R/O+DI ok to drink?

[ed102475]

Is it ok to drink my R/O+DI 128-130 ppm in 0 ppm out.
what about the waste water what is it good for I hate to waste the waste.

[Lpsfanatic338]

Well usually tap water is good to drink before it goes into an RO system so when it comes out it would be even better. For the waste water I'm not sure I would actually like to know what to do with it.

They make RO systems for drinking use too.

[ReefStuff]

I wouldn't recommend it. You'd have to ask the manufacturer.

Other people use the waste water for laundry sometimes.


Ricky Soutas Jr.
-Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.-
www.ReefStuff.com

[BrassMonkey]

it doesnt taste good. dont think theres any health risks,

[KyleO]

I run the waste water into 3 55 gal barrels outside my fish room. I then use this water to refill the pond and water as much of the plants as possible.

Have to use RO/DI but the water waste is terrible and if we use our imaginations, I am sure there are all kinds of things we can do with clean, fresh water!!

[Flipper62]

I drain the waste water into a 55 gallon drum. My wife uses it for all of her plants. She claims that the plants look better now then they ever looked........They just still look green to me.

You can also use it when washing the laundry.

[GrimReefer82]

I read somewhere that ro water is safe but that you shouldn't drink the DI water. Actually my son has been drinking ro water in his formula bottles since he was 2 months old he is now 9 months old. I have a valve that reroutes water to bypass the DI section for his water. I think melev has done the same thing, just look at his site or ask him.

[OwenInAZ]

I wouldn't drink exclusively RO/DI water, because your body can use the goodies in tap water and it's possible to upset your electrolyte balance by consuming exclusively pure water. If you're worried about taste, just get one of those filters that goes on the end of the faucet -- those will improve the taste and get rid of the gnarly stuff in there (arsenic, lead, etc). I wouldn't drink the wastewater especially -- you wouldn't put it in your fish tank, but you'd put it in your body? :)

You could save the wastewater for flushing your toilet, doing the laundry, watering plants, etc.

[widmer]

1. RO/DI water was the only stuff I drank for at least a couple years on end. No problemo. I just stopped because I'm lazy in my old age...

2. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have your RO unit in the laundry room, you can route the wastewater tube into the washing machine and after it fills, the excess water should drain safely from the washing machine's overfill drain.

3. Also, it seems like it's getting trendy now to hook on an extra RO membrane, which will cut your wastewater production in half.

[christyle]

does anyone know what the DI stage does in the system?

[Flipper62]

The DI filter is the final stage in a RO/DI system. This filter is filled with a resin that will take the remaining TDS out of the water. If you have a dual inline TDS meter, you will see that there is still some TDS in the water even after all of the first filters, but after the DI filter the TDS reading will be 0.0

[GrimReefer82]

With my sons formula i dont think lack of nutrients or electrolytes is a problem but I can see why someone would say that about drinking exclusively ro water. Most baby formula already has electrolytes and he seems very healthy now. I just can't stand the idea of chlorine and fluoride being ingested by a human since both have proven to be toxic at least at some level.

[mat167]

RO should be fine to drink, I wouldn't drink RO/DI.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14814619#post14814619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GrimReefer82
With my sons formula i dont think lack of nutrients or electrolytes is a problem but I can see why someone would say that about drinking exclusively ro water. Most baby formula already has electrolytes and he seems very healthy now. I just can't stand the idea of chlorine and fluoride being ingested by a human since both have proven to be toxic at least at some level.

I can understand the concern for a newborn or young children. There's no evidence to suggest the levels found in tap water are dangerous to adults.

[widmer]

I'm having trouble understanding how people have no concern about drinking RO water, but are afraid of RO/DI. Do you guys know something I don't?

Because the difference in electrolytes between a dozen parts per million (RO water), and zero parts per million (DI water), is like the equivalent to the tiniest pinch of salt imaginable.

A more sensational illustration of the above would be if I were standing there with a glass of RO/DI, and then drop a couple grains of salt into it and say "I hereby decree this water drinkable now after the addition of these two grains of salt".

