reverse osmosis water?

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by Richard on Maui, Dec 5, 2005.

  1. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hey all, noticed that biofarmag is around again, and I have been wanting to ask him to elaborate on some comments he made earlier about reverse osmosis treated water being quite bad for you. I realised since he wrote that the filtering system we are using here is an RO system, so I am quite curious about why it is so bad!?
    Half the time I just drink it straight out of the tank anyway, but my wife and beautiful daughter generally do take the filtered stuff. Of course, anyone else with any knowlege on this I'd love to hear your take too.
     
  2. forest

    forest Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2005
    Messages:
    449
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Richard, I wrote a Reverse Osmosis training manual for Cannington Mine about 8 years ago. It's a huge silver, lead zinc mine out near Cloncurry. I think it depends on the water source and the types of filters used. I know they tested their water frequently but all the drinkable water on site goes through the RO plant.
     
  3. biofarmag

    biofarmag Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2005
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Maybe you should have asked me directly, Richard?

    Problem is this:

    Water is a solvent. The more mineral content it has in it, the less of a solvent it is, ie. hard water doesn't dissolve soap very well, due to the mineral content being already dissolved in it.

    Reverse Osmosis water effectively takes out practically every mineral, leaving you with a pure solvent. That water can and will dissolve everything it can that it comes in contact with, eg. the copper in your pipes, all sorts of dreadful things if you drink from plastic cups, and essential minerals and electrolytes in your own body. In older people particularly, this can speed up bone degeneration. You also miss out on some of the healthy elements you gain from drinking "mineral water".

    It ain't the way water is meant to be. I wouldn't touch the stuff, and I certainly wouldn't give it to my family.
     
  4. frosty

    frosty Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2005
    Messages:
    852
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hi richard

    we use RO to filter ALL the water we drink

    the previous discussion was between jeff and me and I have given this some thought since then

    I will still be drinking RO water but I concede that maybe if you drink filtered water it may be necessary to watch your mineral levels ......... and it is quite easy to take a mineral supplemnt

    I guess it depends on why you are drinking filtered water ......... if your water is contaminated ( as ours is ) and you dont want to ingest all those toxins it is preferable to drink RO water and supplement minerals

    If you are lucky enough to have clean safe mineralised water then be thankful and drink it as it comes :D

    frosty
     
  5. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks everyone... including biofarmag... I guess I could have sent you a private message, but I sort of thought of this as asking you directly but in a public way.
    Your point of view is really interesting and of some concern to me... obviously!
    If you were on a rainwater catchment system for your drinking water, how would you go about ensuring that it was "safe" to drink? It probably needs some filtration to be really safe, as we have VOG from the Hawaiian volcanoes putting stuff into the atmosphere, and stuff does grow in standing water after all.
    I appreciate everyones comments.
     
  6. biofarmag

    biofarmag Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2005
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I don't speak in Acronymish. What's "VOG"?

    Activated carbon filtration removes a multitude of sins.
     
  7. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2005
    Messages:
    1,251
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    It's not an acronym, it's the word. Vog is the volcanic version of "smog".

    Vog is an atmospheric effect caused by emissions of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. When sulfur dioxide gas is released, it reacts chemically with sunlight, oxygen, dust particles, and water in the air to form a mixture of sulfate aerosols, sulfuric acid and other oxidized sulfur species. Together, this gas and aerosol mixture produces a hazy atmospheric condition known as volcanic smog or vog.

    Sue
     
  8. biofarmag

    biofarmag Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2005
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well, there ya go! I've learnt something. We don't have volcanos here in Australia. Looked like an acronym....mmmmm.

    'Fraid I have no idea there whether activated carbon would do the job or not. I think you'd need to ask someone with knowledge of....vog. I don't know what the danger or risk is to health. Perhaps it's considerably worse than the risks from using RO water? Taking mineral supplements would be a must, as suggested.
     
  9. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Yeah, but are you saying that the bad thing about drinking RO is that it will actively strip your guts or is it that if you don't take your supplements you're missing out? I mean, how much mineral content can pure rainwater have anyhow? You know what I'm saying? I mean, maybe the raindrops coalesce around a tiny particle, but most of it is just water, right? So, to clarify, my question is, what is the diff between rainwater and RO water?
     
