I’m distilling my own water now. Seems about the same price as filtering once you factor in the costs of the filters. And you know you’re getting everything out.
(I add in my own minerals in case that’s important.)
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazar...
Some carbon filters make the claim on the label, some don't. The only difference is some companies pay to test for it, and then they can make the claim on the labeling, there is no actual difference in the filters.
I'm not an expert and can't explain it much beyond that. This summarizes the math better than I probably could: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis#Disadvantages
Under-cabinet RO systems are less efficient because they rely on the relatively low-pressure water that's running to the tap and are made to work without electricity.
RO is effective, as the chemicals in question have fairly high molecular weight.
But then RO is usually used with a bladder tank which will leach plasticizers so ::shrugs:: (they taste awful at least, so the norm is to follow up the tank with RO).
If you're talking about 'safe' drinking water and want to reduce it from 2ppb to 1ppb or something-- just a 50% reduction-- then perhaps a small carbon filter is adequate.
For just drinking water RO is pretty reasonable, it's just not particularly reasonable to use RO for dishes, shower, etc. Thus the huge carbon canisters for people with acute contamination.
I stopped only drinking filtered/bottled water exclusively for this reason.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00139...
There are of course many magnesium rich foods but the lack of magnesium in water could make a difference at the margins.
Why isn't Israel doing it at a large scale? It should be pretty straightforward.
Distilled water lacks even electrolytes like potassium and other minerals your body needs. So you may miss out on a bit of these micronutrients if you drink only the distilled stuff.
Some studies have found a link between drinking water low in calcium and magnesium and tiredness, muscle cramps, weakness, and heart disease. Also, distilled water may not help you stay hydrated as well as other kinds of water.
Per protocol, we gave our lab rats deionized water that was likely close to zero ppm. All the minerals they need are in the chow.
I have drunk delicious RO water at home for decades and have experienced no ill effects, all my blood work for minerals is perfectly normal, teeth healthy etc.
>Using an average calcium concentration in public water supplies of 26 mg/liter and a maximum of 145 mg/liter (Durfor and Becker, 1964) and assuming that the average adult drinks 2 liters of this water daily, then the drinking water could contribute an average of 52 mg/day and a maximum of 290 mg/day. On an average basis this would represent 5% to 10% of the usual daily intake or approximately 6.5% of the adult RDA.
>Therefore, typical drinking water in the United States, Canada, or Europe provides approximately 3% to 7% of the RDA for magnesium intake by a healthy human.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216589/
I suppose if someone was right on the borderline for mineral deficiency the ~5% of the RDA from water could make a difference but that isn’t really a problem Americans have, if anything they get too much from food. There is some data showing excess calcium is actually bad for heart disease since it is found in atherosclerotic plaques, a problem Americans do have.