A
Anonymous
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The water tastes kinda plasticy, if there is such a word.
Any ideas?
Louey
Any ideas?
Louey
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A
Anonymous
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?????????????????
:roll: :roll:
:roll: :roll:
hi.
You again ?!?! :lol:
TDS is a measure of ionic content in water. It does not measure organic contaminates such as alcohol, plastizers, and other non-ionic chemicals. You can have a TDS/conductivity measure of close to "0" (I am not going into that with some of you again :wink: ), but the water can be loaded with contaminants.
If your bladder tank is relatively new, you may have to flush the tank a couple of time to get the plastic taste out of the water. Again, check with your dealer for info. For drinking purpose, DI is not recommanded because it is a waste of money and the DI resin is not intended for potable water (drinking). They are mainly used for nuclear, medical, semiconductor, and other non-drinking purpose. As I mentioned many time in the past, use a bladder to store RO water only, and make DI on demand.
For drinking, there is usually a carbon post filter specifically for this taste problem. So let me know if you have any of the following:
1, store DI water in the bladder tank, as the title of the thread suggested.
2, does not have a post filter to "polish" the water.
3, the bladder tank is still relative new, and you have not "flush" it for drinking purpose.
4, the use of non-potable component (DI resin, irrigation plumbing, etc.)
Please do a search on the above issue, since many of them are addressed in this forum as well as the newsgroup and elsewhere.
You again ?!?! :lol:
TDS is a measure of ionic content in water. It does not measure organic contaminates such as alcohol, plastizers, and other non-ionic chemicals. You can have a TDS/conductivity measure of close to "0" (I am not going into that with some of you again :wink: ), but the water can be loaded with contaminants.
If your bladder tank is relatively new, you may have to flush the tank a couple of time to get the plastic taste out of the water. Again, check with your dealer for info. For drinking purpose, DI is not recommanded because it is a waste of money and the DI resin is not intended for potable water (drinking). They are mainly used for nuclear, medical, semiconductor, and other non-drinking purpose. As I mentioned many time in the past, use a bladder to store RO water only, and make DI on demand.
For drinking, there is usually a carbon post filter specifically for this taste problem. So let me know if you have any of the following:
1, store DI water in the bladder tank, as the title of the thread suggested.
2, does not have a post filter to "polish" the water.
3, the bladder tank is still relative new, and you have not "flush" it for drinking purpose.
4, the use of non-potable component (DI resin, irrigation plumbing, etc.)
Please do a search on the above issue, since many of them are addressed in this forum as well as the newsgroup and elsewhere.
hi 7.
Yea, me again. I'm trying to set a record for the most RO questions. I prolly already have. :lol:
Anywho. The water is stored RO. Then polished off by the DI. I also plumbed the DI in with a couple of tee's and shutoff switches, so I could bypass it for drinking water. (see, I do listen and learn from all of you many previous response to my countless questions hehe).
The water tastes funny regardless of if I run through the DI or not. The bladder tank has been emptied two or three times. Funny that we didn't this notice until today. Maybe water sat in the bladder for many days and picked up the scent? I haven't done a WC for a two weeks, so the water has been sitting around a bit.
I dunno?
Louey
Yea, me again. I'm trying to set a record for the most RO questions. I prolly already have. :lol:
Anywho. The water is stored RO. Then polished off by the DI. I also plumbed the DI in with a couple of tee's and shutoff switches, so I could bypass it for drinking water. (see, I do listen and learn from all of you many previous response to my countless questions hehe).
The water tastes funny regardless of if I run through the DI or not. The bladder tank has been emptied two or three times. Funny that we didn't this notice until today. Maybe water sat in the bladder for many days and picked up the scent? I haven't done a WC for a two weeks, so the water has been sitting around a bit.
I dunno?
Louey
hi.
Next time, use the post filter to filter the RO (DI) water before drinking it. It is fine if you like to do taste test, but don't drink DI all the time unless you have too much money. It is a wasteful thing to do.
I bet the plastic taste is from the bladder. If you are using the RO for drinking/cooking purpose, and the taste does not go away even after postfilter with carbon and 4 or 5 flushes, call the manufactor and make sure it is for potable water (look up the link you posted, there many be info there...) For your coral, I will not worry too much, but if you are concerned, put a inline carbon filter for them to get rid of some of the organics before adding saltmix or use as topoffs.
