Boric Acid Remains in Watermaker Water

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Kati, you might look for a "Zerowater" pitcher. They're being sold all over the US chain stores these days, it is like a Britta pitcher but claims to produce water with zero mineral contant, sold with a tester to prove it. I know, you need some minerals, but if you start with zero you can add your own as you please. Or use the zerowater to dilute the watermaker water.

Thanks for another idea - and it has a much smaller footprint than another filtration system. I couldn't find results of their certification on their website, so I've contacted them. Hopefully they'll respond soon.

[Astrid]

Here is a consumer rating link you may find useful when choosing a post watermaker filtering system.

Water Filters: Expert and User Reviews

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Just for further thought. I still recommend that all water coming from your fresh water tanks is fltered/purified before injestion for all on board, but especially if a baby is in the equation. The vast majority of fresh water tanks on boats are their own growing eco systems regardless of how good the water is that you put into the tank.

as do many public water systems. For the baby, could you do the litmus test? if too low a ph adjust it? Interestingly I've never heard of this issue. Trying to glean if it's a real issue or not from the above discussion..... BTW, the city water in Kent , WA when I worked there was lower ph than the EPA allwed me to dump in the wastewater at times! Something like 5.3... cant remember....

[MarinerJo]

I use Hydro Life under counter filters in my land yacht. It is installed inline on the water line just before the tap. I think the whole kit was around $70 USD and the replacement filters are around $40USD. I don't know if this would work for your situation but maybe it's worth looking into.

[Tellie]

Just curious Katiusha, is this your first baby?

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Just curious Katiusha, is this your first baby?

Yes, and it shows, doesn't it?

In general, I try to be as health conscious as I can. I read up about effects of different types of plastic on our bodies, various food additives, air quality, etc. There is a reason: at university, because of stress, I wasn't watching what I eat and how I take care of my body. So at some point my adrenal system (that's all the hormones) went into shock and I ended up in a hospital. Some other bodily systems refused to work as well due to lack of hormones. Somehow I ended up with environmental poisoning... After getting out of the hospital, I refused the regular treatment (hormone replacement therapy) and went through a chain of naturopaths and Chinese doctors. It took me 5 years, but now I feel better than before. I really watch what I eat in terms of food and water quality and it's paying off.

Boric acid concern got flagged in my mind when I read about it on M4U. So, of course, I started reading more about it. And only at the end linked it to our baby


Regarding all filters mentioned above: I read up about them last night and it looks like Seagull do provide the best filtration (0.4 micron). But boric acid is, as far as I could understand, smaller than this diameter.

So the only effective filters would be ion exchange resins specifically targeted to remove boric acid from the water. Zerowater contain some sort of resins, but their website is annoyingly unclear on what resins and what it filters out.

[Don L]

an ion exchanger will remove any dissolved compound/element in water, it isn't a filter

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

an ion exchanger will remove any dissolved compound/element in water, it isn't a filter

Thanks. The extent of my chemistry is that I liked it in high schools

The only reason I said that above is that this website shows ion exchange resins that both universal and ones that are specialized to a certain type: Lanxess Lewatit ions exchange resins

Also, this website states boric acid removal with Amberlite resin: http://www.dow.com/products/water/dr...n_addinfo.page.

Am I getting this wrong?

[GordMay]

Typical Boron removal rates are between 60 and 80% for standard High Rejection Seawater Reverse Osmosis membranes, depending on the water temperature. This leaves a permeate with about 1 to 2 mg/L of boron.

See: Seawater desalination: Boron removal by ion exchange technology
➥ http://www.desline.com/articoli/8121.pdf

Most of the time, high salinity seawater have high Boron content and are located in very hot climate area like the Persian Golf, the Red, the Eastern Mediterranean sea or the Caribbean Sea.
At 30oC, Boron removal drops at about 78%, leaving 1.15 mg/L in the Pass-1 permeate stream. Therefore, a specific Boron Removal Process is required to achieve the 0.5 mg/L required by the WHO.

Depending on the water salinity, boron concentration and temperature, two main processes are used to produce drinking water below 0.5 mg/L of Boron:

Process A 2-pass SWRO:
2nd-Pass RO with caustic soda addition to raise pH around 9.5. Some of the pass-1 permeate can be by-passed in order to keep some minerals in the water. The 2nd pass RO can be made of Seawater Low Energy membranes if temperature and salinity are high or Brackish Water High rejection membrane in case of milder conditions.

Process B SWRO+ IX:
Selective Boron Ion Exchange Resin with or without by-pass, depending on the residual boron concentration needed. The selective resin must be on-site regenerated with caustic soda and hydrochloric acid. A double column system is often required to ensure a continuous production.

See ➥ Desalination Post-treatment: Boron removal Process

[Tashtego]

Gord, your math is a little bit off. 1,000,000 grams is 1,000 kilograms or about 1,000 liters of fresh water or just under 250 gallons! Not likely anyone will dring 250 gallons/day!

[Tashtego]

Gord, your math is a little bit off. 1,000,000 grams is 1,000 kilograms or about 1,000 liters of fresh water or just under 250 gallons! Not likely anyone will drink 250 gallons/day! Typical consumption is usually not much more than 1 gallon.

[Cheechako]

Trying to remember the last time I actually saw a baby drink water.... seems like it's always juice, milk etc.... will yours drink much water?

[hellosailor]

kati, filters generally are devices that physically block the passage of particles. Whether those particles are sand, algae, viruses or bacteria is only a question of size, they are all "particles" from the filter's point of view.

On the other hand, filters do not blocks chemicals at all, regardless of their quality or micron rating. Chemicals are dissolved at the atomic level and no filter will block them. Resins and other "treatments" can bind the chemicals and prevent their passage--but that's done on a chemical or electrochemical (ionic, etc.) basis, not a physical one.

The fly in the pointment is that if you have totally pure water, you also have zero mineral content in it, and the normal minerals in water include many that are vital and may not be found in your other founds. So even if you switched to double-distilled water, you'd need to replace the minerals you were no longer drinking. A multivitamin might be sufficient, you'd have to explore that versus your diet.

[familycruisers]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Trying to remember the last time I actually saw a baby drink water.... seems like it's always juice, milk etc.... will yours drink much water?

Infants don't drink cows milk or juice, either mothers milk or formula. The latter needs to be mixed with water. Then comes cereals mixed with mothers milk or water, then first stage foods, which we still mix with cereal to make it go farther.

[Sailor g]

"Katiusha

Sent a PM with a question. Sailor g