RO Filter System on Sale on Amazon

Looks like a reasonable price for a good RO system...I have 2 US systems in my house already...and still buy RO at the store for my beer. If you have shitty high ph well water with arsenic like I do, between drinking water, coffee, tea, etc. you will use way more than 1 system with a 5 gal tank can provide...IMHO

 

Not a great price, IMO. You can probably do about $100 cheaper on ebay with quality filters, if you know what you're looking for. Plus, you can get a bigger tank, which is all but essential if you're brewing with it. The 3.2 gal tank that seems to be standard on pre-packaged systems is woefully inadequate (those are not 5 gallons, GreenKrusty101). I bought a 14 gal tank on ebay a few years ago for just under $100. I can draw 5 gallons from that with no problem. And it doesn't impact other uses.

FYI, I mounted mine in the basement instead of under the sink as most people do. It feeds a faucet on the kitchen sink, one on the bar, and the ice maker.

 

zzzzzzzz...key word: inadequate (whatever the actual size) Cheers

 

I use a $140 system from www.bulkreefsupply.com and store the water in food grade containers (poland spring 5g bottles and/or a 14 gallond hdpe container I bought). My RO unit makes 5g of water in just under 1.5 hours so I just make the water the night before brew day.

 

NOTE: My $140 system is an RO unit that doesn't have a DI filter. There are also arguments against using an RO/DI system...

Can't say if they are accurate or not, but here are some (random) internet forum bullet points about RO vs. RO/DI

NOTE: In a brewing application where we are adding minerals back and only drinking a small amount of beer at a time, most seem like non-issues but I figured I'd share them anyway.

RO strips most of the minerals out of drinking water

RO/DI strips (nearly?) all of the minerals out of drinking water

Since RO/DI strips (nearly?) all of the minerals out of drinking water, it can actually be unhealthy to drink RO/DI water unless you add some minerals back.

Since RO/DI water has been stripped of (nearly) all minerals, it has a tendency to try and absorb minerals from any source it can get its hands on. For example, running RO/DI through copper plumbing is not recommended as it can (supposedly) leach copper. Another claim is that it can (supposedly) strip flouride from your teeth.

Long term drinking of RO/DI water will dissolve seemingly insoluble materials. There is really no such thing as a completely insoluble material. Furthermore, teeth (and all other bones) are not really stable crystaline solids, but living tissue that constantly absorbs and leeches ions. If all you drink is deionized water your teeth and possibly other bones (depending on how much calcium is in your food) will become thinner and more brittle. On top of that, you would be depriving yourself of the fluoride that is added to drinking water and has been proven to help prevent tooth decay. Would you notice the difference after a month? probably not. After several years? I'd bet you would have a few more cavities to fill. On the other hand, you could make the same arguement for someone who drinks nothing but sodas.

DI (de-ionized water) is made by passing it through ion exchange columns, one of which contains sodium hydroxide. This can enrich the water with sodium ions. So drinking DI water is can lend to high blood pressure / ruin your chance at a low sodium diet.

Would RO/DI be more likely to cause osmolysis and hyponatremea than tap water? Yes, but you're still going to need to drink a gallon all at once to be dangerous.

THIS ONE I KNOW IS TRUE: Ideal brewing water (for taste / fermentation health / beer clarity) requires certain mineral content, so if you want to use RO or RO/DI water for brewing you will have to add minerals to it.

If you want to be 100% accurate about your beer water profile mineral content, you should have your RO water tested since it still contains some small amounts of minerals after the filtering process. If you use RO/DI water, you can assume your starting mineral contents are all zero and build your water from up from zero.

 

If the alternative is buying RO water from the supermarket, then all of this is irrelevant. And, FWIW, when brewing with malt extracts, RO water is preferred, since the minerals from the original mash are already present and, indeed, concentrated. I also naively assume that those who are interested in an RO system for brewing understand what they're getting into.

 

This is scientific gobbledegook clearly written by someone who hasn't got a clue. For example, how can water be deionised if it has been enriched with sodium ions ?

 

Not sure if you are being serious here. If the water has other salts present. Salts meaning minerals other than the stuff you put on your fish and chips. DI just means that the mineral content has been stripped from the water. It has little to do with presence of sodium.

 

I quote from the passage ;"DI (de-ionized water) is made by passing it through ion exchange columns, one of which contains sodium hydroxide. This can enrich the water with sodium ions. So drinking DI water is can lend to high blood pressure / ruin your chance at a low sodium diet."
This is done in domestic water softening systems using ion exchange resins.It isn't the same as removing ions which is what de ionising means.
The whole passage makes little sense overall. To state that you suffer from lack of minerals when drinking RO water does seem to ignore other sources of salts in your diet.
I am a graduate chemist by the way though this is 13 year old level science.

 

ah, yes. I agree. I think we both agree. the passage makes almost no sense. DI water ain't enriched with ions, sodium or otherwise. the point is obvious.
Cheers.