The other day I accidentally bought “purified” water from the grocery store instead of the drinking water that I normally buy. The label claims that it can be used in formulas, batteries, steam irons, photography, and other applications that require extremely pure water. It’s purified by either reverse-osmosis or deionization (the label doesn’t say which).
I drank some of this stuff and I love it! It’s the most delicious water I’ve ever tasted. Actually it has very little taste at all, which is why I like it. The “drinking” water that I normally buy has a rubbery/chemical aftertaste that I can’t stand.
I remember reading somewhere that distilled water is bad for you because it doesn’t have minerals dissolved in it. I assume purified water doesn’t either, and I’m wondering if it’s okay for me to drink (the label doesn’t say anything about human consumption). If not, is there something I can do to add minerals, like pouring it into a bucket of gravel and letting it soak for a few days?
Purified water sold in stores is not like freshly ultradistilled water; sufficiently pure water is actually corrosive, and will dissolve small portions of its container until it is no longer so pure.
What you’re buying is just dietetically deficient in minerals, which is of no importance unless you’re relying on water for your mineral needs which is (a) unlikely and (b) stupid (BTW, water is, strictly speaking, a mineral; I am ignoring that for this discussion).
The only real consideration in deciding between purified water, regular drinking water, and mineral water is your taste for minerals. Most people think purified water tastes like crap, but if you like it, go for it.
I use reverse osmosis water which is then run through a mixed bed cation/anion deionization resin resulting in water with TDS (total dissolved solids) of <0.5ppm. It tastes great.
I had also heard that RO/DI water isn’t good to drink because of it would ‘leach’ minerals from my body, but Cecil calls it “nonsense”.