Is RODI water safe to drink?

[Brian Van Fleet]

RO water is fine to drink. Aquatic Life actually makes a drinking water kit for their RODI filters that taps off before the DI chamber.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

While there is no way to 100% assure that you don't have microbiological contamination in your system or in your containers, there are some steps that you can take to minimize the risk. The first is to regularly use the system (your RODI system), and when you take it apart to replace the membrane and/or carbon blocks, everything should be cleaned in the manner that you would dirty dishes - i.e., hot soapy water and drying. Re-assemble the system in a relatively clean manner - the same way you'd handle food in your kitchen.

For the containers (both the 5 gallon intermediate container and the drinking pitcher), they should also be handled the way one would food/drink containers: regularly wash both out with hot, soapy water, replace the water in the 5 gallon container on at least a once every couple of days basis if it's kept at room temperature, keep it covered at all times, and store the drinking pitcher in the refrigerator.

How do those pressure tanks keep water sanitary? I may swap my 5g jug with one of those.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

How do those pressure tanks keep water sanitary? I may swap my 5g jug with one of those.

6 months ago I had my water delivered from Crystal Springs. They leased me the water cooler which dispenses hot and cold water. The water comes in sealed 5g jugs that sits on top of the water machine. Tds from that water was 14-17 tds.

Last 6 months I have been using the RO water from my rodi. Tapped off before going to the DI resin . I bought myself the dispenser and 5g jugs off amazon. TDS from my RO is 4

I don’t make more than 15 gallons of fresh water and it’s gone in 10 days .

I am concerned about bacterial contamination tho

 

[RalphTech]

I tap my RODI Buddy after the RO and fill 5 gallon jugs for drinking with TDS at 4 which is down from 130 TDS municipal water supply. There's another tap after the DI for fish tank water.

 

[robbyg]

I don’t agree with all of your reasoning, but I do agree to not drink it due to potential bacterial contamination.

It's not me your disagreeing with, it's the World Health Organization. (See the PDF report Link)

 

[robbyg]

LOL this thread has swung the pendulum from one side to the other side of the issue.

I think people need to chill and stop thinking about the issues of drinking RO water.
As someone stated in another post, they pulled the local fire hydrant valve and saw a stream of guck running out of it. I have also stood by and watched as water dept dug up what looked like a 10" pipe that feeds the community and when they cut it in two to release the damaged section the pipe had a thick layer of silt and crap on the bottom. Am I perturbed? Not really since I have been camping and drank from rivers directly and contrary to popular belief I have never gotten sick or had any issues. Of course I knew the river and knew it was pristine and coming out of the mountains not far away. Of course like all rivers it's running along a bacteria filled dirt bed.

Take a look at any video on YouTube about the water quality in India. I have had friends go over there and tell me that if you even get a bit of it in your mouth when showering you may come down with a bad case of Montezuma's revenge. Same issues in China, Mexico and a bunch of other countries.

The point is that the water in America is for the most part pretty safe to drink as far as bacteria goes. I would more worry about heavy metals like lead and copper than bacteria. Get your water tested at least once to know if you have a problem with metals and just keep your RO system maintained in a reasonable manor. Your body is designed to kill most of these critters and it makes us stronger. I have personally noticed that some of my own relatives who live a super sanitary life are the ones that are constantly getting sick when any virus is going around.

 

[topjimmy]

I've been drinking ro water for twenty years. Most of the bottled water for sale is just municipal water run through an ro.

The WHO also has the US health care system behind some third world countries....not going give them much thought..

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I have been drinking RODI water for several years now. Before that many of my friends used distilled water for their drinking water for over 50 years with no negative effects. I think Randy gives the best reason to be careful and that is bacterial growth post process. Lets just look at the logic of using RODI since the Navy uses this type system for submarines as well as ship board communities. In most cases people do not drink enough water of any kind. Working out in remote areas you often only have a portable RO unit to keep your water safe for drinking. I have never had a negative effect from that use either.

I would think the likelihood of needing U.V. sterilization post filtration would be mitigated by the short time storage of the process water. Look at it this way you turn on you RODI unit and flush the system then use the process water in the next few days without any real harm from bacterial growth due to the chlorine and chloramine used in the delivery to your house. So in effect the water is sterilized chemically before you process the drinking water.

I think this discussion is great at creating fear from absolutely nothing...unless you believe like W.C. Fields and you should never drink water because fish...well you can find the quote for yourself.

Have a good day and drink more water an less other products for better health.