BTW, I have some water samples that also shown TDS of "0" on a cheapometer, and I am looking for a cheap way to test for organics instead of sending them out to lab... will you volunteer to do me a favor (no pun)? It is brown (some are nice magenta) in color, and glow in the dark, while others only glow under UV... All are "0" TDS, so I am sure you will be fine :wink:
Next time, use the post filter to filter the RO (DI) water before drinking it. It is fine if you like to do taste test, but don't drink DI all the time unless you have too much money. It is a wasteful thing to do.
I bet the plastic taste is from the bladder. If you are using the RO for drinking/cooking purpose, and the taste does not go away even after postfilter with carbon and 4 or 5 flushes, call the manufactor and make sure it is for potable water (look up the link you posted, there many be info there...) For your coral, I will not worry too much, but if you are concerned, put a inline carbon filter for them to get rid of some of the organics before adding saltmix or use as topoffs.
BTW, I have some water samples that also shown TDS of "0" on a cheapometer, and I am looking for a cheap way to test for organics instead of sending them out to lab... will you volunteer to do me a favor (no pun)? It is brown (some are nice magenta) in color, and glow in the dark, while others only glow under UV... All are "0" TDS, so I am sure you will be fine :wink:
The tank has a UL label for drinking water.
I let the faucet open overnight so that the tank could empty completely. We'll see how the water taste in a little while.
7 - are you saying the post carbon filter would be after the tank? I could re-plumb it this way fairly easily.
BTW, my meter is a Hannah. It cost about $25.00. I don't know if that is a cheapometer?
I let the faucet open overnight so that the tank could empty completely. We'll see how the water taste in a little while.
7 - are you saying the post carbon filter would be after the tank? I could re-plumb it this way fairly easily.
BTW, my meter is a Hannah. It cost about $25.00. I don't know if that is a cheapometer?
Well, the new batch of water tastes fine. I guess since I haven't used alot of water lately, it picked up the scent of the bladder.
I hope that it (the scent) will go away eventually. Otherwise I'll just have to drain the tank occasionally, or re-plumb the post carbon?.
Louey
I hope that it (the scent) will go away eventually. Otherwise I'll just have to drain the tank occasionally, or re-plumb the post carbon?.
Louey
hi.
I strongly suggest you replumb your carbon post filter between your faucet and the bladder tank. You may not need it for your reef, but for drinking and cooking, it is highly recommanded (and most drinking setup are done this way). In fact, do it even if you don't taste anything in the water, and change it once every year or two per manufactor instruction.
Steve, you can eat the resin like cavier (in small amount), you can drink the water to stay in good health. I am not going to do it myself, and that's all I am going to say. I dislike giving suggestion to people, and having them come back to me and say "I did not do what you suggested, and I am still alive!" As I always say, most thing in life is not absolute, and somthing like this is too minor to make a big deal. DI resin, is for medical/nuclear/semiconduct applications, and it does not use in potable water because of the cost, and the way their handle the material. If you have the money (most reef do have some money, dispite how poor this hobby seems to make them), and don't care about the material handling aspect of it, go ahead and drink RO/DI water. I am not going to loss my sleep over this.
Oh, do you know anyone who try to save $0.25 (left the coupon in the house) in the supermarket, decide to drive 6 miles back home and 6 miles to the market, to use the coupon after wasting a gallon of gas, and half an hour of time? Well, many people is doing similar thing when they drink DI water. This is because they use a glass/cup that is not clean enough, so that as soon as the DI water touch the container, it is no better than a regular RO water anymore. If you have the time, enjoy driving, and money to pay for gas, go ahead and drive home to get the coupon.
I strongly suggest you replumb your carbon post filter between your faucet and the bladder tank. You may not need it for your reef, but for drinking and cooking, it is highly recommanded (and most drinking setup are done this way). In fact, do it even if you don't taste anything in the water, and change it once every year or two per manufactor instruction.
Steve, you can eat the resin like cavier (in small amount), you can drink the water to stay in good health. I am not going to do it myself, and that's all I am going to say. I dislike giving suggestion to people, and having them come back to me and say "I did not do what you suggested, and I am still alive!" As I always say, most thing in life is not absolute, and somthing like this is too minor to make a big deal. DI resin, is for medical/nuclear/semiconduct applications, and it does not use in potable water because of the cost, and the way their handle the material. If you have the money (most reef do have some money, dispite how poor this hobby seems to make them), and don't care about the material handling aspect of it, go ahead and drink RO/DI water. I am not going to loss my sleep over this.
