Letter 11017

Human consumption of deionized water 

I have heard over the past several years that drinking deionized water is harmful. Potentially due to a high reactivity to surface tissues in our bodies. I have attempted to find information to corroborate or refute that statement with no satisfaction. Are you aware of any effects that would be created by consuming pure water and is there any written articles, reports, etc. that would further my investigation. Thank you for any assistance you may be able to give me. Michael M [last name deleted for privacy due to age of posting] - Cary, NC, USA   Deionized water is an usually pure form of water. Water actually is a very aggressive solvent. In our normal contact with water, it already has a lot of things dissolved in it, and is pretty tame. Deionized water is so aggressive that it will begin to attack metal, plastic, or even stainless steel. It will dissolve carbon dioxide in the air. If someone was to drink deionized water, it would have the opposite effect of a vitamin, drawing out the minerals and vitamins in your body. It is common knowledge that drinking deionized water is harmful, but I am not sure if there are any documented studies. Tim Neveau - Rochester Hills, MI   Deionized water is harmless. Drink all you want. The water will quickly dissolve some sugars and electrolytes from your mouth and especially from your digestive system, and will become just plain water. The only potential harm from deionized water might come from the resin used to demineralize the water--not only are these resin beds somewhat limited in their capacity, but they are also hospitable breeding grounds for bacteria. In general, however, the bacteria which grows in clean water is usually harmless. The problem with deionized water is the cost--it is just not worth the price from a drinking water perspective when so many other, less expensive, water purification systems exist. By the same token, mineral water, with a total dissolved solids of more than 1000 parts per million, is also no better or worse for you. From a nutritional standpoint, there are almost no nutrients or minerals in any potable water, certainly not enough to be nutritionally significant, including expensive designer waters. Distilled water and deionized water do not taste very good straight from the treatment source. To make these pure waters more palatable, chill them and shake them before serving to aerate a bit. Store bought distilled water is usually shipped in high density polyethylene bottles which are permeable to oxygen, so this distilled water is pre-aerated. Regular bottled water from a reputable company and filtered tap water are still the best source for pleasant tasting water. Don't believe the hype; from a health perspective, distilled, deionized, drinking, demineralized, spring, mineral, fluoridated, tap, etc., are all about the same from a nutritional and health perspective. Taste is an issue, but carbon filtering will take care of the bulk of that item, and biologic safety is addressed by sanitation. As far as other contaminant issues in the western world, the water supply system is completely safe in almost all cases, and for the worriers, filtration and commercial bottled water can fill in the rest. Dale Woika - Bellefonte, PA, USA

I am in this field of Manufacturing Demineralized (deionized) water for the last ten years. To my knowledge there isn't hard evidence about drinking deionized is good or bad. All I can say accidental consumption of small quantities has not caused any visible harm.

Anand Jayaraj
- Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

I have been drinking distilled water for my entire life (I just turned 24) and there have been not bad effects. Recently I have been drinking DI water from our elga purelab water system we use in our lab; at least one liter per day, and have not noticed any problems. Recently I was told that DI water is harmful because it is so pure that it can cause cells to lyse. But I feel fine; however I have stopped drinking it until I get some more evidence.

Yoyo Ma
wvu - WV

Here is what JT Baker's MSDS on HPLC grade water has to say:

Potential Health Effects ----------------------------------

Water is non-hazardous.

Inhalation: Not applicable. Ingestion: Not applicable. Skin Contact: Not applicable. Eye Contact: Not applicable.

Chronic Exposure: Not applicable. Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions: Not applicable.

Joe Pons
- Greenville, SC

When the Langlier Saturation Index reflects a positive value in a water, the water is said to be scale forming. This means that the water contains hard constituents such as Ca and Mg. To a certain extent, this is favorable in commercial water delivered from water treatment plants because of it's tendency to form a scale around the inside of municipal and domestic plumbing thus preventing interior corrosion of water piping. When the LSI has a negative value the water then becomes aggressive. The lower the value (down to -5) the more aggressive the water. Aggressive water causes corrosion to all metals. Water is considered the universal solvent. In it's purest form having a neutral pH, the water has the most solubility. I don't believe deionized water is safe to drink because of its "leaching" ability's. Deionized water will strip CO2 from the air. When you drink it, this water will strip vitamins and minerals from inside you. Drinking small amounts of deionized water from time to time may be all right however, long term effects from consistent consumption may have adverse results on health. Lee Thorson - Phoenix, AZ, USA

The WHO (World Health Organization) provides some scientific facts:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf

Goshe
- Canada

Ed. note: Thanks, Goshe--a very interesting paper that seems to dispel the complacency of the one side and the horror stories of the other side.

