Dangers of Reverse Osmosis Water

Early Death Comes From Drinking Distilled Water  (Same applies to RO water)
by Zoltan P. Rona MD MSc

During nearly 19 years of clinical practice I have had the opportunity to observe the health effects of drinking different types of water. Most of you would agree that drinking unfiltered tap water could be hazardous to your health because of things like parasites, chlorine, fluoride and dioxins.

Many health fanatics, however, are often surprised to hear me say that drinking distilled water on a regular, daily basis is potentially dangerous.

Paavo Airola wrote about the dangers of distilled water in the 1970's when it first became a fad with the health food crowd.

Distillation is the process in which water is boiled, evaporated and the vapor condensed. Distilled water is free of dissolved minerals and, because of this, has the special property of being able to actively absorb toxic substances from the body and eliminate them.

Studies validate the benefits of drinking distilled water when one is seeking to cleanse or detoxify the system for short periods of time (a few weeks at a time).

Fasting using distilled water can be dangerous because of the rapid loss of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium, deficiencies of which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood pressure. Cooking foods in distilled water pulls the minerals out of them and lowers their nutrient value.

Distilled water is an active absorber and when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon dioxide, making it acidic. The more distilled water a person drinks, the higher the body acidity becomes.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, "Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact.

Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water."

The most toxic commercial beverages that people consume (i.e. cola beverages and other soft drinks) are made from distilled water. Studies have consistently shown that heavy consumers of soft drinks (with or without sugar) spill huge amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals into the urine.

The more mineral loss, the greater the risk for osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and a long list of degenerative diseases generally associated with premature aging.

A growing number of health care practitioners and scientists from around the world have been advocating the theory that aging and disease is the direct result of the accumulation of acid waste products in the body.

There is a great deal of scientific documentation that supports such a theory. A poor diet may be partially to blame for the waste accumulation. Meats, sugar, white flour products, fried foods, soft drinks, processed foods, alcohol, dairy products and other junk foods cause the body to become more acidic. Stress, whether mental or physical can lead to acid deposits in the body.

There is a correlation between the consumption of soft water (distilled water is extremely soft) and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Cells, tissues and organs do not like to be dipped in acid and will do anything to buffer this acidity including the removal of minerals from the skeleton and the manufacture of bicarbonate in the blood.

The longer one drinks distilled water, the more likely the development of mineral deficiencies and an acid state. I have done well over 3000 mineral evaluations using a combination of blood, urine and hair tests in my practice. Almost without exception, people who consume distilled water exclusively, eventually develop multiple mineral deficiencies.

Those who supplement their distilled water intake with trace minerals are not as deficient but still not as adequately nourished in minerals as their non-distilled water drinking counterparts even after several years of mineral supplementation.

The ideal water for the human body should be alkaline and this requires the presence of minerals like calcium and magnesium.

Distilled water tends to be acidic and can only be recommended as a way of drawing poisons out of the body. Once this is accomplished, the continued drinking of distilled water is a bad idea.

... Disease and early death is more likely to be seen with the long term drinking of distilled water. Avoid it except in special circumstances.

REFERENCES
Airola, P. 1974. How To Get Well. Phoenix, AZ: Health Plus Publishers.
Baroody, Dr. Theodore A. Jr. Alkalinize or Die. California:Portal Books, 1995.
Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. The Complete Guide to Diet & Nutritional Medicine. Berkeley, California:Celestial Arts, 1992; p. 22.
Rona, Zoltan P. and Martin, Jeanne Marie. Return to the Joy of Health, Vancouver: Alive Books, 1995.
Rona, Zoltan P. Childhood Illness and The Allergy Connection. Rocklin, California:Prima Books, 1996.

Distilled Water and RO Filtered Water
by Sang Whang

Water is a strong solvent; therefore, it carries many invisible substances: minerals, oxygen, nutrients, waste products, pollutants, etc. Pure water without any substance is as un-natural as a pocket of vacuum within a normal atmosphere. A pocket of vacuum will suck in any and everything around it until the pressure becomes equal to the surrounding.