  10. frosty

    frosty Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2005
    Messages:
    852
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    IMHO just the toxic spray drift :roll: :lol: :lol:

    Richard one thing that is very relevent is that they advise people who have had kidney transplants to only drink RO water :? so its cant be too bad

    frosty
     
  11. biofarmag

    biofarmag Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2005
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Rainwater isn't completely pure, Richard. RO water is. 'Fraid I'm not a nutritionist. I'm only really quoting what I've read. I know that from a SOIL point of view, RO water is extremely LEACHING. Nutrients (especially soluble chemicals) are dissolved and leached very rapidly. The solution is to add more to make up for the loss, so I would IMAGINE it would work much the same, ie. if you took mineral supplements you would probably be keeping up with the loss. I'm a bit out of my depth here, especially as you're comparing it with rainwater that would no doubt contain whatever's in the "vog". I don't know if that's better or worse.
     
  12. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hmmm. It is interesting. I caught myself thinking about this subject along the lines of, "Oh, come on, RO can't be bad for you, everyone drinks it?". Of course the same can be said for asbestos 50 years ago, or um, roundup now...
    But still, I wonder if RO in our bodies acts the same way as it would in soils. I mean, if you eat a carrot, or a piece of steak, different processes go to work on that carrot or the piece of steak in your stomach than they would if you laid them out under the mulch in your garden, right?
    Thanks for posting on the issue though. I will definitely be looking into it more, and asking questions of my nutritionist and chemist friends.
     
  13. biofarmag

    biofarmag Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2005
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    More how it works on the electrically-held nutrients in the soil than how it literally affects the plant, Richard.

    Yes, please ask those who know far more than me. I'd also be interested.
     
  14. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

    Joined:
    May 14, 2004
    Messages:
    3,464
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    for me this thread could probably use some revival in current times.

    i need info' in lay terms.

    so far i can understand how reverse osmosis may filter dissolved particles out of water ie.,. minerals, salts, obvious sediment, pathogens, but my quest for information is more targetted at those residues we humans expell through our waste channels ie.,. leecates from processed foods, chem' rsidues in all foods, residues for various medications, low grade radiation waste and any acids, dioxins, hormones that may end up in the waste train.

    i have some understanding that things have mollecular size & that maybe just maybe r/o can be designed to filter things with larger moll' size than water, but surely somethings will be the same size or smaller??.

    when we urinate if we don't drink enough water it is stronger in colour if we drink heaps of water it is almost clear in colour but those residues are still there, aren't they? apparently they are part of the structure of the fluid well in my eyes.

    also as i see it this can be a very expesnive to install run and maintane, a high resource user?

    so all help very much appreciated, even if that help is to direct me to a forum/source to find these asnwers simply.

    tia

    len :? :?:
     
  15. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2006
    Messages:
    3,046
    Likes Received:
    200
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    E Washington, USA
    Climate:
    Semi-Arid Shrub Steppe (BsK)
    Thanks for resurrecting this thread, gardenlen!

    I hadn't thought about some of the ramifications of RO water. Seems there's two aspects to this: 1) lack of key minerals in RO drinking water, and 2) handling of RO water (the solvent aspect). As biofarmag stated, RO water is in it's most solvent state and will pick up traces of whatever it comes into contact with. Copper, plastic or worse, galvanized piping might actually contaminate the RO water on it's way to our drinking glass?

    Seems like a more inert piping would be desireable? Like glass or stainless?

    Offshore sailboat "watermakers" use the RO process, so my interest is twofold.

    9anda1f
     
  16. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

    Joined:
    May 14, 2004
    Messages:
    3,464
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    g'day 9anda1f,

    sorry about taking so long to get back to you i am experiencing massive problems trying to login here and this is the first time today i achieved a login.

    yeh i can see by what has been said that handling the end product can present problems let alone the cost involved in processing for mass population and that something less than 10% of the available water ends up as usable product. lots of greay areas for me that say there is something else behind this or?

    and the administrator has simply glossed over any talk of residues from the things we take in the system, nor have they mentioned what micron size filter they plan to use, so maybe they are going to do this using an acceptable level routine one which again will ahve no human trialing just simply what the industry say is safe as in the gmo deal.

    i've posted a new thread asking for help with the login problem that seems like it is perm.org's problems i should ahve asked people to e/mails me just in case tomorrow it won't let me login again the cookie all of a sudden won't save so big problems.

    ta

    len :?
     

Share This Page

-->