Drinking DI Water

I agree its just fine to drink. Spectrapure.com DOES sell RO units for drinking water use. (I believe also DI for it, unsure though) I would mention though, we do use some of that nasty stuff in the water for minerals in our body. Just a thought. (at least thats my understanding)
 
Drinking di water can cause a rare mental condition to where all a person cares about ,thinks about and spends very large amounts of time and money on the captivity of wonderous marine organisms. prognosis unknown! many in advanst stages!!
 
Drinking di water can cause a rare mental condition to where all a person cares about ,thinks about and spends very large amounts of time and money on the captivity of wonderous marine organisms. prognosis unknown! many in advanst stages!!
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It's true! I suffer from this condition as my savings account could testify.... Well gotta go; I hear cquarium is having a sale!:wildone:
 
(Quote from waterkeeper)
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I think part of that stems from the old practice of shipping DI cartridges in a formaldehyde solution to prevent bacteria growth during storage. That is not done anymore. From an aesthetic sense, many people prefer the taste of RO over DI. The solids left in it give better mouth feel and flavor, although that is subjective.
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Not sure why kent marine claims ro/di water is not recommended for human consumption but it is on there product line brochure. They claim ro water is ok but di water isn't. How long has it been since di cartridges have been saturated in a formaldehyde solution? 5 years or longer??I will be calling kent tech line to find out exactly why di water is not recommended for humans. Will post my findings
 
aquaman_68 said:

Not sure why kent marine claims ro/di water is not recommended for human consumption but it is on there product line brochure. They claim ro water is ok but di water isn't. How long has it been since di cartridges have been saturated in a formaldehyde solution? 5 years or longer??I
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It has been way longer than five years, probably 25 years at least. There were some bad scenes back then where, especially lab people, drank DI from poorly rinsed cartridges.

I would be interested in what Kent tells you. I know there are no warnings on lab grade DI cartridges. It may be that without chlorine they worry about pathogens as was stated earlier. Also, it may be the resin used is not NSF approved.
 
*RO/DI
It is not toxic. It will not leach anything from your body. It won't kill you or make your head explode.
One reason that you shouldn't drink DI water is because it might not have a neutral pH. If your anions or cations are in surplus, then you're going to have a lot of hydrogen and hydroxide ions floating around and that's not too good for your stomach. DI resin can breed bacteria and other microorganisms.

Water companies that use RO/DI actually reconstitute their water to give it an actual taste. DI or even distilled water won't have a taste at all, which could seem unpleasant to drink. In fact, it might dissolve some sugars and electrolytes from your mouth, so the water may taste like your mouth.
The reason that RO water has a taste is because you are tasting some sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, mineral salts, and the like which make it more palatable. Some people don't mind the taste of DI or distilled water.

Bottom line is that low TDS (total dissolved solids)water is appropriate for the reef, but not necessarily so for drinking/potable water.
 
Wow, away for a day and look what happens. I love it when I start a thread that actually generates some info rather than name calling. I guess the jury's still out on whether it is technically safe but it seems that the general concensus (sp?) is that RO/DI tastes like crap anyway so why drink it. I personally am not much of a water drinker but I do agree that "dirty" water tastes better than pure water. Of course when I lived in Brockton we had some really dirty water at times which didnt taste better than anything it smelled too.

Thanks again all for the info and Joe V. (see beginning of thread) thanks you as well. And keep it coming if you've got more . . . I want to know what Kent says when you call aquaman (and thanks for the newsletter compliment).
 
conundrum said:

One reason that you shouldn't drink DI water is because it might not have a neutral pH.
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By definition pure water IS neutral in pH. The thing about it is that it has zero buffering capacity. As soon as it leaves the DI it starts absorbing gasses. Usually CO2 prevails and the pH drops. Even so, a coke has much more acidity than even CO2 saturated water.