Likewise, pure water will leach out any and every substance that it can dissolve from the substances that it comes into contact with, until its content is homogeneous with its surrounding or the water is saturated with substances so that it can no longer dissolve anymore substances.

Since the creation of this planet, rainwater has been washing down minerals from the mountains into the ocean. Ocean water has been saturated for a long time with specific minerals, yet rivers continue to carry down the minerals. The result is that at the bottom of the ocean there are tons of mineral deposits precipitated. If we knew how to recover the minerals from the bottom of the ocean, we would be very rich.

Distilled water and RO (reverse osmosis) filtered water contain no minerals, simulating close to pure water. This pure water should be neutral with a pH value of 7. However, it measures acid pH! The reason for this phenomenon is that pure water sucks in carbon dioxides from the atmosphere. Although it measures acid pH, there are no acid minerals in that water. If pure water is stored in plastic bottle, the water smells plastic.

For this reason, distilled water or RO filtered water should be stored in glass bottles or special plastic bottles that can block carbon dioxide penetration. Coca Cola was bottled originally in glass bottles only. Then came the plastic bottle and it lost the fizzles. Then better plastic bottles came out that didn't lose carbon dioxides; still plastic-bottled Coca Cola has to have expiration dates. Carbon dioxides penetrate through plastics, making pure water acidic.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the health food industry recommended that people eat certain types of healthy food and exclude other types of unhealthy food. Initially, people noticed a marked improvement of their health. However, staying with this healthy diet for several years, people suffered from nutritional deficiency syndrome, which the health food industry concluded as a sickness caused by pollutants in the drinking water. The health food industry began to sell distillers and RO filters to protect people. To me, this is a case of arriving at an erroneous conclusion because they totally misunderstood the facts.

In the 1950s distilled water was sold in drug stores with the label "Not for drinking!" Distilled water was used to fill car batteries and steam irons. Distilled water is not healthy because it will leach out valuable alkaline minerals from our body. However, I realize that I cannot change some people's mind. I am often asked if it is OK to add AlkaLife� to distilled water. I wish people would not drink distilled water; however, if one must drink distilled water, it is better to add a mineral supplement

Reverse Osmosis Bacteria Problem

Five (ore more) stage reverse osmosis systems use carbon to remove chlorine and chemicals from the water. However, once the bacteria killing chlorine is gone, the carbon can become a breeding ground for bacteria over time. Here is more information on this subject: 

Heterotrophic micro-organisms, single-celled creatures that may cause gastrointestinal illness and pneumonia in some people, multiply in point-of-use/point-of-entry (POU/POE) equipment. Granular activated carbon (GAC) filters, the most popular form of filtration, creates an ideal home for these bacteria.While most heterotrophic bacteria are harmless, mounting evidence shows that some members of this microscopic family are a health threat. The problem for water treatment dealers is that their equipment may be exacerbating the contamination.Heterotrophic micro-organisms similarly grow in on-the-shelf bottled water, well water pressure tanks and in water in household plumbing. Heterotrophic bacteria also is found in food.If heterotrophic bacteria are dangerous, federal and state regulators might require dealers to install additional treatment devices, such as ultraviolet or reverse osmosis (RO) systems, to prevent bacterial proliferation. If standard water treatment equipment in homes and offices - filters, softeners, pressure tanks and RO units - are a breeding ground for heterotrophic bacteria, the industry will have trouble convincing consumers to buy it.

The heart of the argument

While the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for heterotrophic bacteria, key players in the debate say an MCL may be needed."Heterotrophic bacteria clearly do pose a danger, the degree of which is poorly characterized,'' says National Drinking Water Advisory Council member Dr. Jeffrey K. Griffiths, associate director, Graduate Programs in Public Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.Griffiths says a contaminant standard may be required for some heterotrophic bacteria. Setting an MCL, or any step to create a formal standard to gauge or classify heterotrophic bacteria as a contaminant, is exactly what the water treatment industry does not want.Nearly all heterotrophic bacteria have historically been presumed to be non-pathogens. Scientists say there is a need to make sure.A new study by Joan B. Rose, Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, says not enough is known about heterotrophic bacteria and the levels that may be associated with human health risk.Some research suggests people experience less gastrointestinal illness when drinking water from POU/POE equipment where heterotrophic bacteria have colonized.

