Reverse Osmosis Filter

The term, Reverse Osmosis, refers to a somewhat antiquated way of filtering impurities out of water. While RO water treatment systems are being used by some homeowners, this system is quickly being replaced by more modern ways of filtering drinking water.

Reverse osmosis (RO) still has some advantages when used in commercial operations. It is chiefly used to desalinate water. The printing industry used it extensively as it was an ideal way to supply a constant clean flow of water to expensive printing presses. However, it has now become completely outdated for residential purposes.

When it was introduced for home use, it quickly became evident that it had many drawbacks. It was marketed with great excitement but, unfortunately, it failed miserably in the home environment. The biggest problem was the length of time it took to filter water. To gain a gallon of water, filtration took four hours.

Another disadvantage is the high cost of installation. Added to this, consumers have become extremely concerned because reverse osmosis is only able to filter water. This means that it is unable to remove harmful chemicals. This is of little significance in commercial and industrial operations, but it is hugely significant in the home.

This inability becomes even more worrisome when one considers that many governments throughout the world add chlorine to drinking water. Chlorine is an intoxicating disinfectant which is used to kill off biological contaminants found in water. This is a Catch 22 situation because it may remove some contaminants but it cannot remove chlorine. Chlorinated water makes people ill. It also destroys Vitamin E, trace minerals and essential fatty acids in the body

The effects of chlorine ingestion are of great concern to health officials. It has been proven to be associated with asthma and related respiratory conditions, as well as cancer of the breast, bladder and rectum. Even more alarming, recent studies show that it may be linked to learning disabilities. RO cannot remove chlorine, so how can it eradicate other dangerous impurities?

Lastly, reverse osmosis water treatment systems require huge amounts of water to operate. This does not augur well for global initiatives to conserve the rapidly declining supply of water. A staggering four gallons of water is needed to get just one gallon of filtered water through RO. From an economic and environmental standpoint, this waste is totally unacceptable. For these reasons, consumers are choosing less expensive and more effective water filtration systems.

Reverse systems are not ideal for residential use. They were originally developed for industrial and commercial usage. When reverse osmosis water filter systems were first introduced for residential use they were a huge seller. However, this was before people knew the effects of drinking water put through a reverse osmosis filter. While reverse osmosis is not the best way to filter water, certainly it is better than no filter at all, but there are many disadvantages to drinking water from a reverse osmosis filter.

As far as health concerns go, teverse osmosis water filter systems cannot filter anything that is molecularly smaller than water. Many pesticides, bacteria and chlorine are lighter than water and they are left behind in water that has gone through the membrane of a filter. Also, trace minerals that are essential for our health are stripped away from the water through a reverse osmosis water filter. This leaves us with de-mineralized water that is potential harmful to our health because of the pesticides.

Everything that is supposed to do can be done by another type of filtration and in most cases it is done better. For example, carbon filtration wastes, it wastes no time and it does not filter out the minerals from the water, while at the same time filtering out synthetic and harmful chemicals and improving the taste and smell. Ultraviolet radiation treatment kills all of the bacteria and other microorganisms from the water that reverse would miss. Ion exchange filtration can soften water and remove lead at a higher rate than a reverse filter.

What if I told you there are several types of water filtration systems on the market these days? With so many out there, it really makes it hard to choose which would be best for the home. The condominium I occupy had a reverse osmosis water system with changeable filters installed by the homeowner's association when the building was constructed over 25 years ago. I am very concerned about fitness, health and longevity, so I really decided to put this system to the test and see what it was all about. I really didn't know what a reverse osmosis water system did, so I happened onto the internet to see what information I could find out and decide if this was the best choice in water purity.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a process by which pressure is used to force a solution through a semi-permeable membrane allowing passage of solvent but not solute. It's best known for being used for desalination (or removing the salt from sea water to make it fresh) however it has been used to purify things for the medical (dialysis), domestic and industrial (food industry, car washes, water plants) settings since the early 1970's.

In terms of drinking water purification, many homes use reverse osmosis systems as a common step for improving water for drinking, cooking and showering. This type of RO system includes several steps used to get water prepared for use. These included:

A trapping device (sediment filter) for removing rust and calcium carbonate

A secondary sediment filter with a finer openings

An activated carbon filter used to remove volatile and soluble organic chemicals along with chlorine which can breakdown the RO membranes

A RO filter/membrane

Sometimes an optional second carbon filter and finally

An ultra-violet lamp

This seemed like quite a few steps and rather expensive sounding too. Also, when I took the time to actually look at what else got removed with the toxins and sediment, I wasn't very impressed. Valuable minerals were removed from the water as well and I knew this was quite important to keep my body at a healthy balance. I didn't want my body becoming acidic or trying to strip minerals from other parts of the body such as teeth and bones. Plus, I would like to keep my organs for a long time to come and acidic water just isn't conducive to those conditions.

Some other disadvantages to a RO filtration for residential conditions were for every 5 gallons of usable water it would flush anywhere from 8-10 gallons that might get captured for watering the garden. It just seemed sort of wasteful if you ask me.

