Using RO for drinking water

[+KimP]

I have an RO/DI that I've been using over the years for aquarium needs. Now my husband is wanting to take advantage of the RO part for drinking water. Is there anything I need to do as far as cleaning or increased maintenance to make/keep it safe to drink? Last week I changed out the sediment filter and there was gunk at the top :/ I keep picturing that whenever I think to go make some RO drinking water.

[jake112005]

Many new homes have RO/DI systems set up in them with the RO/DI faucet right next to the kitchen sink faucet for drinking water. Water from your RO/DI should be much better for you then anything else, whereas it has been stripped of all the chemicals and additives that are added to our water these days.

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[Sascha D.]

I read on BRS that the stage 4 is not safe for drinking water because of the bacteria. I imagine the carbon takes out the fluoride and chloride that normally kills that stuff off in municipal water. I don't know a ton about it, but It's worth researching.

[jestep]

Should be fine. It's common to run a drinking water tank off an RO unit. Most people plumb it before the DI stage just to conserve resin, but either way should be fine. Also ion exchange in the resin reconstitutes into water, so you don't get sodium and potassium like a water softener.

[JamesL]

My RODI unit (I think a Water General, but can't remember) has a separate faucet for drinking water, which skips the DI part. We have been using that for years in our coffee maker.

[victoly]

They key is just not to store the water in large quantities for drinking. On an as needed basis you should be fine.

[joselo]

Most home RO units come with a small tank to hold water so you can use ito n demand. The one i have i upgraded to a 5 gallon tank so i always have at least 5 gallons of RO water on hand. It helps when wanting to do a small water change as i can get the 5 gallons out through the DI part quickly. Here is the link to the one i use, its from a sponsor

http://www.airwaterice.com/product/HURRICANE/Hurricane-Dual-HomeReef-with-Permeate-Pump-Tank.html

[Juiceman]

From what I understand, RO water is good. DI water is bad.

[victoly]

I think a test is in order here ! Key component is chloramine. Are you running through all the stages prior to the membrane ?

[jestep]

From what I understand, RO water is good. DI water is bad.

I think it's mostly a myth or just not applicable to most water supplies. Mixed bed resin in our exchangers works by exchanging H+ and OH- ions with whatever it's removing after the membrane stage. H+ and OH- reconstitute directly back into H20.

The concern would be, what if the water supply is heavy on one type of ion and not the other. This would result in an excess of either H+ or OH- ions in the effluent which would be measurable by ph, either acidic or alkaline water instead of neutral. Personally, I would skip the DI stage just for economical reasons. No reason that drinking water needs to be that much more filtered IMO. Otherwise, I would just test the effluent from the DI stage. If it's remotely close to neutral it should be fine.

[Planeden]

the "not for drinking" may be a lawyery "cover your liability" statement, but who knows. me i just drink tap. i figure if chlorine kills bugs then maybe i wont get sick.

[mFrame]

Mark Callahan did a video of this early on in his Mr. Saltwater Tank tips, I seem to remember that the issue was the DI and not the RO. Have to dig for it.

[+KimP]

My main concern is with bacterial growth and such in the rodi unit itself possibly making the water not fit for drinking. Especially with the gunk I found around the sediment filter. Mainly, how often should I be running bleach through, and how exactly is that done? Or other maintenance.