[Prince916]

Just boil the water. People have been doing this for many years. Back then when i use to live in the Phillipines, Boiling water was the only way to get CLEAN WATER. Have you ever watched survivor man? He drink of the river(after boiling) and who knows how many pathogens river water there is.

[ludnix]

Widmer, I think most people are concerned that they are not getting the necessary minerals if they drank RO/DI exclusively, but as you point out the difference is ridiculously small and most minerals are gotten from your food anyways.

My family drinks RO/DI exclusively, everyone in my family prefers the taste of the RO/DI to tapwater and they can't taste a difference between the RO and RO/DI water.

Do be aware that the lack of chlorine in the RO and RO/DI water means you should not leave it out for extended periods of time exposed to the air.

[Buckeye Hydro]

DI water doesn't taste good to most people. I suspect folks who drink it and like the taste might be using one of those oddly configured ebay systems that have GAC AFTER the DI.

RO water tastes great - RO systems have been used to produce potable water for lots of people for many years.

Russ

[LobsterOfJustice]

My concern would be bacterial growth - chlorine is put there to kill bad stuff in the water. I see no problem with drinking it right after it's filtered, but be careful of storing it in containers long-term.

[chris4869]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14814470#post14814470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by widmer
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have your RO unit in the laundry room, you can route the wastewater tube into the washing machine and after it fills, the excess water should drain safely from the washing machine's overfill drain.

I think it only work when the washing machine is on. If you look at the drain pipe it's always higher than the washing machine.

[ed102475]

My concern would be bacterial growth - chlorine is put there to kill bad stuff in the water. I see no problem with drinking it right after it's filtered, but be careful of storing it in containers long-term

What about bottled water for the grocery store that is R/O and it lasts like a year.

[laugh]

I would think that the waste water is actually cleaner than the water straight out of the tap. After all it has been filtered several times before it even reaches the RO membrane. We also only drink RO water diverted before DI cartridge. I have a lab grade conductivity meter at work I will take a sample of waste water and compare it to tap water. As for overflowing the washing machine. With two teen daughters the washing machine uses more water in one week than my RODI produces waste in three months. I have collected a sample of waste and I will take it to work tonight and post my results.

[holmstar]

I've herd some people say that if you drink RO water exclusively, and lots of it, that it can cause minerals to leach from your cells... but I've never heard of any substantiated research to that effect.

[eyesinthedrk]

i heard axel rose died of aids and joey from new kids on the block had a gallon of baby batter pumped from his stomach,

you should be fine drinking ro/di water, and fyi i bet if you gave anyone the pepsi challange they couldnt tell the diffrence between tap water and ro/di, i did it with my step son on tap "id rather not drink that it tastes nasty" Vs. Fiji bottled water "because its the best tasting water around"

not only could he not tell the diffrence blind folded, he swore there was a diffrence when i handed him the same water back to back

[losthere]

I buy my water from a water store($0.30/gal) for drinking and my tank and all it is is RO water. I dont believe they could sell water for human consuption if it wasnt safe. Where do you think the water in most water bottles comes from? I would rather drink ro/rodi than tap water.

[Doahh]

Umm The DI stage pulls ions from the water. Your body and molecules always want to make things equal therefore if you drink DI water your pulling good stuff from your body.

"you should be fine drinking ro/di water, and fyi i bet if you gave anyone the pepsi challange they couldnt tell the diffrence between tap water and ro/di, i did it with my step son on tap "id rather not drink that it tastes nasty" Vs. Fiji bottled water "because its the best tasting water around"

not only could he not tell the diffrence blind folded, he swore there was a diffrence when i handed him the same water back to back"

Really? My DI water tastes WAY different than my tap water.
Whats your TDS out of the tap?

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14816445#post14816445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ed102475
What about bottled water for the grocery store that is R/O and it lasts like a year.

This is sterilized when it is bottled, and is sealed.

[jb61264]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14816283#post14816283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chris4869
I think it only work when the washing machine is on. If you look at the drain pipe it's always higher than the washing machine. If you first filled up your washing machine with the wastewater from the RO/DI and then started the machine, don't they use a switch to determine when the basket if filled with enough water to start washing?...so if you filled it half full with the RO/DI wastewater, then it would just fill the remaining half like it usually does? Sorry, don't own a washing machine yet, but may be moving into a house in the near future and am just curious about this.

[widmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14817602#post14817602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Doahh
Umm The DI stage pulls ions from the water. Your body and molecules always want to make things equal therefore if you drink DI water your pulling good stuff from your body.


Make things equal to what? To tap water? To your cells' molality?

Because both tap water and RO water are in the same boat, being so far from your cytosolic molality that this argument doesn't apply when trying to compare RO water with tap water. It's like comparing apples to apples.

[virginiadiver69]

Umm...I think he's trying to regurgitate that silly argument that someone always feels compelled to make when this question gets asked every now and then.
The idea is that since the DI water has no stuff in it...it will leach stuff from our bodies until we eventually die. Kinda like putting a saltwater fish in fresh water, osmosomthingorother. The problem with this regurgitated argument ( always stated so confidently ) is that water is not our ONLY source of nutrition and the average person drinks way less than 1/2 gal of water a day. :D
By the way...I fill my water cooler bottles with my WASTE water for tea, coffee and baby formula. :eek2:
Just because it's called waste water doesn't make it sewage. It's only waste for the purpose it was originally meant for...your reef tank. :)

[mat167]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14817602#post14817602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Doahh
Umm The DI stage pulls ions from the water. Your body and molecules always want to make things equal therefore if you drink DI water your pulling good stuff from your body.

"you should be fine drinking ro/di water, and fyi i bet if you gave anyone the pepsi challange they couldnt tell the diffrence between tap water and ro/di, i did it with my step son on tap "id rather not drink that it tastes nasty" Vs. Fiji bottled water "because its the best tasting water around"

not only could he not tell the diffrence blind folded, he swore there was a diffrence when i handed him the same water back to back"

Really? My DI water tastes WAY different than my tap water.
Whats your TDS out of the tap?

Take the psychological aspect out of it and you probably won't tell the difference either. I've done this exact same thing and got the same results.

[eros]

I drink RO/DI because I'm too lazy to hook up the DI bypass. When I do hook up the DI bypass it will be to save my DI resin, not because I think RO water is better for me. The difference is negligible. RO/DI water will not pull nutrients out of your body and to think it will is just silly. How much nutrients do you think you are getting from water with 30tds? Water is for hydration, is food is for nutrition. You are not getting sufficient amounts of anything from water whether is tap, ro, rodi.

And as far as you body equalizing things, the entire purpose of your kidneys is to excrete fluid waste and retain vital nutrients so that doesn't even make sense. If you still think RODI is harmful take a physiology class.

[mat167]

^well said.

[laugh]

Wow! I was way wrong. The waste water is NOT cleaner than tap water. Here are the results.
Tap 420 microsiemens = roughly 210 TDS
RO 7.68 microsiemens = roughly 3.84 TDS
Waste 1760 microsiemens = roughly 880 TDS
In conclusion it is ok to drink tap water, it is ok to drink RO water, it is ok to drink RODI water, you could probably drink the waste water but I bet it wouldn't taste to good. So I would stick to watering the plants or using it for the wash. I do use a water softener as I have VERY hard well water, but I did not test it before the softener. I bet that would come in around 400-500 TDS and I wouldn't even shower in that. I tried bypassing the softener and the smell and oily feel of the water was horrible, made your skin stink like a rusty pipe.

[mat167]

My well water varies between 900-1100 ppm. Lol...

[virginiadiver69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14818932#post14818932 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by laugh

Tap 420 microsiemens = roughly 210 TDS
RO 7.68 microsiemens = roughly 3.84 TDS
Waste 1760 microsiemens = roughly 880 TDS

My waste water is lower in TDS than your tap water. :lol:

[Doahh]

Except the Waste water has been through the carbon and mcron filters therefore making it better than the tap water to drink

[laugh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14819583#post14819583 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Doahh
Except the Waste water has been through the carbon and mcron filters therefore making it better than the tap water to drink
That's what I thought until I put it in the conductivity meter. I guess what ever gets through the filters is concentrated in the waste water. TDS = total dissolved solids, Tap water was 210 waste water was 880= 4X more crap in waste water than tap. You decide which is better to drink. I don't think it would hurt you but it is not better.