Water Maker options

[ronobrien]

Well RO water has varying degrees of other minerals as evidenced by varying conductivity measurements. But....that very pure water is somewhat corrosive as water is considered a universal solvent. You have heard that nature abhors a vacuum, similarly water abhors purity and seeks to dissolve what it can. I think I must get all the minerals I need because I drink RO water on the boat and at home, but I do eat a lot of food. Some drinking water companies, I would propose, add minerals for flavor rather than health. If I buy water at the store it is drinking water not distilled. I found this on the internet:

The additives being put into water are those naturally found in water and the quantities of these additives are likely too small to be of much significance. “If you had pure water by itself, it doesn’t have any taste,” says Bob Mahler, Soil Science and Water Quality professor at the University of Idaho. “So companies that sell bottled water will put in calcium, magnesium or maybe a little bit of salt.”

I'm thinking it is a bit like re-hydration in the hot summer months. If you are active you need supplements like Gatorade, not just water even in it's earth borne formulas.

 

[Lepke]

I've been drinking and cooking with RO water for 11 years, seems ok. It cleans clothes better. When making from fresh I use it for battery water.

I'm always in cold water, usually 55° or colder. I have a homemade pipe heater for my watermaker using 1.25" pipe, a threaded water heater element and a thermostat. I run a generator so using a heater gives me about 10 more gallons an hour, saving generator time. In really cold water like Yakutat or Icy Bay it only heats to about 70°.

 

[Mac2]

Hope this hasn't been stated before. My steel water tanks leave much to be desired for the taste of water. I added a six stage r/o filter under the galley sink for drinking water. I added a filter in the last stage that adds minerals and ph boost. It's called a alkaline filter. I could definitely tell the taste was better after I added the additional filter. It specifically states it's for restoring minerals.


Edit: The filter adds calcium, magnesium, and potassium ions.

 

[Sealife]

We got prescription toothpaste from our dentist with extra fluoride. Wouldn't mind adding some minerals just to make you feel clean in shower, as with really soft water, it just doesn't feel right.

 

[HTurner]

Should not your regular daily diet provide all the minerals you need -- not counting water? Vegetables, fruit, and protein -- meat, fish, eggs, etc. not enough for mineral intake?

 

[Mac2]

Should not your regular daily diet provide all the minerals you need -- not counting water? Vegetables, fruit, and protein -- meat, fish, eggs, etc. not enough for mineral intake?

I'm sure you do. For me, when given a choice, I would never drink water straight out of the tap, or cook with it. I see what is collected at the first stage of my under sink filtration system. For me, adding the filter that puts the minerals back in, just makes me feel better and the water does taste better.

 

[Hippocampus]

Lived on nothing but RO water for 8 years. It does have its drawbacks. It leaches metals. It will leach metals from you as well so your intake may need to increase. We were lucky. Our water tank was coated grp so no issue. Not a single piece in the fresh water system was metal. Although over a long time it can have a deleterious effect on you and you can buy mineral packs to add to your drinking water we didn’t go that route. Rather kept cold water in the frig. Particularly liked lemon or cucumber water. Between that and diet didn’t run into any electrolyte difficulties. Found its best to keep one water tank exclusively RO and use the other for shore water if necessary. Once able to make unlimited RO water drain or use up the shore tank. Then replace with RO. Neither of our tanks ever saw bleach. Both remained free of growth.