Dear sue711,
Drinking water produced by reverse osmosis will not damage your health in
any way whatsoever. Although it is lacking in trace minerals, this does
not make it harmful. It is not true, furthermore, that it has an acidic
pH value, since the removal of foreign substances from water promotes
its pH neutrality. The purer the water, the closer to neutral it is,
so a thorough purification method such as reverse osmosis can only make
water less acidic, not more.
The idea that water purified by reverse osmosis or distillation has
thereby been made hazardous has no scientific value. It is a myth
promulgated by unscrupulous players in the water-treatment industry who
seek to praise their own brand at the expense of another.
To assess the quality of their claims, let us consider the following
piece of typical advertising copy.
From a practical standpoint, the human body was designed to
run on water that exists naturally on our planet, water that
contains traces of inorganic minerals such as calcium, magnesium
and potassium. Nowhere on Earth does de-mineralized water occur
naturally. Distillation and R.O. systems produce de-mineralized
water with an acidic pH. Many recent reports claim that prolonged
consumption of distilled or de-mineralized water can only lead to
some form of mineral deficiency. Water by nature has to balance
itself, when the minerals are stripped from water it causes
the pH to drop and water to become acidic. It then seeks to
balance itself (a basic law of nature) and does so by taking on
minerals, primarily calcium. If we consume de-mineralized water,
it will actually pull minerals from our body to balance itself
with. This has been demonstrated and reported in many recent
books and studies. My booklet, All About Water refers to several
of these books and studies.
Aquasana: Ask The Water Doctor
http://www.aquasana.com/ask_the_doctor.cfm
You should first note that the author of these words, the "Water Doctor",
is not a doctor at all but a representative of a water-treatment company
that competes with firms practicing distillation and reverse osmosis.
Although it is perfectly true that "the human body was designed to
run on water that exists naturally on our planet", it is not the case
that such water necessarily "contains traces of inorganic minerals" and
it is utterly false to say that "Nowhere on Earth does de-mineralized
water occur naturally." People who drink rainwater, which is naturally
distilled by the sun and therefore contains no inorganic minerals, suffer
no adverse effects. The glacier water consumed by people in alpine areas
is also distilled, since it is just rainwater frozen and then thawed. The
human body was very much designed to run on rainwater and glacier water.
The "Water Doctor" then makes a claim that runs precisely counter
to the truth when he says, "Distillation and R.O. systems produce
de-mineralized water with an acidic pH." As I explained earlier, the
purer the water, the more pH-neutral it is. Removing minerals can only
result in a more favorable pH balance. The business about water balancing
itself and turning acidic in reaction to having its minerals "stripped"
is hogwash. There is a mention of "many recent books and studies", none
of which the writer bothers to name. He claims that they are named in a
booklet of his, which can only be obtained by purchasing his expensive
water-treatment system. I myself have found no such credible books or
studies authored by scientifically informed, financially independent
third parties.
I hope I have persuaded you that claims against thoroughly purified
water have no scientific merit and are issued by disreputable sources. I
myself have no financial stake in the matter, since I'm not selling any
kind of water-treatment technology. I do drink a great deal of water,
most of it from the tap. Although I prefer the taste of mineral water
to that of water purified by any method, I have no concerns about the
health effects of purified water. I know that purified water is not
harmful, and I'm not convinced that mineral water is much better than
decent municipal tap water. It is more important to drink water that
is free of biological contamination and chemical toxins than to worry
about the presence or absence of trace minerals. Don't let yourself be
fooled by water-treatment quackery!
For a balanced view of the question, see the following report from a
serious newspaper.
Malta Independent: The truth about bottled water and Fair Trade
http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=16523
It has been a pleasure to address this question on your behalf. If
you have any concerns about my answer, please advise me through a
Clarification Request so that I may fully meet your needs before you
assign a rating.
Regards,
leapinglizard |
Clarification of Answer by
leapinglizard-ga
on
12 Jun 2005 15:41 PDT
Statements such as "Nowhere on Earth does de-mineralized water occur
naturally" and "Distillation ... [produces] ... water with an acidic
pH" are simply false. It is not in dispute that rainwater is
distilled, that some cultures have subsisted on rainwater, and that
distilled water has -- by definition! -- a perfectly neutral pH. No
researcher will investigate questions that are trivially answered,
since there is nothing to investigate. These are basic facts taught in
every school.
Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.
United States Geological Survey: Water Science for Schools: Water properties
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html
So says the USGS, which is a government agency run by very serious
scientists. You can also look this up in any high-school chemistry
textbook.
It may interest you to know that the government recommends reverse
osmosis as a method for desalinizing rainwater. Entire municipalities
rely on it.
A promising method to desalinate seawater is the "reverse osmosis"
method. Right now, the high cost of desalinization has kept
it from being used more often, as it can cost over $1,000 per
acre-foot to desalinate seawater as compared to about $200 per
acre-foot for water from normal supply sources. Desalinization
technology is improving and costs are falling, though, and Tampa
Bay, FL is currently desalinizing water at a cost of only $650
per acre foot.
United States Geological Survey: Water Science for Schools: Drink a
cup of seawater?
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html
Interestingly, the author of the Malta Independent report appears to
have cribbed an entire paragraph from the following article by a
medical doctor.
The Doctors' Medical Library: Distilled Water versus Mineral, Carbon
Filtered, and Reverse Osmosis Water
http://www.medical-library.net/sites/distilled_water.html
Here's another doctor's advice.
Integrated Sport Solutions: Dr. Bill Misner: Distilled Water Enhances
Mineral Absorption
http://www.myodynamics.com/articles/distilledwater.html
Would you feel safe drinking rainwater in a forest, far from air
pollution of any kind? You should, because rainwater is natural and
pure; it contains no minerals; our bodies are designed to absorb it
with no ill effect. Please don't fall for the pseudoscience of the
mineral-water quacks.
leapinglizard
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