements,
    such as calcium, magnesium, as well as certain vitamins that are not synthesized by the body,
    such as vitamin C, among others. These nutrients are normally ingested in our food through the
    process of digestion.
    For example, the recommended daily requirements of calcium and magnesium are about
    1,000 to 2,000 mg and 300 to 400 mg, respectively, although specific requirements vary by
    gender, age, and other factors. Water may provide a small fraction of these requirements. Thus,
    if one lives in areas with hard water (which is defined as having 48 to 72 mg/l of calcium) and
    one drinks eight glasses per day, which is about 2 liters, one would absorb less than 144 mg
    of calcium, or less than 14% of the daily requirements. Drinking one glass of milk contains
    between 300 to 350 mg of calcium, which is more than twice as much as the 8 glasses of water,
    and a few slices of cheese could provide even more. The point is that the food we eat provides
    most, if not all of the daily requirements, and not the water we drink. In fact, since most water
    sources are not hard (the range goes from less than 7mg/l for soft water to more than 72 mg/l for
    very hard water), the amount of nutrients and essential elements provided by water is rather
    insignificant.
    The second argument is more difficult to dismiss because it appears grounded on
    “scientific” principles, hence its pseudo-medical label. While it is true that relatively pure water
    (remember, there is no such a thing as totally pure water) dissolves practically everything, and
    that is why it is labeled “aggressive,” it does so only in minute quantities. Yet, numerous
    opinions from medical doctors (who have forgotten their chemistry lessons) suggest that pure
    water can leach minerals from the body in the same way that pure water leaches various
    materials under laboratory conditions.
    Fouling is the progressive degradation of membrane surfaces due to particle occlusion.
    There are two ways of assessing the above opinions. One way is to point out that there is
    hardly any evidence in the scientific literature about such leaching of minerals from the body
    (i.e., no clinical data or peer-review articles in respected journals). The second, more effective
    way is to point out that the moment the water enters the mouth, human saliva renders it nonaggressive.
    Human saliva contains numerous organic compounds that are grouped into 9-10
    different classes (e.g., histatins, statherins, lysozyme, amylases, etc.) all of which are highly
    soluble in water. The moment water enters the mouth, saliva dissolves and the mixture could not
    possibly qualify as pure water. Furthermore, the mechanism for leaching “essential” minerals
    from the body is most commonly stated to be through the small intestine, as water and nutrients
    are absorbed by the body. Again, this does not make any sense because prior to getting to the
    small intestine, any water would have to pass through the stomach, and the stomach adds
    substantial quantities of gastric acid and other chemicals as part of its digestive function. To
    consider that any water is pure or aggressive after passage through the stomach requires
    unbridled imagination, particularly if one considers the effect of mixing such water with pieces
    of hamburger or a banana.
    Conclusions
    Ultra-clean water contains ions, although few of them. The minerals that we need come
    mainly from the food we eat, not the water we drink. And pure water does not leach minerals
    from our body because as it enters the mouth it mixes with our natural fluids and ceases to be
    aggressive.
     
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  7. fischkid2

    fischkid2 Dirty Filter Sock

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    ^Well i guess that settles it^ :p
    Nice write up. THANKS.
     
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  9. ComputerJohn

    ComputerJohn Panda Puffer

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    The water after the membrain is fine to drink. Once it passes through the DI stage, then the minerals are removed. You can drink DI water, but I wouldn't.
     
  10. chasethis1

    chasethis1 Astrea Snail

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    I drink it all the time. Do you have those water purification units outside your grocery stores? These to the same thing, removing everything and sterilizing the water. YUM
     
  11. AZDesertRat

    AZDesertRat Giant Squid

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    RO/DI is safe to drink in normal quantities but it does not taste refreshing and is more expensive to produce than RO water which does taste refreshing and is the same stuff you buy in plastic bottles every day.

    The RO/DI discussion has been around for decades but has never been proven since man cannot live on wate ralone and eating even one potato chip replaces many times more than the RO/DI removes. You get your minerals from solid food, not water so its a myth.

    When you add a drinking water kit to a RO/DI system, it is placed between the RO membrane and the DI filter so you consume RO only and the DI is saved for the aquarium. A check valve seperates the two.
     
  12. malac0da13

    malac0da13 Torch Coral

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    Like AZDesertrat said the ro/di doesn't taste refreshing or even really at all the trace minerals are what gives the water "flavor" if you will. A friend of mine worked at a water bottling plant that got water from a local stream and they purified the water then added trace ammounts of minerals and what not so the water always tasted the same. If a batch did not check out to have the same levels it was rejected. He got a lot of free cases of water.

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