Reverse Osmosis water also known as RO water is among the cleanest types of water you can drink. Scientifically slightly less pure than distilled water but for all practical purposes it’s virtually the same thing. Clean, pure, water comes with a tradeoff: the removal of everything, including the good stuff, like minerals. It’s natural that after stripping everything from the water some people want to add minerals back into it. For everything about the minerals themselves, please read How to Add Minerals to RO Water. Here will concentrate on how to actually add the minerals once you already have them in your possession.
The first thing to consider is that most mineral supplements for water are designed to be mixed in large quantities of water (usually one gallon, or about 4 liters). That means you can’t really just turn on the faucet, fill up your glass, and add a drop of minerals concentrate.
If you do, the first thing you’ll notice is a very strong (unpleasant) taste, not just salty (even if most brands of minerals concentrate contain low sodium), but you may also detect too strong of a taste (some people have described it as metallic, while other people say it tastes grainy).
There could also be some serious health problems if you drink too many minerals. The mineral brands available in the market are designed specifically to be soluble over several liters of water; depending on the brand, it could be anywhere between 1 and 8 drops per gallon. One gallon is 16 glasses of water. So, if you put one drop into one glass you’re taking about 16 times the recommended amount. If you’re working out and sweating profusely, then that’s probably not a problem to drink it but if you’re just going about your day and you take consistently 16 times the recommended dosage, that could be harmful. Look, even broccoli in high dosage is bad for you… everything good in life is supposed to be taken with measure.
Another thing to understand is that you can’t just add minerals to RO water and expect it to be ready to be consumed the second you pour those minerals, it’s not exactly coolaid. There’s a waiting period where the minerals need to be allowed to be dissolved into the water.
So, the solution is to fill up at least one gallon in a jug, and put the minerals in the jug. Then let it rest for 30 minutes or so. It’s best if you do Not put the water jug in the fridge prior to adding the minerals otherwise it will take longer for them to dissolve in the water. The warmer the water, the faster the minerals will mix with the liquid. After that, you can enjoy it anyway you like: either leave it out and drink it at room temperature or put it in the fridge to let it cool and enjoy it cold. By the way, you’re not forced to just drink the water as is. You can treat RO water like any other water; make coffee, tea, etc, etc.