Oh, do you know anyone who try to save $0.25 (left the coupon in the house) in the supermarket, decide to drive 6 miles back home and 6 miles to the market, to use the coupon after wasting a gallon of gas, and half an hour of time? Well, many people is doing similar thing when they drink DI water. This is because they use a glass/cup that is not clean enough, so that as soon as the DI water touch the container, it is no better than a regular RO water anymore. If you have the time, enjoy driving, and money to pay for gas, go ahead and drive home to get the coupon.
To chime in on your initial question: Vixywillie is on the mark. The taste of water is kind of like the dialect/accents of English that you speak. Whatever you grew up with, you consider to be normal, and everyone/everything else is not. Since I doubt you grew up drinking RO/DI water, it tastes different to you now. Of course, this doesn't mean that the plastic storage container isn't imparting a flavor to the water. (I know, I'm not much help in giving you the absolute answer to your problem).
Posted by Seven:
-I appreciate the long answer you gave Seven and understand the cost factor, what I am most interested in however is the handling issue etc... By using the DI portion, and saying it is not intended for potable water, are we indeed using water for our reef tanks that is not fit for human consumption? Do reef animals have a different tolerance for non potable water?
Steve
medical/nuclear/semiconduct applications, and it does not use in potable water because of the cost, and the way their handle the material.
-I appreciate the long answer you gave Seven and understand the cost factor, what I am most interested in however is the handling issue etc... By using the DI portion, and saying it is not intended for potable water, are we indeed using water for our reef tanks that is not fit for human consumption? Do reef animals have a different tolerance for non potable water?
Steve
hi.
FDA, NSF and other agencies have different guideline for material that is intended for human consumption. How highly do you regard these agencies, and how adherent are manufacturers to the guidelines are different issue. There are certainly things that has nothing to do with "fitness of consumption," but most people will consider it as "gross." For example, everybody swallows their own saliva all the time. (I will use a different example if it is The Sump :wink: ), so obviously it is "fit" for consumption. But if I spit on a glass, I am sure most sane people are not going to use the glass without cleaning it thoroughly. This is because most people consider other people's saliva as "gross." Disregard possible contanimation during storage, transportation, and distributation, it is possible that the resin had been handled in a "gross" manner, but still "fit" for its purpose. If you never see what happened to the glass, you will have no problem using it... not that I actually spit on every container that I hand over to other people.
FDA, NSF and other agencies have different guideline for material that is intended for human consumption. How highly do you regard these agencies, and how adherent are manufacturers to the guidelines are different issue. There are certainly things that has nothing to do with "fitness of consumption," but most people will consider it as "gross." For example, everybody swallows their own saliva all the time. (I will use a different example if it is The Sump :wink: ), so obviously it is "fit" for consumption. But if I spit on a glass, I am sure most sane people are not going to use the glass without cleaning it thoroughly. This is because most people consider other people's saliva as "gross." Disregard possible contanimation during storage, transportation, and distributation, it is possible that the resin had been handled in a "gross" manner, but still "fit" for its purpose. If you never see what happened to the glass, you will have no problem using it... not that I actually spit on every container that I hand over to other people.
... Just a related question, hope you don't mind me not searching first 'cause I want to ask Mr 7 directly :lol:
A friend of mine is a research doctor and when I showed him my new Kent RO/DI unit he thought it would produce something similar to the purified water that he works with at the lab. He also suggested that this water would not be good to drink because of the lack of anything dissolved in it, hinting that it could "pickle" you by absorbing stuff from your body into the "dry" water. Any thoughts on this? Is this really just whacky? Maybe it would only apply to large volumes consumed. Or is this simply not possible? Maybe there are enough unmeasurabe things dissolved in the product water to make it similar to "regular" water.
A friend of mine is a research doctor and when I showed him my new Kent RO/DI unit he thought it would produce something similar to the purified water that he works with at the lab. He also suggested that this water would not be good to drink because of the lack of anything dissolved in it, hinting that it could "pickle" you by absorbing stuff from your body into the "dry" water. Any thoughts on this? Is this really just whacky? Maybe it would only apply to large volumes consumed. Or is this simply not possible? Maybe there are enough unmeasurabe things dissolved in the product water to make it similar to "regular" water.
hi.
