Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment
Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment involves pushing water through a semi-permeable membrane. This filter allows small water molecules through while blocking larger contaminants, organic materials and even salt.
Most RO systems feature a pre-filtration stage to reduce sediment that can damage the membranes. Some also feature a carbon post-filter for aesthetic taste and odor reduction.
Improved Taste & Odor
Reverse Osmosis removes virtually all ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from your water. This makes your water cleaner, tastier and fresher. In fact, blind taste tests often show that reverse osmosis drinking water is preferred over regular tap water.
Reverse osmosis is a highly effective filtering system capable of removing up to 99%+ of dissolved salts, ions, colloids, organics, bacteria and pyrogens. It also reduces the amount of chlorine and other volatile organic compounds found in your water. RO systems use a semipermeable membrane that rejects contaminants based on their molecular weight and ionic charge. This allows only water to pass through and prevents the accumulation of contaminant build-up or clogs in the semipermeable membrane.
In addition, Reverse Osmosis is able to remove many of the impurities that make water taste like chlorine, chalk and chemicals leaving you with refreshing, clean-tasting water. In some cases, reverse osmosis can even remove the taste of iron leaving you with crisp, clear water perfect for cooking and cleaning.
In order to protect the semipermeable membrane, most high quality Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems come equipped with a sediment and carbon filter in the first stage of the process. These filters keep the membrane from being clogged by large amounts of sediment and reduce chlorine that is sometimes present in municipal water. Most under-sink Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems also have a tank that stores the Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment treated water for immediate use while some whole house solutions have a tankless configuration to treat water right at the source and eliminate any wait time.
Better Health
Aside from making water taste better, reverse osmosis systems remove a host of health-related contaminants. These include bacteria, chlorine, chloramines, nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals. It can also help reduce sediment, and volatile organic compounds like disinfection byproducts and phenols.
In fact, many families who get an RO system find that their kids drink more water, which is good for everyone’s health. They’ll also be consuming less soda, juice, and sugary drinks that can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and other serious health conditions.
Reverse osmosis water also doesn’t contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment and your body, which is a plus for the planet. For example, bottled water is often packaged in plastic that leaches bisphenol-a (BPA), which disrupts hormone production and shouldn’t be in your body. Additionally, bottled water requires the use of fossil fuels to ship it from the plant to your local store, which leaves behind another nasty carbon footprint.
In addition, most quality reverse osmosis systems have a pre-filtration phase that helps keep the semi-permeable membrane from clogging. They can also be equipped with a carbon post-filter to help eliminate aesthetic taste and odors and remove any remaining health-related contaminants. This helps to make filtered water not only healthier for you but also more flavorful, which can save you money on bottled water and other unhealthy beverages.
Reduced Waste
Reverse Osmosis systems do produce waste water, but there are ways to reduce that. For example, RO systems that use low fouling membrane technologies require less frequent membrane cleaning cycles. This saves energy and money!
In addition, there are accessories and upgrades that can help reduce the amount of water a reverse osmosis system produces. The most obvious is the addition of a second reverse osmosis membrane. Adding a second membrane not only reduces the waste water volume, but it also speeds up the process of producing clean drinking water.
The other way to reduce the waste water volume is to repurpose it. Reverse osmosis waste water contains minerals and nutrients that are beneficial for plants, so it can be used for gardening and outdoor watering. Alternatively, it can be stored in a tank and used to pre-rinse clothes before using the washing machine or to soak laundry with difficult-to-remove stains.
Misinformed naysayers often claim that Reverse Osmosis systems are wasteful, but this is not true. The truth is that any water purification system that produces clean drinking water requires a certain amount of “waste” water to do its job. Just like washing hands or showering, you have to wash away dirt in order to get your hands clean. Water is a precious resource and it has to be spent in order to keep us healthy, so we should not complain about a little bit of water being “wasted” as part of the filtration process.
Save Money
A reverse osmosis system does generate reject water, but this water is recycled and used to clean the membrane and other parts of the system. This is done to keep the system working efficiently and effectively, so that you can get pure drinking water. This water can also be used to wash dishes and clothes, run the washing machine and dishwasher, etc. This reject water is not Filling Machine Supplier harmful to people, but it does contain many of the same contaminants found in your drinking water, such as lead and copper, so remineralization may be necessary.
While it does waste some water, a reverse osmosis system is significantly cheaper than buying and storing 5-gallon jugs of bottled water. This is especially true for point-of-use (POU) systems that can be installed under kitchen sinks, behind refrigerators, or over and under counters.
Reverse Osmosis is one of the most advanced methods of water filtration, but it was originally designed for providing fresh, clean drinking water in areas with limited resources and desalinating ocean water to make it drinkable. It has been shown to improve the taste of tap water and cooking, as well.
Reverse osmosis removes chlorine, fluoride, nitrates, arsenic, pharmaceutical residue, and radionuclides. However, it cannot remove all contaminants, as some minerals are crucial for good health, such as calcium, magnesium, and fluoride, which are added to many municipal water supplies. For this reason, a water softener is often necessary in addition to a reverse osmosis filter.
