What do you use RO water for, besides brewing?

[Tom R]

I'm almost done installing my brewery's RO system (big thanks to Buckeye Hydro!), just need to tidy up a bit.

So I'm wondering what you guys who have plenty of RO water on hand use it for besides brewing and sanitizing?
I understand it's not tasty in coffee, or for drinking straight. Probably no tgood for ice cubes, either?
My wife's steam iron comes to mind, and car batteries.
What else?

 

[DBhomebrew]

I understand it's not tasty in coffee, or for drinking straight.

You can add minerals and dial it in just the way you like it. No worries about pH, this is water salts for flavor's sake.

 

[day_trippr]

RO is handy for rinsing off pH meters.
Other than brewing we don't use RO for much...

Cheers!

 

[MaxStout]

Mixing Starsan.
I find it good for drinking, but that's a matter of taste. But don't drink RODI water, as that tastes horrible.
I use it in my Keurig, coffee tastes fine, and I haven't had to de-scale it in the 5 or so years I've had it.

 

[Tom R]

You can add minerals and dial it in just the way you like it. No worries about pH, this is water salts for flavor's sake.

Hmm, I should find a Pelligrino clone recipe for my wife...

 

[DBhomebrew]

Hmm, I should find a Pelligrino clone recipe for my wife...

A quick Google search found this on a familiar site...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/help-me-design-better-mineral-water.644788/

 

[day_trippr]

Forgot about the Star San mix thing. Yeah, RO is great for that too

Cheers!

 

[mac_1103]

Buy yourself an aquarium and some exotic fish.

 

[Tom R]

Buy yourself an aquarium and some exotic fish.

If I was going to have fish, I'd just pump some water out of the cove and farm salmon and halibut in my living room.

But I REALLY don't need yet another hobby!

 

[Moose_MI]

It’s not good for drinking?
I love it for the Keurig…i never have to clean it now and i’ve not had to replace it since i started using the RO in it. The money saved replacing keurig’s has paid for the RO system

Ice cubes for large molds for bourbon … yes, I like my bourbon chilled

Crystal light, which if Im not drinking beer or coffee, is about all I ever drink

Sanitizer.

Water for making yeast starters

 

[DBhomebrew]

It’s not good for drinking?

It's not that it's  bad, some think it's just rather flat and lifeless in flavor.

 

[day_trippr]

Water for making yeast starters

Like distilled, RO may not be ideal for that. The complete lack of minerals apparently can cause yeast cells to explode due to osmotic pressure imbalance...

Cheers!

 

[bellhp]

I've got an RODI setup that I used for my reef tank ... had an issue with a leaky bulkhead on the reef tank and I drained it and put it in storage .
I haven't used the RODI since ... my well water seems to make tasty beer and the only battery I own that I could put water in is a 6 volt unit in my 39 Buick ... most are sealed nowadays . So to answer the question ... not much .

 

[bvapor9]

Primary reason I installed it is for brewing base (Ward Lab tested mine - Ca:1 Mg:0 Na:3 Cl:2 SO4:0 HCO3:0), but other than that:
1. Use it for my Breville espresso machine - running 8 years strong with no problems...
2. StarSan mix.
3. Rinsing pH, TDS, thermometer during brew day.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

Cooking, drinking, coffee, tea...

 

[scrap iron]

Works great in the coffee maker and don't have to descale it very often or at all. Great for tea and ice. Making star-san and add a little gypsum to it for starters.
If it's too bland for some just add a pinch of calcium chloride or gypsum or both.

 

[hottpeper13]

I also use it for the tea I make for Kombucha.

 

[NeoBrew]

I have a 14 gallon pressure tank on my RO so I can get a whole brew day's worth of water out of it, but also have it hooked up to my ice maker and a faucet at the kitchen sink. We use it for virtually everything that will go into our bodies.

I don't know why people would shy away from it. It is a wonderful and neutral form of water. It is nearly pure H2O.

If you want to drink mineral water, by all means do so, but don't write off RO water as a great source of water for lots of things.

 

[DavidWood2115]

Like distilled, RO may not be ideal for that. The complete lack of minerals apparently can cause yeast cells to explode due to osmotic pressure imbalance...

Cheers!

RO is perfect for yeast starters made with DME. DME is just wort that has had (pure) water evaporated away. No need to add any additional salts; they are already in the DME.

Also, I second using RO for drinking, making coffee, and making ice cubes.

 

[Velnerj]

I don't have an RO system... But I was under the impression that drinking RO water (and distilled) can be bad for your health.

As the water completely lack any minerals it will absorb the minerals in your body until some equalibruim is achieved and then are flushed out of your body.

I suppose from time to time it's OK but steady diet could lead to some mineral deficiencies which can be dangerous. Am I right on this or is it a myth I've been told?

 

[matt_m]

All our drinking water, coffee making water, and ice makers in the fridge. Also have a DI stage for filling a jug of water to use in my CPAP machine.

 

[NeoBrew]

I don't have an RO system... But I was under the impression that drinking RO water (and distilled) can be bad for your health.

As the water completely lack any minerals it will absorb the minerals in your body until some equalibruim is achieved and then are flushed out of your body.

I suppose from time to time it's OK but steady diet could lead to some mineral deficiencies which can be dangerous. Am I right on this or is it a myth I've been told?

I don’t know the science/biology of this, but I have been drinking it as my primary source of water for over 25 years now. I’m still alive, my bones are intact and I have all my teeth.

 

[RyPA]

I use it for everything since buying the setup for brewing purposes - brewing beer, brewing coffee, drinking water, cooking pasta. Basically any water that gets ingested in my house is RO. Even my dog gets it for drinking water but lately I'm wondering if I should mix with tap water.

 

[Ki-ri-n]

Beer, starters, coffee, ice, water for the dogs (keeps the scaling down on the bowl) and my daughters turtle. It's all good.

 

[Rich1234]

There can be more than just good things in your water. You don't get to pick and choose what you remove. RO systems remove everything. The bad things as well as the good. You can get all the minerals you need from supplements and/or eating a quality diet.

I use RO water for everything that I consume. Beer, drinking water, coffee/tea, ice and probably a few I forgot.

 

[ITV]

I connected both my refrigerators to RO for drinking water and ice.

I also use RO water for my Miele coffee machine.

 

[VTX1300]

I use RO for almost everything. Brewing, starters with DME, fish and turtle aquariums, with minerals added back for their health and I use it in my CPAP.
For drinking water and coffee I don't care for straight RO so I add Himalayan Pink salt and Baking Soda to the water to add back some of the essential minerals and flavor and get the pH back closer to neutral. The dogs and pet rats also get this in their water bowl.

 

[Jag75]

Use it in our coffee bar, countertop ice maker and our cigar humidor

 

[YeastFeast]

Just mash/sparge water & mixing with StarSan.

 

[mac_1103]

As the water completely lack any minerals it will absorb the minerals in your body until some equalibruim is achieved and then are flushed out of your body.

Uh, no. Really. Just no. Your body is perfectly capable of retaining the minerals it needs. Now if your drinking water is your only source of essential minerals, you might have some issues since the mineral content of water from different sources is so variable. But if you eat a reasonably healthy diet your body probably isn't relying on drinking water for anything except water.