DI water in small amounts (<500 mL) usually has no effect on most people. It is, however, well known by the medical community that consuming large amounts of DI water (>2 liters) in a short time frame (8 hours) can disrupt the electrolyte balance sufficiently to show up in standard blood work. A common symptom is a headache which quickly dissipates as soon as the imbalance is corrected. Note, that certain (sensitive) individuals may experience headaches (and other symptoms) consuming as little as one 8 oz. glass of DI water.

Mike Pawlik
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

My "science sense" tells me there is something wrong with the idea of DI water being harmful to drink. I have also heard the same about distilled water, but do not believe it either. I imagine it's an urban myth. If the "leaching" ability (or solvency) of water is increased, so is its efficiency in doing what it is supposed to do in the body. A "wetter" water that penetrates cells and tissues (hydrates) better is a healthy thing, especially for a living organism that is ninety-some percent water. The higher corrosive capacity of a purer water on metal is not a bad thing for a biological organism; in fact, it is only indicative of a better catalyst for carrying out all the complex biological reactions necessary for life. A large cause of many health problems and aging is chronic dehydration. A large purpose of water in the body IS to leach; to leach nutrients into usable forms and to carry them from one system to another.

If more particulates in water is better than less, then the same would hold true for air. I'd rather not breathe dusty or polluted air. How about you?

Mark Robert
- Columbus, Indiana, USA

OK, if DI water does aggressively leach minerals out of your body when you drink it, then where do they go? They're still in your body! You kidneys decide what is waste and what isn't, so it doesn't seem right that just because you drank DI water, suddenly all your minerals will be gone. Where did they go? I probably wouldn't want to drink the water from my Chem lab, however. It may be deionized, but that doesn't mean it's clean!

Matthew Akin
- Kansas City, MO, USA

I do not have hard evidence about if DI water does aggressively leach minerals out of your body when you drink it, but even if They're still in your body! You will not be able to micturate DI water and theoretically in this case by time you are losing minerals but the rate, dose and other factors will decide severity of the harmful effect, at end (God only Knows)!

Mohamad A. Abdul Motagaly
- Cairo, Egypt

Hello,

I use Di water for cleaning windows every day. I can tell you that if you decide to drink water this aggressive, you will end up ill.

If you take aggressive water, and rub it into your hands. You will notice that it strips all the natural oils from your skin, and dries out the surface. I know as every day when I come home from work my hands are really dry.

If you drink this water, you might feel ok. But you are effectively drinking water that can break down membranes and oils that the body needs.

PLEASE DON'T DRINK DI water.

Marc Stock
Cleaning - England

What about using DI water for say....coffee? Would adding salt to the water change its so called leaching characteristics?

Michael Smith
- Princeton NJ, USA

If you add salt, it's not deionized water, Michael. Why would you want to make coffee with DI water. Please explain your situation rather than asking a hypothetical that could branch a dozen different ways. Thanks.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, NJ

 

I am a International Bottled Water Association Certified Plant Operator. We deal only in purified water. We use water softeners, carbon filters, reverse osmosis systems, mixed-bed deionizers and ozonators to produce very high quality water for human consumption. We have been doing so for the last thirteen years with not only the blessing of the International Bottled Water Association but also the National Sanitary Foundation, the Food and Drug Administration and the state health dept. All of whom inspect our plant at least yearly. The purified water we produce is also tested for purity by NTL every year.
We produce and sell and drink purified water for a very simple reason. Once purified water is exposed to air, like in a five gallon bottle, its aggressiveness is greatly reduced. However, if the water is produced correctly and the bottling is done according to accepted practices, the likelihood of recontamination of the water by bacteria or pollutants is extremely low. Therefore, purified bottled water is the safest water there is to drink.
If you wish to leach minerals from your body, drink carbonated colas. We used to use them to clean boiler tanks.

Red Barber
- Twin Falls, Idaho, United States

Red, I appreciate your down-home approach and practical knowledge, but read the WHO article cited above. Having a commercial practice to defend doesn't exempt you from doing your homework and maybe learning about some new research and perspectives. Citing the known corrosive nature of carbonated water is a non-scientific red herring that isn't relevant to this discussion.