In conclusion, after much debate on my own part I decided to get rid of the reverse osmosis water system in my home. The disadvantages seemed to outweigh the positives, so in the end I selected a reasonably priced, multi-stage filtration system that included carbon, sub-micron filtering and ion exchange. I found did a much more thorough job in ridding the water in my home of nearly 99% of bacteria, viruses, germs, sediment, chemicals, drugs and anything else I could think of that could possibly come out of the faucets. So do yourself a favor, if health and longevity is paramount to you as well, compare and learn the same facts I did.

When it comes to reverse osmosis systems residential homeowners are often interested in learning more, as people are beginning to understand the risks associated with drinking tap water. While reverse osmosis filters are considerably better than drinking from the tap, there are facts every potential buyer should know before purchasing a reverse osmosis system. I will outline the top three most important facts in the following paragraphs to help you make a more educated decision when it comes to providing clean, safe water for your home.

Truth #1: Reverse Osmosis Removes A Lot From Your Water

This sounds like a good truth, and to some degree it is, but reverse osmosis also removes naturally occurring minerals from your water, such as magnesium, that your body relies on to maintain good health. Nowhere in nature will you find a naturally occurring source mineral-free. This is because living things need these minerals and have come to expect them within the water they drink. R.O. removes a number of chemicals and contaminants, and these systems also have a carbon filter to remove chemicals not eliminated through R.O., but the cost is the loss of naturally occurring and necessary minerals.

Truth #2: Reverse Osmosis is Inefficient

While residential reverse osmosis systems provide you with water that is far superior in quality to tap, the way that you obtain this is at best a very inefficient process. For every gallon of viable water produced by R.O, two to three gallons are disposed of. In addition, the average R.O. system takes an hour to produce a gallon or less in the storage tank. This is far from environmentally friendly, and is economically wasteful as well.

Truth #3: Reverse Osmosis is Expensive

R.O. systems whether residential or otherwise are simply not cost effective. Without taking into account the cost of such a system, which seems worthwhile when considering the benefits of safer water, the cost to produce clean water with these units is simply expensive. For every gallon produced by these units, the owner can expect to pay on average about twenty to twenty-five cents. While far cheaper than bottled water, there are more effective, cost-efficient, and beneficial systems on the market.

Summary: Reverse Osmosis is Better Than Tap, but Not Your Best Option

There are filtering systems available now called multi-stage water filtering systems. Available to install on countertops, under counters, and even in showers, these systems use the most effective methods to remove all contaminants while leaving in valuable minerals. In addition, these units are relatively inexpensive to purchase and produce at less than ten cents per gallon. While residential R.O. systems were for a time the best option on the market, the fact remains that they are no longer the safest or best way to obtain quality drinking water. With new technology on the market to provide you with truly high-quality water, you owe it to your entire household to look into these new systems and see for yourself how good truly clean water can be.

If drinking water safety is of paramount importance to you then recent headlines such as "Drugs Found In Drinking Water" and "EPA Won't Remove Rocket Fuel From Drinking Water" must have been deeply troubling to you. With a myriad of water filtration systems on the market designed to rid your drinking water of dangerous contaminants, it cannot be easy to choose a suitable filter.

Of the many choices of water filtration devices, two that have been the subject of  much public debate is reverse osmosis purifier vs ionization. Actually to compare the two is sort of unfair. Reverse osmosis water filters are used to rid tap water of contaminants whereas water ionizers are suppose to make your drinking water alkaline which supposedly has beneficial health properties.

Essentially, people who are looking to rid contaminants from their tap water won't buy an ionizer; they would more likely buy a reverse osmosis filter. So the question of reverse osmosis purifier vs ionization really boils down to which water is the healthiest choice.

One school of thought is that ionized water is healthier because it is less acidic that reverse osmosis treated water. The incidence of cancer and other diseases is said to higher in an acidic body. Drinking ionized water regularly neutralizes free radicals making disease less likely.

There are many in the scientific community that thinks that water ionizers are a waste of money, not only because some don't work as they are supposed to but also because the science behind them is faulty. Not to mention the fact that they can be very expensive. Others however, swear by them.

Another school of thought is that reverse osmosis treated water removes a lot of the contaminants from our tap water, contaminants that are of an immediate concern. These contaminants can over time can badly affect our health, leading to diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and problems of the reproductive system.

Experts who subscribe to this school of thought believe that with a proper diet, exercise and supplementation, there is no need to drink ionized water. But, there is a need to drink water that is free from contaminants.

So reverse osmosis purifier vs ionization, which would you choose? It is really down to your priorities and indeed your pocket.

If drinking water safety is of a more serious concern to you, get a reverse osmosis purifier or any of the other filtration units on the market. However, if you feel that the alkalinity of your tap water is of greater importance to your health, you may want to try a water ionizer.

When you read the advertising hype you'd think that a reverse osmosis water treatment system was a good way to make your tap water pure.

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

I remember the first time I stumbled across the facts about reverse osmosis water treatment systems. It was a real eye-opener.

For one thing a reverse osmosis water treatment system can't remove lead or chlorine. Yet these two dangerous compounds are common in municipal water supplies.

If the pipes in your city or town are older than, say 35 years, then there is almost certainly going to be lead in some of the pipes and many of the soldered joints. That lead will be steadily dissolving into the water and gushing out of your taps. And lead can gravely affect our health. It can raise blood pressure, make it difficult for your blood to transport oxygen, heighten certain breathing problems if its in fumes, seems to affect the behavior of young children, and is linked to osteoporosis in older people as it slows down calcium absorption. In other words, it is not good to have lead in your tap water.

