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escapeyachting · 24-10-2011, 22:16

Is it the case that drinking water only from watermakers is bad for your health because of the way in which the watermaker de-mineralises the water? This can lead to the water leaching all the minerals from the cells in your body, which is harmful and potentially fatal?

In which case, what do people suggest? We are putting a very good watermaker with all the filters on our new build motor yacht which we will be living on for up to 6 months at a time. Should we only use this for washing, cooking, laundry etc.? Should we only drink bottled water or 'normal' water from marinas?

Or is this not a serious worry? There have been many posts on this and several threads but no conclusive comments! It was mentioned to us by a super yacht captain who thought that continuous drinking of only watermaker water was not good for you. What do you think?

muskoka · 24-10-2011, 23:06

I'm no doctor but I think the basic consensus is that 'hard' drinking water may provide certain minerals. Distilled water doesn't leach out minerals from your body and most of what you need comes from what you eat. You can also take multivitamins.

Best course of action is to speak with your family doctor!

**hummingway** · 24-10-2011, 23:14

Is the water from a WM as low in mineral content as distilled water? I didn't think it was.

Astrid · 24-10-2011, 23:19

Water produced by a watermaker has no ill effects what-so-ever. Neither does distilled water. Neither one causes any minerals to leach out of ones cells. As Muskoka says, most minerals one absorbs comes from the food one eats, not the water one drinks.

Lancerbye · 24-10-2011, 23:37

I trust the drinking water coming out of my water maker more than some of the water I get from certain fuel docks and marinas. As others have stated minerals are not leached from the body with watermaker water and most of our minerals come from fruits and vegetables we eat. There are a variety of vitamin suppliments than will provide us will all the minerals we need.

escapeyachting · 25-10-2011, 01:21

Thanks for these posts. I think we will need to get a proper medical opinion rather than generalised impressions. According to
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_...ineralized.pdf - the World Health Organisation concludes on pages 16-17: "demineralised water that has not been re-mineralised, or low-mineral content water - in the light of the absence or the substantial lack of essential minerals in it - is not considered ideal drinking water, and therefore, its regular consumption may not be providing adequate levels of some beneficial nutrients."

oldcal46skipper · 25-10-2011, 01:27

Back in the Sea of Cortez in 1988/9 a friend was having some health issues and sought medical care back in the States. The Doc said she needed to drink at least one beer each day to supplement the lacking minerals in RO water. After she started drinking beer, no problems.

Works for me.

Albro359 · 25-10-2011, 02:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by escapeyachting

Thanks for these posts. I think we will need to get a proper medical opinion rather than generalised impressions. According to
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_...ineralized.pdf - the World Health Organisation concludes on pages 16-17: "demineralised water that has not been re-mineralised, or low-mineral content water - in the light of the absence or the substantial lack of essential minerals in it - is not considered ideal drinking water, and therefore, its regular consumption may not be providing adequate levels of some beneficial nutrients."

Note the word MAY....if you have an inadequate diet this could well be the case...and WHO is mostly talikng about countries where sanitation is not ideal, basic nutrition, also not ideal...and the water...well you wouldn't drink it !
I have no problemns drinking the water from the RO on my boat, I drink beer too, and eat a healthy dose of vegatables, fruit and meat...and I'm doing fine...

You guys worry too much !!

swagman · 25-10-2011, 03:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albro359

Note the word MAY....if you have an inadequate diet this could well be the case...and WHO is mostly talikng about countries where sanitation is not ideal, basic nutrition, also not ideal...and the water...well you wouldn't drink it !
I have no problemns drinking the water from the RO on my boat, I drink beer too, and eat a healthy dose of vegatables, fruit and meat...and I'm doing fine...

You guys worry too much !!

100% agree and its good to read such negative rumours on cruising and watermakers getting rebutted.
We and lots of cruiser pals ONLY drank our own watermaker produced water - once for a period close to a year - and zero ill effects. Whilst many sailing alongside using land water and you'll not be suprised in the eastern Med that many of them got bad tummies.
IMHO if your regular food products do not contain enough minerals to meet your bodily needs, then maybe change your diet before dimissing a watermaker.
Cheers
JOHN

escapeyachting · 25-10-2011, 03:30

We were not dismissing watermakers! As we have no experience with them, we just wanted some advice, that's all! We are glad to hear that no one has had any problems with drinking water from watermakers and look forward to many years of doing so...

SailFastTri · 25-10-2011, 04:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldcal46skipper

Back in the Sea of Cortez in 1988/9 a friend was having some health issues and sought medical care back in the States. The Doc said she needed to drink at least one beer each day to supplement the lacking minerals in RO water. After she started drinking beer, no problems.

Works for me.

I think that should be the final word on this subject and we can close this thread. Works for me too!

sdowney717 · 25-10-2011, 04:28

I look at it this way, drinking distilled water is totally unnatural, something your body was never intended to make use of in the natural world. But most likely harmless.

**Tellie** · 25-10-2011, 04:38

You'll be fine. You're far more likely to run into health issues in the food you eat that's been washed in questionable water sources as you travel. As others have said you'll get all the needed minerals from the foods you eat and the other liquids you'll consume. Measuring the mineral loss in RO water and claiming that it has an negative effect on your body is the same as saying since salt causes high blood pressure and can lead to heart attacks you should avoid ocean activities. Having a cheeseburger and two beers at Nippers will cause your body more damage than all the RO water you'll ever drink.

Cormorant · 25-10-2011, 04:43

On another watermaker thread someone mentioned they dumped a cup of salt water into their water tank to regain some of the minerals.

I like the beer method better though. Especially Guinness, which surely has more minerals. . . .