Ion-free water for human consumption?

[Richard Drummond]

On Sat, 12 Oct 1996, Colin Bigam wrote:

> 
> For coffee in the lab, we use either tap water (which in San Diego is
> BLEAH!!!!) or water from the water cooler. I wouldn't bring anything from
> the DI tap NEAR my face!
> 
> However, we do have Millipure water, which is Millipore's four stage,
> ultrapurification system. I think it could be counted on to be as sterile
> as anything else, since they use it to grow tissue culture's.
> 
> Colin
> 
	The only thing that can be considered to be sterile is water that
	has been tested for sterility. All Millipore systems are 
        designed to remove contaminants but this does not result in
	sterile water. I would expect your tissue culture media is sterile
	because it is either autoclaved or filtered  afterwards.
		If your Millipore system is not well looked after you
	might be surprised by how high the bacterial  count  can get
	especially if the water is kept in a storage tank.

	Richard  :)