Drinking distilled water is not a good idea, which is basically what reverse osmosis gives you stripping out essential minerals. It's also an incredibly wasteful 4:1 process.
Look into three stage filtering, that's all you need.
Look into three stage filtering, that's all you need.
The mineral issue is pretty much bunk, if the lack of trace minerals in your water is a concern you need to see a doctor. Food is your body's preferred source of minerals, you have to drink a lot to have much effect on your daily mineral intake.
The waste water is real, 4 to 1 is about average, it can be improved but it's pretty unavoidable in the process. They are water using appliances, we use 20-40 gallons of water to wash a load of clothes and most people don't think twice about it.
Also lots of cities/towns have RO water providers that will sell anywhere from single gallons to thousands.
source: used to be a marine aquarium hobbyist and bought thousands of gallons of RO water to make seawater.
For varying definitions of extremely
I have handled and, against my better judgement, quaffed many types of deionised water: triple glass distilled, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, etc. They taste more or less the same to store-bought distilled water and I have not yet had any of the ailments in your complaint. There is also a certain coworker who developed a pechant for the MilliQ water machine and regularly filled her drink bottle with ultrapure (>18.2 megaohms) water there. Suffice to say she is still doing it.
>But really, get over it, 99% of the US has safe tap water
This is not necesarily true given the state of water infrastructure in the US. The water leaving a treatment plant is not the same as water coming out of a tap.
http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%290733-9372%28199...
There are carbon cartridges with ion-exchanges resins blended into the block that seem to be effective for lead removal at low flow rates. They tend to have lower flow-rates and capacity than is ideal.
Berkey filters http://bit.ly/1WdBneq (Edit to add arsenic and Berkey link)
According to this WHO report[1], it seems like a real concern:
"Low-mineral water markedly: 1.) increased diuresis (almost by 20%, on average), body water volume, and serum sodium concentrations, 2.) decreased serum potassium concentration, and 3.) increased the elimination of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium ions from the body. It was thought that low-mineral water acts on osmoreceptors of the gastrointestinal tract, causing an increased flow of sodium ions into the intestinal lumen and slight reduction in osmotic pressure in the portal venous system with subsequent enhanced release of sodium into the blood as an adaptation response. This osmotic change in the blood plasma results in the redistribution of body water; that is, there is an increase in the total extracellular fluid volume and the transfer of water from erythrocytes and interstitial fluid into the plasma and between intracellular and interstitial fluids."
It might not be enough to outweigh the benefits of highly filtered water, but just because you have enough minerals from food doesn't mean that minerals in water aren't having an effect.
[1]: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutrientschap...
>It was thought that low-mineral water acts on osmoreceptors of the gastrointestinal tract
This is not how osmolarity sensing works.
From the WHO report[1] on water quality:
"Sufficient evidence is now available to confirm the health consequences from drinking water deficient in calcium or magnesium. Many studies show that higher water magnesium is related to decreased risks for CVD and especially for sudden death from CVD. This relationship has been independently described in epidemiological studies with different study designs, performed in different areas, different populations, and at different times. The consistent epidemiological observations are supported by the data from autopsy, clinical, and animal studies. Biological plausibility for a protective effect of magnesium is substantial, but the specificity is less evident due to the multifactorial aetiology of CVD."
[1]: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutrientschap...
http://www.vanislewater.com/what-total-alkalinity-swimming-p...