Chlorine is just as common, because federal water safety regulations allow municipal water authorities to pour it into community pipes as a sort of catch-all that will kill any harmful bacteria or other contaminants that the treatment plant was not able to block. Your water officials will be careful not to put too much chlorine into your tap water, but even traces are harmful.

And there's another problem. A reverse osmosis water treatment system is wasteful. For every one gallon of water that goes through, the unit produces five gallons of dirty water. That is environmental profligacy.

What's more, the membranes that do the filtering in a reverse osmosis water treatment system are easily damaged. They're delicate. You can rip them if you're not careful. And unless you buy one made to high standards you are likely to find your filter membrane has defects.

Most significantly, however, a reverse osmosis water treatment system gets rid of all the natural, healthy minerals in water.

This is bad, to the point of being dangerous because our body needs the calcium, magnesium and so on that are brought to us in the course of normal living by water. These essential minerals are dissolved, deep under the earth, and slowly come to the surface as water rises and then go into the water supplies we draw our drinking water from. As you drink good quality water you get your body's supplies of these minerals replenished. If you don't get them you fall sick.

But a reverse osmosis water treatment system blocks them. Instead of delivering healthy water these systems give you sterile water. Empty and unhealthy water. This is alright in the huge commercial desalination plants on the edge of Middle Eastern deserts where reverse osmosis water treatment technology was first developed and is widely used today. Farmers don't mind if their plants are not getting the essential trace minerals humans need. But you want water that is mineral-rich.

So use the Internet and find alternative systems that giver you healthy water, free of contaminant but full of those essential minerals you body depends on. If you need a web site to begin at, go to mine. It has useful information that will help you find effective, moderately priced home pure water technologies so you don't have to buy a reverse osmosis water treatment system.

So do some homework. Look around the Internet for alternative water purification systems designed for homes that take out contaminants before you drink them, but leave in the minerals your body must have. If you'd like a place to begin that homework, you're welcome to go to my web site. It's got lots of useful information about household filters that safer than a reverse osmosis water purification unit.

By now, most of us have probably heard that we should all be drinking a lot of water to maintain our bodily systems and stay healthy, and by concerns of the true quality of bottled water, we are heeding the call.

In today's society, most of us are becoming more concerned about, and aware of, ways to improve our overall health, and water is definitely right up there at the top of the list of concerns.

Not only should we be concerned about how much water we are ingesting, however. We should also be concerned about the quality of that water. As such, may of us are choosing to learn more about water purification and filtering to ensure that the water we drink, cook with, and bathe in is pure and clean.

There are many systems out there, one of which is the reverse osmosis type, which claims to be the best on the market, but there are distinct disadvantages of reverse osmosis (also referred to as ro).

If you are like most of us, cost is a consideration for just about everything, and water purification is no exception. ro systems are incredibly expensive. They are priced in the thousands of dollars, which is one of the biggest disadvantages for most people. They are simply not affordable.

Okay, let's assume that price does not really matter, and tend to the question: Does it make water safe to drink? Well, despite the overwhelming popularity of these systems and the claims made by manufacturers, the answer to that question is no, not really.

These systems are really designed to remove anything that is heavier than the water itself. What is heavier than water? Dirt. So, it's great at removing dirt from the water. The problem is, very few people have water with dirt in it coming out of their kitchen faucets, so what good is that? For most people, the ability to remove sand or dirt is not at all useful.

What else is heavier than water? Lots of minerals are heavier than water. Wait a minute! Minerals? Aren't we supposed to be getting minerals? Yes, our bodies need minerals; in fact, most of us take a daily vitamin and mineral supplement. We actually pay money to add minerals into our diets, and reverse osmosis manufacturers would have us pay thousands of dollars to remove minerals from the water we drink? That defies logic.

What about chlorine, that chemical that bleaches out our swimsuits when we swim in the pool and leaves our water tasting nasty and smelling worse? Does reverse osmosis eliminate chlorine? Well, to be sure, our municipal water treatment plants have been using chlorine for decades, and chlorine is known to kill bacteria; however, chlorine is not natural and not pleasant to drink.

Unfortunately, chlorine remains behind, which is another of the disadvantages of reverse osmosis water systems. Overall, ro systems are too expensive and too ineffective.

Getting cleaner, purer, safer water into our bodies is a top priority and, with a little research, there are better choices for you and your family.

Most people have an opinion about the water quality in their home. Residents serviced by a well may have pristine water or water that smells like rust or rotten eggs. Bathing in this type of water is especially frustrating when the pleasant scent of shampoo begins to resemble rusty eggs more than strawberries. Equally frustrating is turning on the tap water to fill your glass and being greeted by the scent of metal and sulfur. It is embarrassing enough when this happens at family dinners but it can be horrifying when special guests have been invited to enjoy a meal at your home. The misery of poor water quality can be solved with some help from GE water filters and a whole house filtration system.

