Should People Stop Drinking Water From a Purifier? Here's What Science Says

The RO water does not lack minerals completely as the purifier also adds a few minerals in it.

Fact-check: The video is misleading as it suggests drinking RO water is non-beneficial to our body so only tap water should be consumed.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing a man performing an experiment to light up a bulb with a help of RO water, tap water, milk and curd, is being shared online.

The man claims that the bulb lights up brightly when the two connected wired are dipped in milk and curd but it does not light up when the wires are dipped in RO water because it has 'no minerals'.

He also adds that this experiment proves that RO water is 'not healthy to drink'.

We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline.

(Source: Screenshot)

What's the truth?: We found out that this video is misleading. The RO water does not completely lack minerals as the purifier also adds a few minerals.

• Moreover, it is important to purify the water because it carries impurities from the original source.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search, which led us to the original video shared by channel, JBM Art And Craft on YouTube.

• This was shared on 26 May 2021, and the video shows the man claiming that people should not drink RO water because it lacks minerals.

• He tries to prove this but trying to light up a bulb and conducting electricity from water, milk and curd.

• However, it is also visible in the video that the bulb is also connected to a different circuit in an extension board.

What does the science behind this says?: Pure water can not conduct electricity; however, water does contain charged ions and impurities that make it a very good conductor of electricity.

• According to Science ABC, tap water, rainwater, and seawater all contain impurities like sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) ions. These charged ions allow for the flow of electricity through the liquid.

• So when a battery with positive and negative poles is placed in water, a closed circuit is formed as the positive ions are attracted to the negative pole and the negative ions to the positive pole - which can turn on a bulb.

• However, as per this explanation, the purified RO water won't be able to conduct electricity because there are no electrolytes or ions present.

• A paper titled 'Electrical Conductivity Changes in Milk Caused by Acidification: Determining Factors' states that the electrical conductivity of milk is dependent on its soluble salt fraction. It specifies that lactose does not conduct current, and fat decreases conductivity.

We reached out to Dr TV Venkateswaran, Visiting professor IISER Mohali, to get more clarity about the video.

• He explained that we need micro-nutrients like calcium, magnesium and more, and RO water -- without any mineral addition stage does not have much nutrients or salt -- but it does have nutrients in it when minerals are added after purification, which takes place in every water purifier.

"If there are no adequate amount of minerals in the water then there are less charged particles and this water will become poor conductor and not a non-conductor," he added.

• This also clarifies that the video showing the bulb not lighting up when dipped in RO water is misleading.

Claims about RO water being 'unhealthy': It is important to note that the deficiency of calcium or magnesium in bodies is not majorly dependent on the kind of water you drink.

• It is majorly impacted by the food that we consume, and RO water cannot be blamed for this, as suggested in the viral video.

• Dr Venkateswaran stated that consuming milk, dairy products, fish is beneficial instead of fortified foods -- foods that have nutrients added to them that aren't naturally present in the food.

"You need minerals in water, not because of your body's nutrition requirements, you need minerals in the water so that it gets absorbed and digested by your body. So the message in video is misleading and fearmongering," Dr Venkateswaran explains.

• He also mentions that we cannot reject clean drinking water.

• He further asserts that it is important to purify water before drinking it because, in India, the original source of water does contain faecal contamination or carcinogenic elements.

Conclusion: The video is misleading as it suggests drinking RO water is non-beneficial to our body so only tap water should be consumed.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)