Rose notes conflicting reports regarding the relationship between specific heterotrophic bacteria in water to disease. While there are heterotrophic pathogens, overall the probability of disease from ingesting the bacteria is low.

Battles lines are forming

The EPA uses an informal standard of 500 colony forming units (CFU) of heterotrophic bacteria per milliliter to measure water quality and turbidity.

EPA standard is five times less strict than European standards, but high enough to fail most water treatment devices. A typical carbon filter that sits overnight contains between 1,000 to 10,000 CFUs.

The traditional method of measuring heterotrophic bacteria is now being challenged by new assay methods that result in higher bacteria counts. Paul Berger, senior microbiologist at the EPA, has been looking at the heterotrophic issue for more than two decades. He championed the need to set an MCL for the bacteria in the late 1980s, but lost to utility and water industry opposition.Despite his defeat, Berger advocates the need for additional studies "for the sake of safety.''Timothy E. Ford, associate professor of Environmental Microbiology, Harvard School of Public Health, is calling on the EPA to finance it.

GAC is a problem

Gerald N. Stelma Jr., an EPA scientist at the National Exposure Research Lab, Cincinnati, says heterotrophic bacteria growth is amplified in granular activated carbon (GAC) filters and hot water tanks.

"Although these bacteria are not hazardous to healthy individuals, it is possible that some of them - in addition to Legionellae and nontuberculosis mycobacteria - are opportunistic pathogens and could be hazardous to those whose body defenses are compromised,'' he says.Stelma says a cadre of high-ranking EPA officials would like to set an MCL for heterotrophic bacteria but lack evidence about the danger. One thing is clear. Water treatment equipment, especially carbon filters, will be the focus of an investigation.Bruce E. Rittmann, professor of Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, says concern about HPCs and carbon filters is a hot topic.

"Carbon filters become a very friendly environment for microorganisms,'' he says. "You are creating a perfect environment for [bacteria] to grow. It raises the issue in the mind of the consumer if the water that comes out is safe. [As a result] the issue of home units will become more controversial.''

Gail Gerono, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh-based Calgon Carbon Corp., the world's largest producer of activated carbon, says the company is monitoring the heterotrophic debate.

"We know bacteria will grow on GAC filters,'' says Gerono. "All the information we have is that the bacteria is non-pathogenic.''

The US is the only developed country without an MCL for measuring heterotrophic bacteria. Federal regulators may choose to adopt a recommended standard found in Europe of 100 total bacteria counts per milliliter. "Those low numbers will kill the industry,'' says Beauman.Meanwhile, WQA is rushing ahead to counter negative findings by proving the benefits of heterotrophic bacteria. EPA's Berger says WQA's study will not stop the agency's quest to find out if the bugs are harmful.

Significant Industry Impact

In addition to naming some types of heterotrophic bacteria as a contaminant, the EPA may develop treatment standards to lower levels of heterotrophic bacteria in municipal systems. It also may formalize an HPC measurement to monitor heterotrophic bacteria.

Bacterial contamination of POU/POE treatment devices occurs because municipal water plants remove most bacteria, but do not produce sterile water. Once a carbon filter removes chlorine, bacteria can multiply.

Though heterotrophic bacteria colonizes in yogurt and milk, regulators only seem concerned about bacteria in drinking water, says WQA's Harrison. "The only place where you hear there is a problem is the in-home water treatment system,'' he says.

Wakem does not foresee a burden if an MCL is set. The industry will meet demands of the regulation by creating new technology to protect the consumer.

"The dealer will pay more for the product and that will be passed on to the consumer,'' he says. "It's insignificant based on the benefits."

Good Water Biz is a subsidiary of Ionic Zone - Las Vegas, NV - Skype # 702-425-4025 - Toll Free 800-549-9535

©2008 Good Water Biz Terms of Use • Privacy Statement   About Us   Contact