For starters, a home water filtration system will extend the life of your appliances, plumbing fixtures, and make bathing much more enjoyable. All water has some level of hardness unless it has been purified by reverse osmosis. Hardness is simply a measurement of the mineral content found in a particular sample of water. These minerals are generally calcium and magnesium among other things. A whole house filtration system will remove the minerals by swapping them out with sodium ions in a process called ion exchange. The result is known as soft water. Softened water is very safe to drink though some do prefer to go one step further by using a water filter or a reverse osmosis system. Reverse osmosis systems will remove everything from the water while GE water filters will remove a significant amount of chlorine and minerals. An iron water filter may be necessary if the iron is not satisfactorily removed in the softening process.

Improving the taste and quality of your water is somewhat of a process. Each situation is unique and while a Brita water filter in conjunction with a home water filtration system may solve most problems it will not fix every problem especially if the water has excessive iron content. There is enough equipment on the market to tackle every issue and one should feel some sense of encouragement that there is a solution. The solution however could be quite costly but in the end well worth the peace of mind.

If you're at all interested in your health, you've probably thought about buying a reverse osmosis water dispenser. After all, of the many technologies used to filter water, reverse osmosis is one of the best known. Although, it works well, it may not be the best type of water filter for you to buy. Reverse osmosis water filtering systems have a big flaw when used to filter drinking water. Let's find out what it is!

First off, I hope you realize the need to filter your water. If not, let's go over a few facts. Our nation's water systems are horribly compromised! Studies have been done recently that have found everything in our water from pesticides to prescription drugs. Ralph Nader's group did a study which found over 2,000 known carcinogens in our water systems. Since bottled water is potentially just as polluted as our municipal and well water, your only alternative is to filter your water at home.

There are several ways to do this. You can buy a whole house water filter, a filter for a single faucet, or a water dispenser, which also filters the water. If you're thinking of the latter, then I'm sure you've considered buying a reverse osmosis water dispenser.

Reverse osmosis works by pressuring the water through a membrane. The clean water ends up on the other side of the membrane. The problem with reverse osmosis water filtering systems is it filters out absolutely everything from the water.

But you actually don't want everything filtered out!

Pure water is supposed to contain naturally occurring trace minerals like potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Without these trace minerals in our diet and in what we drink, our health suffers. So, if you're using a reverse osmosis water dispenser, you could be affecting your long term health. Scientists don't actually know what the long term consequences of drinking demineralized water is, but there's a lot of evidence that it can seriously compromise many of your body's systems.

Instead of reverse osmosis water filtering systems, you need to be thinking about other water filtering technologies that work just as well, but which leave in those very important trace minerals.

Many of the best water filters use two-step systems with carbon or ceramic filters. One step filters out the organic impurities while the other filters out the inorganic impurities. By using a two-step system you can get out all the bad stuff while leaving in the trace minerals.

Are Everpure water filters the best quality or the best price? If effective contaminant removal fits your definition of quality, then some of their models are of good quality, but not the best.

It is easy to see that the company does not offer the best prices. Their least expensive model costs $359.99, does not remove THMs, VOCs or other cancer-causing chemicals and replacement cartridges cost over $100. Other systems remove all of those things and more, with models costing $124.99 and replacement cartridges costing $48. It's kind of a "no-brainer".

The Everpure water filters that do provide effective contaminant removal (those that reduce THMs and other cancer-causers) cost nearly $800. Why so much? One reason is the inclusion of a reverse osmosis step. Technological advancements have made this step an unnecessary expense, but some manufacturers still include it.

At one time, reverse osmosis was the best way to remove cysts and lead. It was used in areas where the mineral content was high, arsenic was present or salt was a problem. But, Everpure water filters were not designed for use in rural areas that might have these kinds of problems. They were designed for use by people that are serviced by a public treatment facility.

Reverse osmosis does not remove the cancer-causing chemical contaminants mentioned above, so Ever-pure and companies like them added additional steps to address those issues. They still don't use the most advanced technologies, though, so their prices are high.

Today, even the least expensive systems on the market will remove cysts. You only need to shop for a system that is certified to filter down to one micron. The best systems filter down to a half a micron. Cysts, as you may know, cause waterborne illnesses that can be deadly to those with poorly functioning immune systems. They are tiny parasitic creatures that are resistant chlorine and other disinfection methods.

Inexpensive systems will also remove lead, using ion exchange. If you compare product performance data, you will see that some systems remove more than 99% of all traces of the hazardous heavy metal. Ion exchange also improves the taste of your water, by exchanging metallic ions for sodium and potassium ions. It makes your water taste like it came from a spring. Many bottling companies add these minerals to improve the taste.

Water from systems that include a reverse osmosis step is relatively tasteless. To most people, it makes them think of old or stale waters. Our taste-buds recognize freshness by recognizing the taste of minerals. We prefer cold water, because it is less likely to contain bacteria.

Everpure water filters only reduce lead by about 98%. The company documents state that lead is reduced to the "federal action level". That level is not considered safe for regular long-term consumption. No amount of lead, regardless of how tiny, is safe for consumption.

The disadvantages of reverse osmosis come into play only in the residential sector. That is because the system was designed originally for commercial use. It was then converted for residential purposes and did not meet the requirements that most of us seek.

Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? That is a question that has been debated for decades. First we have to define "safe water to drink". Then we can determine whether reverse osmosis provides safe water.

