Reverse Osmosis Water
Destroys microbes in water, which disqualifies it by the logic of this framework. Sand filtration is preferred precisely because it introduces soil probiotics. Reverse osmosis eliminates that biological content and adds unnecessary complexity to an already adequate multi-stage system.
Reverse osmosis water appears in Aajonus Vonderplanitz's framework primarily as a practical filtration question rather than a subject he developed at length in his workshops. His recorded comments on it arise in the context of correspondence about water filtration systems for bathing and hot tubs, and what he says reveals his general position: reverse osmosis is not something he recommended adding to an already adequate filtration system, and it carries a specific liability that matters within his thinking about microbes.
The clearest statement Aajonus made about reverse osmosis concerns what it does to microbes. When a correspondent asked whether adding a reverse osmosis unit on top of a KDF-55 filter and sand filter system would be beneficial, Aajonus replied that osmosis destroys microbes, and that this is not beneficial for bathing. This statement places reverse osmosis water in the same category as other processes he objected to, namely those that sterilize or eliminate the biological life that he considered essential. His framework holds that soil probiotics, bacteria, and other microorganisms in water are desirable rather than dangerous, and any process that removes or destroys them works against health rather than for it. Sand filtration, by contrast, he specifically valued because it introduces soil probiotics that systems like Aquasana do not allow through.
On the question of whether reverse osmosis should be layered on top of an existing multi-stage system, Aajonus called it overkill and indicated it was not needed when a proper sand filter was already in place. His preferred filtration approach involved multiple stages: a paper filter to catch oil-soluble particles, a coconut charcoal filter to address mercury and thallium, and then two sand filters at the end, which he described as incredible cleansers. The sand filters were last in the sequence and were given the final role because of their capacity to introduce beneficial life into the water while removing contaminants.
Reverse Osmosis pH Problem
Aajonus acknowledged a technical concern raised by a correspondent: reverse osmosis systems can produce water with a very low pH, acidic enough that things rust more easily. His response to this was not to engage with pH correction as a solution worth pursuing through additional mineral additions or pH-balancing cartridges. Instead he situated the pH question in a broader observation that almost all municipal water is made artificially alkaline through the chemicals added to preserve pipes rather than to protect people's health. He noted that human skin sits at a pH of 5.5 and that a forced high pH dries it out. His position was that adding sea salt and the other ingredients he recommended for baths resolves pH issues regardless of what the starting pH of the water is, making the pursuit of pH correction through filtration equipment unnecessary.
Reverse Osmosis Versus Sand Filtration
The contrast Aajonus drew was always in favor of sand over reverse osmosis. Sand was the element he returned to repeatedly, and he specified that it should come at the end of a filtration sequence, not at the beginning. His reason was explicit: sand introduces soil probiotics. Reverse osmosis, by destroying microbes, does the opposite. For someone building a hot tub filtration system, he did not recommend adding reverse osmosis even when the correspondent had a sophisticated multi-stage setup already in place. The answer was always more sand, not reverse osmosis on top of everything else.
Purified Water Label Standards
In related correspondence, Aajonus made a pointed remark about the word "purified" appearing on bottled water products from companies he named as among the most polluting food producers in the world. He stated that "purified" means that some industrial chemical process was used to alter the water. Reverse osmosis is one such industrial process, and while he did not name it in this specific statement, the logic of his framework places it squarely within the category of water that has been industrially altered in ways that strip it of beneficial biological content. His skepticism toward filter manufacturers also applies here: he stated that since producers of filters have a medical view on microbes, he did not trust them to produce water as he would like it.