Is there a problem with drinking DI water

[UFGator]

Hi everyone. I just bought a DI filter to add on to my RO system. The directions said that you should not dring DI water because of the bad "taste". Is this true? Is there a problem with drinking DI water???

Joel

[asmith]

I have heard that it is not a good idea to drink water after it has passed through the DI cartridge. It removes all of the electrolites out of the water and when you drink it, your body will actually lose electrolites in order to remain balanced. If you drink the RO water before it passes through the DI unit you should be fine.

HTH,
Andrew

[tdwyatt]

ASmith's answer is pretty much on the mark, as water is the primary source for most folk's mineral intake as well as solvent. RO/DI water is harmless to humans (in fact all life, unless they drown in it...) and it is often used in the manufacture of medications. Most pharmacies now use RO/DI to reconstitute antibiotics for children, and water at 17 microSeimens conductivity meets the requirements for the NF for water for injection. The reason we use it for the tanks is reverse of the above, we DON'T want all those extra substances in our tanks, we just want PLAIN WATER, so we have fewer substances we have to deal with when lowering the nutrient content of our microcosms...

[UFGator]

Thanks guys,
but if people drink distilled water (which theoretically is h2o an nothing else) wouldn't you be saying the same thing about distilled water (i.e. it has no electrolytes)?
Joel

[tdwyatt]

yep... I don't recommend to any of my patients that they drink distilled water unless the local water is so bad (and in some municipalities, the taste alone will kill you) that missing out on the mineral content would be better than taking in the other miscellaneous substances in theat tap water. The DI column works my exchanging protons and hydroxyl ions for the anions and cations in the filtrate. The pH could shift if the water being filtered were drastically loaded with ions, but as you would be using RO water to start with, that would be of little consequence. Distilled water is not sold in drug stores for drinking, although many people do use it for that. It's primary indication in drugstores is for reconstituting medications or for replacing evalorative losses in electrolyte solutions (like car batteries, marine aquaria, etc...) where the addition of extra ions would contaminate the original solution.

[UFGator]

Thanks Tom. I love it when you answer a question on this board. We get the facts! Anyway, I think what I heard was that DI water and Distilled water both are devoid of electrolytes that are required by the body; therefore it is recommended that these waters not be used for drinking.
It does strike me as odd that the supermarket sells distilled water by the gallon.
I have been drinking water from a home distiller for years. I got rid of it and got the RO system because it was "easier".
If I understand your post you are saying that drinking DI water would be NO LESS HARMFUL than drinking Distilled water... Is this correct?

Thanks
Joel

[tdwyatt]

[quote] If I understand your post you are saying that drinking DI water would be NO LESS HARMFUL than drinking Distilled water... Is this correct?

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Yeah, they are pretty much the same, as the major deficiency is the near absence of electrolytes/minerls. They are not harmful in and of themselves, just that they don't supply some of the things that the body needs and usually doesn't get by any other means...