It is a given that if what we drink to quench our thirst is pure, it would be good for us. But, if it contains contaminants, obviously, it is not. To find the disadvantages of reverse osmosis, we have to study the facts and determine if it really does what it is supposed to do, or it is a lot of hype. You have already seen the hype, here are the facts.

First of all, the system wastes about 4 gallons of water for every one that it filters. That is a lot of wastage and in this day, with all the shortages, we cannot afford that.

Secondly it takes too much time. To filter 1 gallon takes about 3 or 4 hours. This is a huge waste of time.

Thirdly reverse osmosis does not block pesticides, herbicides or other chemical contaminants. Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? No, because if chemicals are left behind, how can it be considered safe?

Another of the disadvantages of reverse osmosis is price. We find that it is one of the most expensive systems on the market. They start at $10,000, and that does not include what the plumber and electrician will charge you for installation.

When you add everything up, there is only one conclusion. To answer the question, does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? We would have to say no. It is not a complete system. Other steps, disinfection and carbon filtration, for example must be added. If you have public water, then it is already disinfected, so all you really need is a good carbon filtration system.

If you have well water, you probably do not need reverse osmosis. If your water comes straight from a lake or river, you probably do. But you need a complete system. So you need both disinfection and carbon filtration.

That's not even the last of the disadvantages of reverse osmosis. You thought we were finished? The process removes nearly all of the health giving minerals that water naturally provides.

Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? Clearly, as a stand alone system, reverse osmosis is not a good residential application. It is easy to be fooled by the hype. But when you know about the disadvantages of reverse osmosis, you can make a better informed decision about a safe water home purification system.

It is certainly a very good idea to invest in some sort of water filtration system for your home, but there are just too many disadvantages to reverse osmosis to make a system using this process a good one to go for.

The ordinary tap water piped into your home has way too many pollutants and contaminants in it to make a good long-term source of drinking water for you and your family. It is certainly a fact that a reverse osmosis water filter will get rid of a significant proportion of these health-damaging impurities. But, the problem with reverse osmosis is that it also removes health-benefiting minerals at the same time.

So how do we know that water that has had its minerals removed from it is bad for you? Well, one of the key indicators is that naturally-occurring water is generally full of minerals which strongly suggests that nature is saying that mineralised water is more conducive to healthy life than water without.

Not everyone is in total agreement that removing just about all of the mineral content from the water you drink is necessarily a bad thing. But, what is not in doubt is that you must supply your body with a comprehensive collection of minerals to maintain optimum health. Given this fact, it surely makes sense that you should be providing at least some of those minerals via the water that you drink on a daily basis.

Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? Unfortunately the only honest answer that can be given to this question is no. Mainly because the reverse osmosis process doesn't fully remove a lot of the synthetic chemicals that are all too common in tap water.

Are there other disadvantages to reverse osmosis? Well, because of its very strong filtering abilities, it leads to the wasting of a lot of water - because a significant volume of water is discarded along with the filtered impurities. This waste of water is not particularly good for the environment and can lead to you paying higher water bills.

There is another more minor disadvantage that you'll have to make your own mind up about in terms of how important it is to you personally. That disadvantage is that some of the external individual filters can be bulky and unsightly-looking.

More and more people are coming to the correct solution that it is a very good idea from a health benefit perspective to install some form of water filtration system. But, despite this fact, there are just too many disadvantages of reverse osmosis for this system to be your water filtration system of choice.

With all the knowledge we now have about the quality of our drinking water and the host of chemicals and contaminants present in our supply, it is of no surprise that many consumers are seeking quality water filtration devices.

Many people purchase a reverse osmosis water dispenser for their home in an effort to achieve clean and healthy drinking supply. It is important for consumers to know a thing or two about such systems.

When you use one it will remove contaminants including dissolved solids and dangerous chemicals like arsenic. They clean drinking water by forcing it through a semi-permeable membrane. When it is forced through, the contaminants cannot pass through the filter with the water because they are too large.

Although these systems remove the majority of contaminants from drinking supply they do have many drawbacks. For starters, they are typically very large and take up a lot of the cabinet space under your sink once they are installed. There are many other filtration methods that use smaller devices.

Reverse osmosis water dispensers are also extremely wasteful. During the purification process they waste more water than they actually purify. In general, the average dispenser wastes around 3 to 5 gallons of water for every 1 gallon of filtered water it provides filtered. Plus, they are extremely slow and often are unable to keep up with demand.

Possibly the most important thing to note is the fact that it removes the healthy minerals. Water is filled with essential, naturally occurring minerals that are vital for human health. Reverse filtering systems remove these healthy, naturally occurring minerals during the filtration process.

The fact is, there are numerous other types of home installed devices that filter more efficiently. It is important to use something that removes the unhealthy contaminants in drinking water but leaves the healthy minerals intact. Too many such systems leave drinking water tasteless and flat without the minerals that make this precious liquid so healthy for human consumption. Therefore the conclusion we must reach is that the technology they use is outdated and inefficient.

Boy, did I learn a valuable lesson when I recently decided to look into the possibility of installing a GE Reverse Osmosis Water system in my home. I wanted to get away from the weekly hassle and expense of hauling 5 gallon water bottles for refill at my local water provider. GE reverse osmosis filters are a very well-known, well-respected brand, so it made sense to me to begin my research with them.