If your anions or cations are in surplus, then you're going to have a lot of hydrogen and hydroxide ions floating around and that's not too good for your stomach.
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When I have surplus ions I run a yard sale. :D

In fact, it might dissolve some sugars and electrolytes from your mouth, so the water may taste like your mouth.
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YUK :frog: Pass the breath mints PLEASE!!

originally posted by RobboT

I personally am not much of a water drinker but I do agree that "dirty" water tastes better than pure water.
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I have used this example before:

In the London cholera epidemic of 1854, Dr. John Snow traced the source of the outbreak to a well on Broadstreet, He found that the well casing was cracked allowing waste from the London sewer system to enter it. He also found that people from all over London were by-passing their local well and going to Broadstreet to draw water. When he asked why they made this special trip to get water there the reply was, "It had the sweetest taste in all of London.".

P.S. It must be the free speech tradition of the Boston Commons that makes so many add to the Boston Reef's Forum.
 
Ok guy's, Here's the skinny on why it is not recommended to consume di water.

I called kent today & got this info from them.
Deionization is filtration on the ionic level. When >99.9% of ions are removed from the water, it becomes "aggressive". It acts like a sponge or a void. What ever it contacts, it tries to dissolve. Deionized water is considered one of the most effective solvents. This is one reason laboratories use DI water in their testing procedures along with the almost zero mineral content.
Drinking DI filtered water is NOT recommended due to its "aggressive" nature. Since this water acts like a sponge, it will seem to strip moisture from your mouth and make it feel dry. The deionization resins can also add an unpleasant taste and smell to the water. The odd taste and smell are not harmful But who really wants to walk around with fish breath.
They also said something about a type of heart condition that some people have that can be harmful if they drink di water. There was too much to write down all the factors while I was on the phone.



(Also from conundrum his quote is valid too!!)
"One reason that you shouldn't drink DI water is because it might not have a neutral pH. If your anions or cations are in surplus, then you're going to have a lot of hydrogen and hydroxide ions floating around and that's not too good for your stomach. DI resin can breed bacteria and other microorganisms. "

And by the way...... Waterkeeper The reason I asked you how long ago water companys would saturate their di filters in famaldehyde. was because Kent puts out a brochure every two years or so & if that was an old publication I could see the reason for all the debate over this subject. Since it was done so many years ago I felt pretty confident that it was still not recommended & you gave me the reason to call kent direct.
Also ....How many people have access to "Lab Grade" di filters in this trade? (as you claim you use) It would not be very easy to go to your local LFS & acquire one. I would figure the outlets would be on a commercial or a business level. ......Just a thought!!!! :)


Happy Drinking guys :)
 
I don't see anything in that link about ingestion or human consumption.
It looks like that is just for handling it for lab use or testing etc.
 
aquaman_68 said:
Deionized water is considered one of the most effective solvents.
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Since Im full of useless but somewhat interesting info . . .

When I was in school I had a co-op job at a company called Critical Fluid Systems. It was a Chem. Eng. dream job. We used supercritical propane and carbon dioxide to extract hazardous materials (organics only) from refinery waste, Superfund Sites and the like. Above the supercritical point propane and CO2 have exceptional extraction capabilities.

Anyway, we had this set of mixing vessels, heat exchangers etc that looked "bunker buster proof" for lack of a better term. When I asked what they were for I was told that water is actually a better solvent than either propane or CO2 above its supercritical point. Unfortunately that happens to be 374 deg Celsius and ~3,200 psi. :)

Just a geeks tidbit of useless info. Point is water is an excellent solvent.
 
Oh come on...

Oh come on...

Enough of this urban legend!

RO/DI water is perfectly safe and harmless*. We are an organization based on, inter alia, sound judgment and science. Arguing that there is any substantial danger in RO/DI water is like accusing someone of witchcraft.

Please.

But I did once hear this story about a guy who woke up with his kidneys stolen and a note to call the police.

RO/DI water might be a super-solvent, but not at standard conditions. Lots of wierd stuff happens in science. Diamonds will burst into flames and combust in liquid oxygen. And who said they're forever?

