Thinking of reverse osmosis water purification?

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:43 pm

For those of you who either have or are thinking of putting in an RO system for either your cpap or drinking water, here is a link to a company I have been getting stuff from for a few years. He has great knowledge and uses quality parts plus his prices are very good. The unit in the picture is a great one because it contains a mechanical pump that increases the pressure, which increases the amount of water you get a day while lowering the amount of waste water that goes down the drain.

http://airwaterice.com/product/1ED

hth

Denny

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chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:29 pm

Y NOT. Seems like it will work fine. Don't forget the UV purifier.

Chris

Nitro Dan · Post by **Nitro Dan** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:49 pm

Very nice unit! Back when I purchased mine, I paid 1,200.00. But...It's more of a commercial unit and has a 1 to 1 rejection ratio. Don't really need to worry about the extra UV as the TFC membrane filters out any bacteria, unless you are worried about something downstream...Good find!!

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 5:46 pm

It doesn't seem like it would demineralize the water though. You don't want minerals in the water or your chamber would get cruddy.

Nitro Dan · Post by **Nitro Dan** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:11 am

The reverse osmosis process itself removes Total Dissolved Solids, this includes minerals, down to typically 4~6 Parts Per Million.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:49 am

Here is a copy of a post on the talkaboutsleep forum. RO is not a substitue for distilled water! Submitted by hitchcock.
Posted: July 24 2005

Steam Water Distillation is recognized by the U.S. EPA as Water PURIFICATION - whereas Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Filtration only provide Water TREATMENT. The effectiveness of Steam Water Distillation remains constant at the 99.9% purification level -- and its performance does not decline, as with Reverse Osmosis & Filtration. ALL Steam Distillation Systems are Self-Sterilizing without any additional cost for such capability.

Filters & Reverse Osmosis (RO) ARE NOT considered by the EPA as methods of Water PURIFICATION - but only as Water TREATMENT. Filters & Reverse Osmosis Membranes - TRAP but DO NOT KILL Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoa and Other Microorganisms. Filters & Reverse Osmosis Membranes must be periodically replaced - at considerable expense and inconvenience.

Your distilled water will be pure (sterile). We usually buy it in gallon jugs. One would have to be sloppy indeed to contaminate the jug of water by daily pouring out a little and then keeping the lid on it - within the relatively short period of time we're using just one gallon of water.

Pay about $0.49 for a gallon at Wal-Mart; enjoy a bargain, and sleep well. Algae ain't caused by the distilled water and I'll bet a jug of water it ain't caused by the humidifier tank. It's the environment the tank is in or the way we treat the tank. We wash our hands to keep from catching a virus or worse; do you wash your hands when you clean your tank? Just kidding, but you get the point.

To read the entire thread click on this:

RO vs. Distilled Water

Nitro Dan · Post by **Nitro Dan** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:29 am

Well, it's worked for me for 18 years. I use it for everything, IE cooking, drinking, ice, and CPAP. How clean do you think that distilled water is after having "dirty air" blown over it all night. Another point is the plastic bottles they store / sell it in. Distilled water absorbs the contaminents right out of the plastic of the container. Ever taste that stuff? I NEVER get anything growing in my humidifier, and I wash it out once a month. I don't care WHAT the U.S. EPA has to say about it!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:34 am

Ok, so if you're Howard Hughes you buy individual-use sized sterile bottle of distilled water and open a new one for each fill of the humidifier. But the minute it hits the chamber it is contaminated anyway.

RO is not as good as distilled water because RO membranes only, "TRAP but DO NOT KILL Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoa and Other Microorganisms."

Distilled water sits in "....a huge open vat/tank where it is constantly topped up. My partner has been doing this for 20 years and the open tank has not been cleaned for the last 20 or so years, not ever."

Wow! It's enough to drive a man to drink his own urine....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:39 am

The above mentioned "Open vat" quote is from a TAS post by guest:

Very informative hitchcock. I agree with everything that you say. However I think you are making a serious error by stating the water is sterile. It is only sterile if it is bottled at source into a sterile bottle, which it is not the case when bought from wall mart. It would say sterile on the bottle.

My partner is directly involved in mass producing distilled water. The point at which it leaves the distiller you are absolutely right it is sterile.

From there it usually goes into a huge open vat/tank where it is constantly topped up. My partner has been doing this for 20 years and the open tank has not been cleaned for the last 20 or so years, not ever. It is open to the to the air and to say the water is sterile I beg to differ with you, and is inaccurate and somewhat misleading.

I agree with you that it does not need to be sterile for the kind of use we would put it to and that bottled water from wall mart will do just fine..

metron9 · Post by **metron9** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:55 am

When I had my cpap remstar I just cleaned the little tank every night when I filled it so even well water with 2000 ppm of solids has no ill effect unless you evaporate all of the water. The evaporation of the water leaves behind the calcium and other solids in the remaining water. Just dump that and clean the tank. Only takes a minute.