During the course of my investigation, I received a crash course in reverse osmosis water treatment. I discovered seven thought-provoking facts that I'd like to share with you.

1. Originally reverse osmosis was developed as an industrial water filtering system for printing and photo processing. GE reverse osmosis water systems, along with other purification companies, adapted this process for home use in response to the rising demand for clean H2O.

2. R.O. works by forcing water under pressure through a permeable membrane. GE reverse osmosis filters operate the same way. Unfortunately, for every gallon of usable water produced by this system, two to three gallons are wasted. It is possible to recover this wasted water, but you should know that it is a very expensive process

3. While effective at an industrial level, the residential application of reverse osmosis makes sense only for those home owners whose water sources are limited to salinated groundwater. For homes with access to municipal resources, a system such as GE reverse osmosis water, may not be appropriate.

4. The "clean" water that a system like G.E. reverse osmosis water produces is stripped of vital minerals necessary for good health. Drinking this water means that you have to find other sources of calcium, magnesium and potassium, when, normally, all it would take would be to drink a glass of healthy water.

5. Some contaminants, such as certain harmful bacterias, are small enough to make it through the permeable membrane and into your water. It may be necessary to add a disinfecting step to a system like G.E. reverse osmosis filters.

6. Because of the expense of installing and maintaining such a system ($799.99 for a GE reverse osmosis replacement filter), other methods of water purification, such as drinking water filters and whole house filters, may be better suited for in-home use.

7. Residential reverse osmosis systems are usually installed in the kitchen and only treat water used for drinking and cooking. G.E. reverse osmosis water is no different. This means that the water dispensed in the remaining areas of the home - faucets, toilets, baths, showers, and washing machines is still in an unfiltered and, probably, undesirable condition.

Knowing these facts about GE reverse osmosis water purifiers, and their numerous competitive counterparts, made me rethink my approach to purifying the water in my home. After further research, I have found that there are more affordable, easy to install and maintain purification systems available that will deliver clean, HEALTHY water for use by me and my family.

I hope you'll take the information that I've shared with you about GE reverse osmosis filters and use it make the best decision about meeting your specific water filtration needs.

If you do your own reverse osmosis water treatment comparison, you are likely to see why most people choose another option. Consumer's reverse osmosis reviews are sometimes positive, but mostly, there are lots of complaints.

Taste

The first complaint you see in consumer reverse osmosis reviews is that the water tastes stale. The second is often that you can still taste chlorine. It seems that someone might want to conduct a "taste test" reverse osmosis water treatment comparison.

The reason for the stale taste is that RO removes all traces of the minerals. We need minerals to maintain good hydration. They are sometimes referred to as electrolytes. The two most important ones are potassium and sodium.

A better choice for your taste and health is a purifier with an ion exchange step. This step removes traces of lead and copper replacing them with ions of sodium and potassium. The taste is superior.

The reason that people reporting tasting chlorine in their reverse osmosis reviews is simple. The devices do not remove chlorine. Carbon filtration is necessary to do that.

Costs

If a reverse osmosis water treatment comparison is a review of RO devices available from different companies, you will see that the cost ranges from around $1000 to over $10,000. The more effective systems cost the most.

If on the other hand, you compare the cost to that of different technologies, you will see that RO always costs the most, but does not always do the best job.

In reverse osmosis reviews, customers often complain about the cost of installation, the cost of maintenance and increased utility bills. Depending on the distributor, installation is sometimes free. So, if you've decided that RO is right for you, shop around for the best deal.

Installation Challenge for Reverse Osmosis

Homeowners cannot install the devices themselves. They require the help of a plumber. If your primary concern is your kitchen faucet, you can purchase a kitchen countertop unit that is very effective. You can install it yourself. The cost is around $125. And it is not RO.

The reason customer reverse osmosis reviews mention increased utility bills is because electricity is needed to power the devices and water consumption is increased due to wastewater created by the units. Neither of these is a factor with other more modern purification choices

Contaminant Removal

Depending on the device, anything larger than 1 micron is removed. That's why chlorine is not removed. Other chemicals, as well, are much smaller than a micron. Some are even gaseous. Synthetic chemicals and gases can only be removed by carbon and other filtering media through a process called adsorption.

Best Water Filter Device

Whenever I do a reverse osmosis water treatment comparison, I always find new reasons to dislike devices with RO. There are better choices.

The best purification devices for the home combine submicron filtration with carbon, multi-media blocks, adsorption and ion exchange. Those steps remove chemicals, prescription drugs, gases, lead, copper, parasitic cysts, herbicides, pesticides and practically anything that you can think of. In my research, I found one company that manufactures a water filter device that removes the above mentioned contaminants.

There are two common types of water filtration used in top rated home water filters. Carbon filters and reverse osmosis filters use different techniques to remove such contaminants as bacteria, sediments, chemicals, metals and odor.

Simply stated, carbon filters work by passing water through one or more filtering compounds, whereas, reverse osmosis passes water through layers of filtering screens to remove contamination and impurities, then uses water to wash the screens.

