At 08:00 PM 10/16/2010  -0400, craig cowan wrote:
>I was under the impression (though mind you I am not much of a chemist) that
>DI water was actually quite reactive in some situations (Especially
>organic).

Deionized water is what you use when you don't want to pay extra for
distilled and can live with the various stuff that deionizing does
not remove.  This seems to be a pretty good overview of purified
water of various ilken.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purified_water

>  I know if you drink a cup of DI water, you will become severely
>sick as it actively tries to fill it'sself back up with minerals and
>nutrients, which it will rob from your body. (Experimentation has proven
>this. I'm very cruel sometimes to roommates....).

I suspect that the water you used must have been bacterially
contaminated.  DI water (or distilled) may not be the best thing to
drink over the long term, but a cup (or a gallon) shouldn't do you
any harm at all.  I've known a few people on a certain fringe who've
drunk nothing but distilled water (from their own still) for years
with no apparent ill effect.

>Anyway, I was under the impression that similar reactivity would occur on
>metals. It may not be a conductor, but it is actively trying to dissolve
>things. Much more so than a solvent that is already at capacity (IE Tap
>water full of random crap).

In a cooling system purified water inhibits scale formation.  The
antifreeze mix suppresses corrosion.

Yours,
David