User blog comment:Neowitch/Can Brook die again?/@comment-3279487-20111001215218

Water and salt don't "remove" the devil fruit's power, they merely make it "unable to use" just like Luffy was still made of gum in the water, so Brook is still alive but unable to move (like any DF users). But if you throw Brook in the water he will drown and die, not because he is a skeleton, but because every human can drown in the water, also if you cut his head I doubt he can survive. And about what will happen with Blackbeard's ability on Brook, I think even if he turns in a "dead skeleton", he will return to normal after, because it's still a temporary thing.