Here is how a carbon filter works:

Water is passed through either granular activated carbon (GAC) or a carbon block which removes sediments, micro-organisms and organic compounds.

Some filters will use a micron membrane to remove sand and silt as an initial filtration stage.

Depending on the size and quality of the unit, water may pass through up to 7 or even 8 levels of filtration with each level removing more and more contamination.

Some filtration companies are now using KDF which is a patented medium for fluid filtration to enhance the capabilities of a carbon filtration system.

Studies have determined that GAC and KDF used in combination within a filter unit have a greater capacity to remove contamination than carbon filtration alone.

Carbon filters need to be replaced regularly based on the manufacturers instructions.

Reverse Osmosis water filtration works like this:

Water is first passed through a pre-filter screen to remove sediments and larger particles from the water.

Next water is passed through an even smaller screen to remove very small particles (bacteria, heavy metals, etc).

The third step is passing the water through a carbon filter to complete the filtration process.

As contaminants build up on the filtration screens, the reverse osmosis system uses water to wash the screens - called backwashing. This process can create a lot of waste water; as much as double the amount of water that was purified.

So which type of water filter should you choose?

That depends on your budget and you water usage. Generally, for home use a carbon filtration system provides adequate water purification at a lower cost that reverse osmosis water filtration systems. Reverse osmosis water filters require more water flow for the backwash process - potentially increasing your water bill. You will also need abundant water pressure for a reverse osmosis water purification to work properly.

Generally, it's our thinking that the higher level of water purification provided by a reverse osmosis water filter may be worth the cost if you have a family member with a very severely compromised immune system and you have the water flow to sustain the system. Otherwise, the less expensive and less complicated carbon filtration system will provide the average household with plenty of safe, clean water.

A reverse osmosis water maker purifies water based on technology invented in the 1950's. This water filter type is used in many industrial applications. You can now use this same type filter to get pure water in your home. Here's what reverse osmosis can do and how it does it.

These filters can remove the very smallest of substances that pollute your water.

For example, the smallest bacteria particles sometimes can cause severe illness. This will give you an idea of the size of these dangerous bacteria. The thickness of a human hair is 300 times bigger than the width of these bacteria. A reverse osmosis filter gets these particles plus even smaller particles including chemical pollution and toxic metals too.

Here's how it works. The key part is the membrane of the filter. Your water pressure forces water through a spiral shaped filter element. The pollution is stopped by the filter but part of the pure water passes through. The pollution is just stopped and dumped out with the waste water. Little or no pollution actually makes it into the filter element.

Filters last a long time since the pollution doesn't really make it into the filter. That way there's little maintenance and little changing of filters. It's a cheap way to get pure water.

A reverse osmosis filter is a high tech solution to getting the purest water. It gets out even the smallest of pollution particles and it does it at low cost. There are several tricks though to getting the right filter for your home. You need to know how to get the right size for example.

Residential systems are touted for their ability to reduce lead to the federal action level. If the lead in your water supply exceeds the federal action level, then you should complain to your community's public utility. It is the traces of lead that fall below the federal action level that are believed to cause chronic health problems such as digestive issues, memory loss and dementia in older people or those with weaker immune systems. Reverse osmosis water filter systems were originally used for desalination plants. They did a decent job there. Reverse was also used in the printing industry. However when the idea came up for residential reverse osmosis systems, there were several problems.

Thankfully the usage of residential has declined. Treatment alone is simply not as good as other filter systems that exist. One of the replacements to residential reverse osmosis systems are carbon and multi-resin blocks can be constructed to include a sub-micron sized channel. It is certified to reduce cysts by 99% for six months and the replacement filters are very inexpensive. The best solution for lead reduction is ion exchange. It traps more than 99% of all of the tiny particles that are present in your water.

New residential reverse osmosis systems are slimmed down versions of the systems necessary to treat river or lake water in rural areas. Residential reverse osmosis systems do what they are supposed to do. They remove all trace minerals which is harmful to the health of people. People need trace minerals in their drinking water. It's better for their health and the water taste fresher. In areas where people are the healthiest, the water has naturally balanced trace minerals including potassium, calcium, sodium and others.

Manufacturers of reverse osmosis units make grandiose claims on their abilities and necessity. Manufacturers and advertising claims weave tales of water from the most putrid of sources converted from sludge into refreshing and pure drinking liquids by being run through reverse osmosis water filtration systems.

The reality is quite different. Portable reverse osmosis units were originally designed for military use. In outlying and rural areas, portable reverse osmosis water filtrations systems can be used to draw water of questionable quality from sources such as oceans, rivers, stagnant ponds and pools or even mud holes.

The water would then be run through another series of filters to make it drinkable by removing chemicals, such as chlorine, used to disinfect the water, microscopic parasites, such as cryptosporidium, that are resistant to chlorine, and finally additional steps to improve the taste of the water. Of course, if you have access to a public water source, only the final steps are necessary.

In other words, reverse osmosis water filtration systems were designed to be used in large treatment facilities as an initial step in the effort to provide clean drinking water. In homes with a reliable source of drinking water, reverse osmosis units are a wasteful and an unnecessary expense.