 

[robbyg]

I have been drinking RODI water for several years now. Before that many of my friends used distilled water for their drinking water for over 50 years with no negative effects. I think Randy gives the best reason to be careful and that is bacterial growth post process. Lets just look at the logic of using RODI since the Navy uses this type system for submarines as well as ship board communities. In most cases people do not drink enough water of any kind. Working out in remote areas you often only have a portable RO unit to keep your water safe for drinking. I have never had a negative effect from that use either.

I would think the likelihood of needing U.V. sterilization post filtration would be mitigated by the short time storage of the process water. Look at it this way you turn on you RODI unit and flush the system then use the process water in the next few days without any real harm from bacterial growth due to the chlorine and chloramine used in the delivery to your house. So in effect the water is sterilized chemically before you process the drinking water.

I think this discussion is great at creating fear from absolutely nothing...unless you believe like W.C. Fields and you should never drink water because fish...well you can find the quote for yourself.

Have a good day and drink more water an less other products for better health.

I am not saying it's safe to drink RODI water, I am only saying its safe to drink RO water.
If you have been drinking RODI water for several years then good luck to you, but I would not be taking that chance. I highly suggest you stop drinking it and just drink the RO water.

 

[DanConnor]

I raised my kids on only RO water, and they are done with college now- they seem to be ok. I use it for everything I consume since about 1992. The WHO is silly on this subject.

 

[robbyg]

I've been drinking ro water for twenty years. Most of the bottled water for sale is just municipal water run through an ro.

The WHO also has the US health care system behind some third world countries....not going give them much thought..

No doubt about it. Americas water pipes are just like her bridges, they are old and out of date. That is why so many metals like lead and copper are in the water in so many states. Many third world countries have much newer piping systems and they typically only use PVC pipes. The third world countries that are pristine and have nice mountain water have some of the best tasting water I have ever had. The problem with some other countries is that they have good piping but their source water is terrible.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

How do those pressure tanks keep water sanitary? I may swap my 5g jug with one of those.

Pressurized water delivery tanks are intended to be sanitized on a fairly regular basis. If you're using one with a municipal system the chlorine/chloramine in the water takes care of the issue. If you're using it with well water, then the standard advice is to pour bleach into your well (or sometimes into the whole-house filters if so equipped), seal the system, allow it to stand for a few hours, then flush it thoroughly. The idea here is to maintain sterility of the entire house system by maintaining it's integrity, and you repeat the process if you have to break into the system for plumbing repairs.

If you're using an RO system for drinking water, you could potentially exploit the same basic strategy by removing the carbon blocks, then "flushing" the RO membrane housing with municipal water for 30 minutes. Then put the carbon blocks back in place. Because the filter side of the RO membrane all the way through your pressure tank to your dispenser is sterilized by the flush and there's no back-flow of air/contamination (the dispenser of systems like this incorporate an end-point filter that prevents back-flow), the whole system will be bacteria free until it's opened again.

Water companies sell disinfectant kits for those on well water without chlorine/chloramine, and they're typically based on peroxide chemistry.

 

[robbyg]

I raised my kids on only RO water, and they are done with college now- they seem to be ok. I use it for everything I consume since about 1992. The WHO is silly on this subject.

The WHO is not saying Ro Water is bad. They are saying Di water is bad for human consumption.

 

[WVNed]

Water is poisonous. Who knew?

 

[robbyg]

Water is poisonous. Who knew?

The people in Flint Michigan;Yuck

 

[Greg P]

Was that 8-12 TDS from their records or your actual meter at your faucet?

That's at my meter right before my sediment filter

 

[C. Eymann]

That's at my meter right before my sediment filter

Lucky! ours is like 2xx something usually here in FL, it was just as bad in KC.

 

[Rjramos]

That's at my meter right before my sediment filter

That really good! Never had it that good here in south fla.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It's not me your disagreeing with, it's the World Health Organization. (See the PDF report Link)

Did you read it? Do you agree with it? All of it? If not, then you too, god forbid, might disagree with the author.

Apparently is is unsafe to drink water with tds less than 100 ppm. Omg, everyone on the east coast of the US is about to die! Certainly everyone in Boston is doomed from excessively clean tap water.

Seriously, that is just utter nonsense. most people in the US do not rely on their drinking water for calcium and magnesium. If that were a real issue, the EPA would require it in tap water and bottled water. No such requirement exists.

sure, you could drink too much di water, or just really clean tap water, and you might have issues. Drinking too much of anything may cause issues of various sorts. That doesn’t make it unsafe. People should always have a varied diet, including beverages.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The WHO is not saying Ro Water is bad. They are saying Di water is bad for human consumption.

they say things in that paper that a normally educated person would not accept as plausible.