Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment
Kick your bottled water habit with an under-sink reverse osmosis system like our best overall pick. The storage tank holds 3 to 5 gallons and dispenses on-demand filtered water when the faucet is turned on.
The process involves water pressure pushing tap water through a semi-permeable membrane that removes many contaminants. It also reduces hardness and can add beneficial minerals back to your drinking water.
1. Removes Contaminants
Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment removes a vast amount of contaminants, sediment and dissolved substances from your drinking water. This is because of the microscopic pores on the semi-permeable membrane. Originally designed to desalinate seawater and reduce Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment high chemical contaminant materials such as heavy metals, reverse osmosis filters also remove a variety of aesthetic and health-related contaminants.
Most RO systems consist of four stages of filtration: a sediment filter that eliminates particles as large as a speck of dust to protect the RO membrane from clogging; a pre-carbon filter that prevents chlorine, which damages thin film membranes; the reverse osmosis membrane itself, which removes molecules larger than water; and a post-carbon filter that polishes off taste and odor.
The resulting filtered water is then stored in a pressurized storage tank for use. The rejected contaminants are sent down the drain as wastewater. Most systems are point-of-use (POU) devices connected to a single faucet in the kitchen, making them ideal for the home. This makes the system convenient, allowing you to enjoy bottled-water quality hydration without needing to stock up on wasteful cases of plastic water bottles or rely on weekly grocery store trips.
2. Removes Chlorine
Reverse Osmosis removes chlorine from water by pushing it through a semipermeable membrane. It also removes other chemicals and sediment that aren’t good for you — including toxins like lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PFAS, arsenic, bacteria, and viruses.
A pretreatment stage gets rid of any chlorine that’s present in the water before it reaches the RO membrane. This is important because chlorine can damage thin film-material RO membranes. Chlorine is also a significant contributor to taste and odor in drinking water, so a post-filter will usually take care of this as well — sort of like a “polishing stage” for your clean, safe drinking water.
A reverse osmosis system works on the principle of osmosis, which is that solutions with higher concentrations will naturally migrate to lower concentrations over a selective membrane. This is why we recommend using a TDS meter to measure your water’s total dissolved solids (like chlorine) before and after running it through a reverse osmosis system. The resulting data will give you a more accurate picture of your water’s quality.
3. Removes Hardness
The RO process removes many contaminants from tap water, but it does not address hardness. To eliminate hardness, you should install a water softener in conjunction with your reverse osmosis system.
A water softener replaces calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. These are much more soluble and do not cause scale. The softener does this by exchanging the hardness minerals for sodium ions in a resin bed, which are recharged using salt from a brine tank.
In addition to hardness, water softeners also remove odors and unusual colors. This ensures that your tap water is safe and clean to drink.
Reverse Osmosis systems offer a great alternative to purchasing and transporting expensive cases of bottled water. They provide bottled-quality hydration at home, saving you time and money on gas and reducing the amount of waste you produce. Most RO systems are available on a monthly rental basis, starting at only $25 per month! This includes installation and annual filter changes. For more information, visit our Reverse Osmosis Rental Page!
4. Removes Minerals
In most cases reverse osmosis systems have a carbon filter before the RO membrane and a sediment filter to prevent clogging of the membrane. The pre-filters help to improve the life of the RO membrane as well as remove any unwanted odors or taste from the water.
The RO membrane itself removes dissolved minerals from the water and can eliminate up to 99 percent of 65 different contaminants including lead, fluoride, chlorine, salt, and other contaminates. It is one of the most effective methods of eliminating contaminant in drinking water and it has been used to end boil water advisories in communities worldwide.
Reverse Osmosis water lacks essential mineral content and can be a bit flat in taste due to the removal of minerals. The minerals in our bodies help hydrate, lubricate joints, and aid in the function of many organs. Ideally we get our minerals through the food we eat, not through water. Drinking a constant supply of mineral-free water can lead to dehydration and even muscle cramps. A remineralization system helps to resupply the body’s lost electrolytes and fluid and maintain proper water balance in the body.
5. Saves Money
Reverse Osmosis removes up to 99%+ of dissolved salts, ions, particles, organics, bacteria and pyrogens from water. The RO membrane rejects contaminants based on their size and ionic charge. Those rejected contaminants are carried away in the waste stream called Filling Machine Supplier brine. For every gallon of fresh, clean drinking water produced, about 4 gallons of brine water go down the drain.
Some naysayers argue that using reverse osmosis to filter tap water is “wasteful” as it sends much of the water down the drain. However, those same people often forget to take other uses of water into consideration such as water for cooking, cleaning dishes, hand washing, and ice cubes.
Plus, you’ll save money by eliminating the need for water delivery services and cases of bottled water. With the ability to make your own high-quality water at home, you can eliminate those hefty costs and help protect the environment by not adding more plastic bottles to our landfills.
