Evaluation of fuel cell water for human consumption. AMRL-TR-66-141.

Water obtained from a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell was subjected to chemical, organoleptic, and microbiological analyses and found to be acceptable according to the U. S. Public Health Service Standards. To ascertain the acceptability of this water, eight male subjects were confined to a self-care unit at Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, Ohio, for a 2-week period and served a controlled 4-meal-perday diet, low in water content. A minimum of 2 liters per day of either distilled water or fuel cell water was drunk by the subjects as follows: two subjects were served distilled water for 2 weeks, serving as controls; four were served fuel cell water for 2 weeks; and two were served fuel cell water for one week, followed by distilled water for the second week. Twenty-four hour surveillance of the subjects was maintained. They were examined by a physician at least once daily; daily urinary and periodic blood samples were taken for routine laboratory examination. The subjects showed no clinical symptoms at the end of the test period, and the fuel cell water was foundtobe asacceptableas distilled water in constituting part of a daily diet for the 2-week period.