I've been using a RO unit under my sink for almost 20 years.  I've gone through a couple of them, and feel I need a new one.  Although they do a great job of filtering just about everything from the water, traditionally they waste a lot of water to do it (I think my unit wastes 4 gallons to make one gallon of drinking water).  Well, I just found out that Watts makes a zero waste RO unit that is currenty on sale at Costco.com.  Instead of running the waste water down the drain, the water is pumped into the hot water side (the waste water has already been filtered of the nastiest stuff, but still has disolved calcium carbonate and sodium).

I think I'm going to go for it. 

 

 

 

Don't these purifiers strip water of all its valuable minerals?   When you're hot and thirsty, bottled water is not very quenching.  It's just like dead water.

Well, my RO water is delicious. 

 Seems like a great price Fini. If I wasn't moving, I'd replace mine with that one. Mine is a bit old and I know it should be replaced. Hard to beat that price for anything with decent capacity. 

Here is a link:

http://www.thepowerofcoralcalcium.com/shocking-news-purified-water.htm

Of course, everyone has a theory for everything.....

Jeff, Thanks for the link. That is hysterical. I thought the cable guys, magic stones guys, harmonics dots guys and Peter Belt had the market cornered, but I particularly love this quip from the link you provided... "He noted that healthy water formed a completed hexagonal crystal structure, while urban tap water and contaminated water was very disorganized. See photographs below:" (insert picture of snowflake) "Dr. Lee Lorenzen, an expert in clustered water, has demonstrated that these crystal clustered water molecules support the function of our D.N.A." "Three Nobel prize winners in Advanced Medical Research discovered that the primary function of D.N.A. is in the transmission and reception of electromagnetic energy."

 Hmm, for those concerned about low mineral content of RO water, I'd suggest adding something like food to their diet.

The alarmists need to consider a food purifier as well. 

Oooh!  Do you have a link?? 

Just don't piss in the sink.  That reminds me I need to install a urinal.

Gregg,

Thanks for the link. Very cool.

 

Fini,

You and I usually do not agree on ANYTHING, as you are usually wanting to waste money on some type of gadget that somehow is going to single handedly "Save the world from ourselves" in some type of so called "Conservation", and to this I must add another disagreement.

Unless you somehow live in a region of the world that is experiencing a water shortage, due to draught or sever contamination, I again feel that your just flushing MONEY down the drain.  Before you WASTE your dollars, why don't you contact your local water supplier and ask for a copy of their Federally required testing data.  Then do a little research on the amounts of minerals that your body requires on a daily basis.  You might just find out that your local "unfiltered" municipal water supply is healthier for you than the RO water that you think is so great. 

Unless you are trying to keep a Live Coral's in a Salt water tank, and/or have a Chlorine problem with your water supply there is no need for that drastic of a water purifier in nearly anywhere in the continential United States.

To top it all off, the only reason to have a RO unit for a saltwater coral aquarium is not because the water you have is bad, but rather, it's easier to add minerals in a certain leval (which coral's are VERY sensitive to) to pure water, rather than water with unmeasured levels of minerals in it.

Really, I'm not trying to Peeve you, I'd just like to see the Tree huggers of the world use a little common sense, and it seems that your easilly sucked into that Montra.

Well, thanks for setting me straight.  I'll be sure to run my next crazy ideas by you before I embarrass myself posting them here. 

"The discovery of the fuel additive methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in ground water and drinking water reservoirs in California and elsewhere has fueled public debate about the health risks associated with this oxygenate. MTBE has been used since the mid-1970's as a fuel additive to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. The City of Santa Monica in 1996 shut down the majority of the City’s drinking water wells due to MTBE contamination. That event has focused much attention on the chemical and prompted public health officials, water quality regulators, the state legislature, and the regulated community to seek more information about the health effects and risk management options associated with the continued use of MTBE in California. What does the future hold for this chemical and how should it be dealt with in the regulatory arena? This paper examines some of the key parameters concerning health risks from exposure to MTBE, the management of risks associated with MTBE leaks from underground fuel tanks, and remediation options for different spill scenarios."

Just one of the typical pollutants we discover well AFTER the damage has been done. Anyone relying upon "public authorities" or "public utilities" of any kind or stripe to prevent such common and ever growing problems with contaminated food and water is simply reckless.

I leave you with this gem: "There is evidence of widespread contamination of water resources in many areas of our country. The Environmental Protection Agency's National Water Quality Inventory of 1994 has identified agriculture, urban runoff/storm water, and municipal point sources as the largest pollutant sources for rivers, lakes, and estuaries(5).  Contaminants from these sources include pesticides, metals, nitrates, solvents, and other wastes. More than 200 chemical constituents have been documented in groundwater alone (2). The health effects of long term exposure to many of the contaminants entering our water supply are unknown."

 

 

You can add to that the high levels of hormones that seem to be attributed to birth control pills, antibiotic levels and animal growth hormones.

Some people think that aspertame is ok, too. Plus, we have high fructose corn syrup in almost everything. We are killing ourselves.