Why You Should Not Drink Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) Water — Unless You Add Minerals

pamukkale-14983_1920The Importance of Water

Aside from miraculous providence [1] or comatose patients [2], the average person can only live three days without water [3]. Water is such a vital part of life, that Jesus uses it as a metaphor of eternal life and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within believers. Of eternal life, Jesus says, “the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Of the indwelling Spirit, Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).

Three Kinds of Unhealthy Water in the Bible

  1. Poison Water. While living water is seen as a blessing of eternal life and the Holy Spirit, poisoned water is seen as a judgment from God (Jeremiah 23:5).
  2. Bitter Water. The Bible also talks of bitter water — which is a picture of judgment (Revelation 8:11), testing (Numbers 5:24), and sin (James 3:11).
  3. Bad Water. There is a third category of of water mentioned in the Bible — bad water, which brings death and miscarriage (2 Kings 2:19-22). To heal this water, the prophet Elisha threw salt into the spring. Salt was likely not the actual “cure” — because God said, “I have healed this water” (v. 21). Nonetheless, there is a connection between salt and the healing of water — which I will demonstrate later in this post.

The Importance of PH

The American Public Health Association reports that the ph level of naturally occurring water is between 6.5 and 8.5 ph. A ph of 7 is considered neutral, below seven is acidic, and above seven is alkaline [4]. The World Health Organization reports that water with too low a ph or too high a ph can cause health conditions affecting the eyes, skin, and gastrointestinal system [5]. Other studies, many which are anecdotal — including my own, show that low ph levels in water can cause symptoms of acidosis.

Symptoms of Acidosis
(source: Wikipedia)

Twice, having switched to bottled spring water, I began experiencing some of the symptoms on this chart. When I tested the ph of the water: it was at 5 ph or below. Read about my most recent experience here.

And after experiencing on-going difficulties with our Alkalizing Reverse Osmosis system, I was forced again (a third time) to buy water from the store. Trader Joe’s Artesian Well water is delightful and has a ph around 8. However, it is quite costly at $2.99 a gallon. Instead, I found some Reverse Osmosis water at our local Earthfare for $0.39 a gallon. That is pretty affordable. To my great disappointment, however, it tested with a ph of 5. With a little research I discovered the solution to naturally re-alkalize the water to a safe level.

How to Fix (alkalize) Reverse Osmosis Water

  1. One solution: Add trace minerals into the water. This is very similar to what God did to fix the bad water in 2 Kings 2:19-22, since salt in its natural unrefined form is rich in trace minerals. 1/4 tsp. liquid trace minerals per gallon raised the Earthfare R.O. water to neutral. 1/2 tsp. raised a gallon to a ph of 8 — which is about the same as the Artesian well water from Trader Joes (which has a naturally occurring trace mineral content of 150 ppm).
  2. A second solution — which would not be my first choice — is to add baking soda to the water. While this does raise the ph, it does not increase the mineral content, which is so necessary for the body to function at its best. 1/4 tsp. baking soda raised my gallon of water to a ph of 8. Interesting again how this corresponds with the healing of the water in 2 Kings — as baking soda is “sodium” bicarbonate.

Test and Fix Your Own Water

If you want to be able to test your own water for ph levels — which I cannot recommend enough — the best test kit is a very wide spectrum kit that it easy to quickly observe for color changes. The kit I use is not available on the market (unfortunately), but after scouring the Internet I found one that seems comparable. It is available at Amazon for a reasonable price. If you order from this link, I will earn a light commission from Amazon: Ph Test Kit. Please note, it will not cost you a penny more to purchase through me (nor a penny less).

To raise the ph of your water with minerals, I recommend using Trace Mineral Research products — I have been loving them for over two decades. Their products are the best on the market. Amazon carries their liquid trace minerals, called ConcenTrace. Purchase some here.

Again, whether you are drinking tap (I hope not), well, filterer, distilled, R.O., or any kind of bottled water, please test it for alkalinity — your health depends on it.


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[1] Moses is said to have gone 40 days without water (Exodus 34:28).

[2] Virtual Hospice  – A comatose patient can live a few days or weeks with out water.

[3] Live Science

[4] American Public Health Association. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 17th ed. Washington, DC, 1989. (As reported here.)

[5] http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/en/ph.pdf

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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.


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© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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