Laboratory RO/DI unit is a lot more expensive than residential unit used by this hobby. But many of them use the very same filter/membrane, and functionally identical. However, if you want to publish an article in Science or Nature, you better list the equipement you used as from Millipore or other reputable companies, instead of those we used in the hobby that is 10% of the cost with relatively same output. (DIY your RO/DI filter for mundane purpose will surely make your laboratory sounds "cheap" and not very good to tell other peers about this...).
There is a myth of the "danger" of drinking DI water of absorbing mineral from you body you mentioned, and it is nothing but gibberish. In laboratory, DI water is usually used for rising glassware and other cleaning purpose. It is not adviced to drink the water for the reason mentioned above in previous posts. As I say, if you use a very clean container to hold the DI before drinking it, then you can say you are drinking DI-grade water (ultrapure grade/semiconductor grade/nuclear grade, whatever). But if you use a regular container that was not very clean (in lab. standard, not restaurant standard), then as soon as you put the DI in it, it will not be as clean as DI'ed water. So you can drink as much DI water as you want, but just make sure you just use regular cup/glassware, and take it down with your own saliva, then you will be fine. Your supervisor will probably going to be unhappy for your waste of his/her money, but you going to live like most of us.
Most of the ladies in my lab try not to touch the DI water because they feel it is going to make their skin "dry." (dry water... what a oxymoron!). I also feel the same too, because the water can really get the dirt out together with the nature oil on your skin. But washing your hand in DI is differently than drinking it with a "dirty" glassware, but I am sure everyone got my point already.
Once we joked that the water in our lab is so pure that the conductivity meter give us negative reading! I am sure your research doctor friend will try very hard in next few days to achieve that :wink:
Laboratory RO/DI unit is a lot more expensive than residential unit used by this hobby. But many of them use the very same filter/membrane, and functionally identical. However, if you want to publish an article in Science or Nature, you better list the equipement you used as from Millipore or other reputable companies, instead of those we used in the hobby that is 10% of the cost with relatively same output. (DIY your RO/DI filter for mundane purpose will surely make your laboratory sounds "cheap" and not very good to tell other peers about this...).
There is a myth of the "danger" of drinking DI water of absorbing mineral from you body you mentioned, and it is nothing but gibberish. In laboratory, DI water is usually used for rising glassware and other cleaning purpose. It is not adviced to drink the water for the reason mentioned above in previous posts. As I say, if you use a very clean container to hold the DI before drinking it, then you can say you are drinking DI-grade water (ultrapure grade/semiconductor grade/nuclear grade, whatever). But if you use a regular container that was not very clean (in lab. standard, not restaurant standard), then as soon as you put the DI in it, it will not be as clean as DI'ed water. So you can drink as much DI water as you want, but just make sure you just use regular cup/glassware, and take it down with your own saliva, then you will be fine. Your supervisor will probably going to be unhappy for your waste of his/her money, but you going to live like most of us.
Most of the ladies in my lab try not to touch the DI water because they feel it is going to make their skin "dry." (dry water... what a oxymoron!). I also feel the same too, because the water can really get the dirt out together with the nature oil on your skin. But washing your hand in DI is differently than drinking it with a "dirty" glassware, but I am sure everyone got my point already.
Once we joked that the water in our lab is so pure that the conductivity meter give us negative reading! I am sure your research doctor friend will try very hard in next few days to achieve that :wink:
There is much debate over whether DI water is fit for human consumption. It has been said that DI water is too pure, and will actually remove minerals from your body. In my opinion, I would not drink DI water. The reason we can use it in our reef tanks is because we mix the water with mineral containing salt, and thus the water is no longer "pure". Use your favorite search engine, and do a search on "drinking deionized water"
There is much debate, but I don't think much of it is based on facts. RO, DI and distilled water are all roughly the same from a health perspective. A large percentage of terrestrial creatures experience nothing but rainwater, which is distilled.
I think the labeling that DI units have as not for human consumption is due to chemical qualities of the resins not being acceptable by the FDA or possibly growth of bacteria in the resin beds. Sorry, I don't know for sure.
I think the labeling that DI units have as not for human consumption is due to chemical qualities of the resins not being acceptable by the FDA or possibly growth of bacteria in the resin beds. Sorry, I don't know for sure.
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