Pete Retondo
- Oakland, CA USA

Hello Pete.

I read from Red's posting an implication that bottled water does not significantly leach minerals from the body, but cola drinks do. From which I inferred that he's saying that if we're genuinely concerned about minerals leaching from the body we should be engaged in addressing this known major contributor, not skirmishing around the peripheral and highly debatable leaching characteristics of bottled water. I don't see a red herring, or anything irrelevant, I see a call to wake-up, see what's right in front of our eyes, and get some perspective.

Let's not assume that he's never read the WHO article; maybe he is treating it as what it labels itself: a work in progress, not to be cited. It's my board / my rules, and they are: challenge any opinion you see on this board, but challenge the opinion, not the motivations or qualifications of the other posters.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ 

What does deionised water do? I heard that deionised water is known as ultrapure water, where ordinary tap water is filtered to remove the charged particles- resulting in deionised water. However, lab/factory workers are advised not to drink deionised water. What is the likely reason for this? Is it because of the fact that the water filtering costs are very expensive, or is it because drinking too much/too pure water is bad for our health as it breaks down the essential nutrients and the tissues in our body? What is the likely cause for this?

Dean
Student - Singapore, Singapore

Dean, I think people may be willing to help you with your homework after you demonstrate an attempt to do it yourself. But I can't see how you could possibly have even read this one page and yet still phrase your questions the way you did.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ 

Having read all this advice I have concluded that DI water is safe and so I am going to start using it to make my morning and afternoon cups of tea. If I die then I will hold you all responsible. Just kidding. Seriously, if I start experiencing side effects I'll post them here.

John Smith
- Riverside, CA, USA

Once upon a time I used to consult for a small semiconductor fab in Indiana. They had their DI water piped directly into the top of their coffee maker, and people used to come from all over the plant to enjoy the high quality of their coffee. They had been doing so for years with no ill effects.

Altho I have no data to beck up my convictions, it appears to me that people have built upon the fact that there is no bacteriostatic chlorine left in the DI water, and therefore there may be a very small quantity of bacteria present in the water, and it would be the type of bacteria that would be quite happy to set up housekeeping in the human digestive system, with very negative effects. But for all of the warnings not to drink DI because it will strip ions from your body, I have yet to find any hard evidence of any negative effects.

Timothy J Miller
- Lafayette, IN, USA

Thanks for an interesting thread. According to Scorecard , deionized water is listed as suspected gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, and neurotoxicant in NIOSH's Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS). Unfortunately, I do not have access to this registry, so do not know what the ultimate source(s) of those findings are. Further science-based information on these suspected health hazards would be useful and appreciated.

David Sonnenfeld, WSU
- Richland, Wash., USA

I'm interested in this because my boss instructed us to use the tap water in our office not the deionized water (that has it's own faucet) to make coffee because of his belief that di water isn't safe. But the tap water in our system is loaded with minerals causing us to scrape out mineral deposits from our coffee maker every week or two! But, if we agree that deionized water is possibly unsafe due to a complete lack of minerals and the effects on gastrointestinal system. (although, even after reading the WHO paper, I'm not sure I agree with that), doesn't it seem to make sense that making coffee, tea, juice, etc with di water is fine because you would be adding salts and sugars back in the process and the water is no longer "ultrapure"?

Jessica Hornick
- South Bend, IN, USA

It seems logical that using DI water as a mixer is not a problem. I think it would bring out the taste of the coffee. However, the question was about drinking straight DI water. I think too much of anything is not healthy.
I appreciate the information on this web page.
Thank you.

Linden Duncan
metrology - Woodstock, Illinois, U.S.A.

I am absolutely baffled and dumbfounded by some of the information that people have posted here! Unless I have passed to the other side and am totally unaware of it, DI water is about the best tasting thing on the planet. I am an avid athlete - yoga, pilates, half marathoner, weight lifter, etc - and have been drinking about a half gallon to a gallon of it for over six years now. Did I mention that I am a vegetarian as well?? Guess what? I get flagged for low cholesterol levels and my bloodwork always comes back exemplary. If I do not have DI water with me when I am out, the closet thing to it with regards to taste is Aquafina or Dasani. All of our employees drink and have done so for years, with no side effects.

Mehling Gilbert
- Sunshine Ranches, FL, USA

I want to post a question or inquiry of my own.

 

I want to answer or follow-up on this question publicly (in non-commercial fashion).

 

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