Water always has hydronium (not hydrogen, as people incorrectly state) cations and hydroxide anions. However, high school chemistry teaches us that the concentrations of these are actually at a minimum at pH=7; the pH of pure water.

RO/DI water will undergo huge pH fluctuations, but that is because it has no alkalinity or other buffering capacity. A large pH swing from neutral doesn't mean that there is a large concentration of acid or base. A 0.00001N NaOH solution in RO/DI water has a pH of 9.0. So what?

I imagine that you could lose electrolytes by drinking RO/DI water... after a marathon. * = this would be a case where it could be harmful. But so could any other water to a lesser degree.

The RO/DI manufacturers sound full of c***

I do have access to laboratory grade RO/DI water (18Mohm/cm), and I have tasted it. It tastes very good. It makes excellent tea. I can bring some to the next meeting and we can all drink it and watch and see when no one's head explodes.

You can die from drinking too much water, but that is a different story, and it does not pertain only to RO/DI water. It pertains to all water, although RO/DI might be more problematic. This is an extreme and rare medical situation, though.

If RO/DI water is leaching resin to yield a bad taste or odour, it is no longer RO/DI water. I imagine the manufacturers are trying to scare people away from drinking it to avoid a lawsuit.

Matt:cool:
 
ENOUGH!!!!

Who has any reliable info on anyone who died from drinking DI water??? I say we pick one guinea pig (myself excluded of course...) who has to drink their ro/di water for one week. If they die then the urban legends were right:hmm2: If they live then its all bunk.
Seriously now, does anyone have any 'credible' info that ro/di is toxic? I understand that maybe if you had only ro/di for your only liquid source that maybe you could have some electrolyte issues but given any normal diet, you would be fine as their are numerous trace elements in all of our foods.
Before the flames fire up, understand that I am a physician and not some wanker with no understanding of the human body's physiologic needs. I also have a degree in molecular biology. And honestly, if i had my ro/di installed and fired up, i would drink it and see what happened. I have drank the stuff from the lfs and i am still here to talk about it. No gastric liquidation, no electrolytle abnormalities. Of course I attribute this to my large beer consumption and all of its essential trace nutrients.....:fun4:

-Harley
 
I myself have given up. I am marking my DI storage tank thus:

42650.gif
 
Matt

Now I told you not to confuse people :mad:

(Also from conundrum his quote is valid too!!)
"One reason that you shouldn't drink DI water is because it might not have a neutral pH. If your anions or cations are in surplus, then you're going to have a lot of hydrogen and hydroxide ions floating around and that's not too good for your stomach.

This is absolute hogwash !!!

DI resins breeding bacteria and other microorganisms is true and is the reason behind being told not to drink DI water for the purpose of protecting their butt-end from a law-suit. Such systems for human consumption are sometimes prechlorinate, ozone treated or run through a TOC lamps. Most city water supplies contain chlorine or chloramines, so it would take some time to get bacteria to grow on the DI unit. Usually it would be you doing the contamination during DI resin changing, if you did not follow sanitation rules. Hum, just a thought, but what makes you think that RO membranes don't do the same. Hum, what are those things people hang under their sinks or attach to their faucets ? Drinking water RO units. They are subjected to the same thing that DI resins are, as far as breeding bacteria and other microorganisms .....correct. You guys should do some research before running off with this "Urban Legend" nonsense.

Please post a single site, paper, abstract that says not to drink DI water. Kent would be the last group of people I would trust, they don't make RO/DI units, they buy them and stick their name on them like everything else they sell. :rolleyes:
 
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Goto VGs and they have a water system that uses RO (unsure about DI). But it does have a UV light RIGHT before the water comes out for drinking purposes.

Just agreeing with Boomer.
 
If there is still any scientific discussion needed, I'll be happy to continue the debate, but right now I'm laughing to hard to think straight. :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin:
 
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