I've dedicated a lot o time and energy trying to find the best source of drinking water for our family. We've used reverse osmosis as our primary filtration for years, but I believe it may have not been so healthy, as there are a couple of important "side effects":
- as the water is "too pure", almost distilled water, it tends to leach important minerals from your body
- water can be a bit acidic.
as everything in life, the usage of RO is relative. If you receive contaminated water from your utility company, its probably a good idea to filter it as much as possible, but long term its probably not the best. I'm trying to find a win-win situation, to get clean water, but remove the unhealthy aspects of this filtration method.
As RO removes almost all the minerals from the water, the goals it to add the relevant minerals back. The main minerals seeking to replenish are:
- magnesium
- calcium
- potassium
- sodium
- chloride
- phosphate
I'm looking for a practical and healthy way to guarantee we're drinking the best quality water. This would mean:
- free of bacteria
- free of toxic chemicals
- with the correct amount of trace minerals (as shown above)
- with the correct PH
- that nourishes and hydrates the body
The current options:
- re-mineralization filter.
- most of the RO companies (for ex. iSpring) sell a "last stage" filter, which you add at the end of the filtration process (even after the osmosis tank), that when you open the valve, the water passes through this filter which on its insides has has magnesium, calcium and other, minerals. It is a clever idea, but I have multiple questions, primarily about quality and concentrations. I've tried it but honestly we feel weird after drinking that water. Not sure what these filters are adding and in what quantity. If we could find a re-mineralization filter with thousands of positive reviews, professional analyses and studies that shows it delivers the specific best quality minerals at the correct proportion I would be happy to review again.
- re-mineralization drops:
- same, as above, not sure what you're putting in the water and where the minerals are coming from, and you're a slave to that company's product, which is expensive and does not last very long.
- Himalayan salts:
- a lot of hype, but I believe they are 99% NaCl. not sure how many trace minerals they add, although I would not be against adding a bit, as sodium is an important electrolyte, but as a part of a bigger re-mineralization scheme.
- physically adding trace minerals (my current favorite):
- buying the required trace minerals and adding to the water.
- find the best source of individual magnesium, calcium and other trace minerals, best if powdered.
- i would not recommend buying a blend (as the re-mineralization drops option above) but I would go with individual minerals; mix them in the correct proportion and add to a 5 gallon glass bottle
- the tricky part would be to buy quality minerals and to mix them appropriately
- another thing to consider is to investigate (which i have not done yet), which form of the mineral is best for this application, for example, magnesium can not be bought pure (i believe they're even explosive or flammable), so you need to buy a mixture like magnesium citrate, magnesium oxide, magnesium threonate etc etc. there are dozens. You need to see which is the best in quality and to be dissolved on water. Same applies to calcium.
- for example, a very will respected spring water brand "Minalba" has the following "estimated" mineral composition:
- if you could get something similar to this mineral composition, being magnesium and calcium the most important (which is fairly easy to find) and complement with a bit of himalayan salts or some other trace mineral compound, i could see a viable long term option as a safe and practical drinking water solution.
- for example if you want to do a 20 liter batch, you would add 480 mg of calcium (24 mg/L x 20 L) and 140 mg of magnesium ( 7 mg/L x 20) give or take.
references:
- https://waterpurificationguide.com/7-ways-you-can-add-minerals-to-your-water/
- https://www.smallwonderfood.com/2021/07/05/does-water-need-an-upgrade/