RO water safe to drink?

gfox · Oct 28, 2018

I have a 6 stage RO unit is the water safe to drink?

Lowell Lemon · Oct 28, 2018

I drink from a 4 stage RO every day. It is safer than the tap water by a long shot. Enjoy it tastes great. There are under the counter units sold every day for kitchen use.

Devaji · Oct 28, 2018

my understanding is this:
RO= yes
RODI =NO
RODI will pull metals out of your body over the long run it can be bad. that is an over simplification...

PDR · Oct 28, 2018

I’ve always heard you shouldn’t drink ro/di?

gfox · Oct 28, 2018

Reason i ask is that we have been having really bad taste and smelling water the last few months.Thought about trying the RO but i have the DI also with it.

tripdad · Oct 28, 2018

RO is fine, RODI is not. It will screw up body chemistry over the long haul.

Devaji · Oct 28, 2018

gfox said:
Reason i ask is that we have been having really bad taste and smelling water the last few months.Thought about trying the RO but i have the DI also with it.

yes drink the RO you will love it. just unhook the DI part ( be sure to hook back up before making tank water tho)

Retro Reefer · Oct 28, 2018

Agree with above.. bypass your DI section and draw drinking water from RO membrane, every time I make water I bottle up a couple gallons of RO for drinking and making coffee.

Crazeh · Oct 28, 2018

gfox said:
Reason i ask is that we have been having really bad taste and smelling water the last few months.Thought about trying the RO but i have the DI also with it.

You can probably modify it allowing you to create RO water only, by running a line out before the DI stage (which is usually the last one). You'll be able to plumb it so you can choose RO or RODI water depending on what you're up to.

gfox · Oct 28, 2018

Thanks for all of the answers.

Reeferguy365 · Oct 28, 2018

Just go buy a t and a on off valve like this it's what I did you'll probably never go back to bottled water

Reeferguy365 · Oct 28, 2018

Actually you're going to need two valves this is what mine looks like

Jamie7907 · Oct 28, 2018

RO/DI is fine to drink. There’s a LOT of misinformation in the answers here and a lot of misunderstanding. RO/DI will not leach out any minerals from your body. I believe it was the WHO who recommended against RO/DI based on not supplying enough vitamins and minerals for third world countries where water is a primary source.

gfox · Oct 28, 2018

Alot of confusing information out there

Reeferguy365 · Oct 28, 2018

Yeah it's fine to drink after the di but without the minerals your water will taste different

Lowell Lemon · Oct 28, 2018

Look most of the minerals are taken from the food you eat not the water you drink so RODI is fine to drink and will not strip minerals out of your system. Ever wonder why those expensive vitamins and minerals you take end up in your urine a few minutes later? It is because the body can not metabolize most of the package and it ends up as waste. So for the most part all you are doing is making more expensive urine. The same thing happens with mineral laden water...the body flushes most of it out. Pure water is much better for your system in many ways. I just love urban legends about water and food!

Acroporaaddict · Oct 28, 2018

All the local water stores in San Diego that sell drinking water are using RODI. I us it in my tank and I use it to drink... Kill two birds with one stone

sghera64 · Oct 28, 2018

Drinking 100% pure water is just fine. BTW- - it becomes “not” pure as soon as it hits your tongue/lips.

So, you CAN drink either RO or RO/DI with no problem. Mythbusters needs to do an episode on the wive’s tale that RO/DI will hurt you. It can’t “take anything out of you”, because it is “going into you”. You’d run a better chance of depleting yourself by drinking a gallon of well water, than drinking a couple cups of RO/DI water. My guess is the vast majority of minerals (and metals) we get in our diet comes from the food we eat and not our water. - - unless you drink softened water. In that case, watch your blood pressure and sodium levels.

FWIW - - your biggest worry is not the purity of the water - - it is what might be living in the carbon blocks, membrane surface and even the resin. The water after the carbon block is likely devoid of the chloramines and thus it is more friendly to grow bacteria.

If you store your RO/DI water in a drum, I would definitely NOT drink from that as it is likely stagnant and can get “bugs” from the air. Mine grows a thin slime layer.

BTW, I do collect a few gallons of my RO/DI water for use in my espresso machine. I like not having to worry about the scale in the boiler and the shower head. I’m not worried about “bugs” as the boiler temperature gets up to 105(C).

Gray · Oct 28, 2018

#1 for drinking the RO water. The biggest difference for most people on drinking RO vs RO/DI is gonna be the taste. The lack of minerals really changes the taste and it can be a turn off for a majority of people.

I also like to use RO water to make coffee with, although I wouldn't do RO/DI because of the mineral content. Most coffee brewing companies will either purchase or adjust their water to meet mineral levels for taste.

tripdad · Oct 28, 2018

sghera64 said:
Drinking 100% pure water is just fine. BTW- - it becomes “not” pure as soon as it hits your tongue/lips.

So, you CAN drink either RO or RO/DI with no problem. Mythbusters needs to do an episode on the wive’s tale that RO/DI will hurt you. It can’t “take anything out of you”, because it is “going into you”. You’d run a better chance of depleting yourself by drinking a gallon of well water, than drinking a couple cups of RO/DI water. My guess is the vast majority of minerals (and metals) we get in our diet comes from the food we eat and not our water. - - unless you drink softened water. In that case, watch your blood pressure and sodium levels.

FWIW - - your biggest worry is not the purity of the water - - it is what might be living in the carbon blocks, membrane surface and even the resin. The water after the carbon block is likely devoid of the chloramines and thus it is more friendly to grow bacteria.

If you store your RO/DI water in a drum, I would definitely NOT drink from that as it is likely stagnant and can get “bugs” from the air. Mine grows a thin slime layer.

BTW, I do collect a few gallons of my RO/DI water for use in my espresso machine. I like not having to worry about the scale in the boiler and the shower head. I’m not worried about “bugs” as the boiler temperature gets up to 105(C).

It is not what it has "in it" that is the problem. It is what is "not" in it, minerals. For the average person this poses zero threat as they eat and drink other sources of minerals. However as we don't know every persons body chemistry or dietary habits or to what extremes they take them it is not recommended. In extreme cases it can cause issues. If even one person gets a negative response then we have an issue.