Now, when we say "reliable", we are not talking about all of the things that can still be found in tap water, even after running through the best water treatment facilities. We are talking about water that is not "biologically contaminated". There is no raw sewage in it, no mud, no dirt particles, no trash, no algae and no "bugs" swimming about. Most of those things are taken care of by the reverse osmosis water filtration systems used at the treatment facility.

The contaminants that are found in public tap water and, in many cases, well water are invisible chemicals, toxic heavy metals and microscopic cysts. You can't see them and more than 200 of these very chemical agents have been linked to cancer and heart disease.

Only by using activated carbon and micron filtration can you block these substances.
You might want to have your water tested by an independent laboratory. You may be surprised to learn what's in there, particularly if you are already using something like whole house reverse osmosis water filtration systems. In that case, you probably thought you were safe.

There are many other disadvantages to reverse osmosis units. The least expensive reverse osmosis filtration systems for the whole house start at $10,000 and will do nothing to public water, except maybe remove what few natural minerals are still left after the treatment facilities get through with it.

As part of the reverse osmosis units extensive maintenance requirements, they require chlorine be run through the system to clean it. Algae can grow in the tiny pores of the membranes used in reverse osmosis water filtration systems.

The source water is forced through that membrane under high pressure and much of the source water is lost. Without the membranes reverse osmosis units are completely ineffective and the membranes are expensive to replace. So, in order to protect the membranes from rot and increase their life, plus kill bacteria and other living things that can grow on it, you've got to use the chlorine. Then, of course, in order to remove the chlorine, you'll need activated carbon filters on all your taps and probably your shower heads.

The smallest reverse osmosis water filtration systems are larger than a water heater and must be installed by a plumber. There just isn't anything about reverse osmosis units that makes good sense for in-home use.

If you're shopping for a filtration system for your home, you will likely come across a reverse osmosis water filter. Although it can remove some contaminants from your water, many others get left behind, so it is the best choice when it comes to filtering your home's water. There are much better options available.

An RO system employs technology that is more than 40 years old, and it has not kept up with the new knowledge on filtered water or the prevalence of more synthetic chemicals in our water, which are more difficult to remove. They also waste 2-3 gallons of water for every gallon they produce, and as such are costly to operate.

Reverse osmosis water filters work by passing water under pressure across a semi-permeable membrane with very fine pores that are designed to let only the purified water pass through as the contaminants are trapped in the membrane. In addition to harmful contaminants, though, a reverse osmosis water filter removes trace minerals, which are vital to human health.

These minerals that are naturally-occurring in all water are also removed in the process of distillation. Studies have shown that people who drink distilled water for prolonged periods of time develop mineral deficiencies that can lead to more serious health problems. So, it's not most important that a water filter removes everything from the water, but that only the unwanted chemicals are removed.

Some of the most harmful chemicals potentially present in your water are synthetic chemicals, such as those contained in pesticides and herbicides. Storm water runoff, chemical spills, and inappropriate disposal of these dangerous toxins can send them into the water we use to drink and bathe. Most of these synthetic chemicals have a smaller molecular structure than the pores of a reverse osmosis water filter. This means that while the filter is removing larger chemical and biological contaminants from the water, along with those beneficial trace minerals, it is letting harmful synthetic chemicals pass through.

Reverse osmosis is not the most efficient way to filter water, either. An RO system installed on a kitchen faucet, for example, is capable of filtering about a gallon of water per hour. Since more than a gallon of water is often needed at one time at the kitchen sink, a holding tank for filtered water is necessary.

And in addition to holding back the contaminants they filter, reverse osmosis water filters hold back quite a bit of water, typically wasting twice as much water as they produce during the filtration process. They require a great deal of water pressure to operate well and is often in need of maintenance.

A better alternative to the once effective, but now outdated reverse osmosis water filter is one that uses activated carbon, hailed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to best remove contaminants, including synthetic chemicals, from water. Systems for filtering water that use activated carbon filters as part of a multi-step system of both chemical absorption and filtration will provide you with the peace of mind that you are drinking and bathing in contaminant-free water.

Before purchasing a filtration product using reverse osmosis or any other technology, compare products' Performance Data Sheets to be clear on which filters can remove what contaminants from your water. If you're considering purchasing a reverse osmosis water filter, compare it first with products offering more updated and efficient filtration technology.

Where does one begin when counting down the disadvantages of reverse osmosis? Let's start with ineffective chemical and bacterial filtration, removal of healthy minerals, excess waste and excessive cost. With all of the negatives to the system people still ask me, "Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink?" Don't even get me started.

These are the very same systems that the treatment facilities use in order to clean the city's water. They know full well about the disadvantages of reverse osmosis because they must deal with the archaic system every day. These machines have been in use by the facilities for many years, and many of them are old enough to probably warrant replacement.

RO is not designed in such a way that it can be effective in the removal of bacteria and chemical contamination. The filter is set up primarily for the function of de-mineralization which is simply the removal of larger, 'seeable' particles, not to trap liquid or microscopic sized material. Does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? It doesn't seem to be possible, does it?

Industry utilizes the RO system in order to de-mineralize the water running through the large equipment in order to prevent corrosive build-up. Since there are no chemical or bacterial contaminants to worry about and the amount of waste water is not an important issue the disadvantages of reverse osmosis do not apply here.

If your reason for asking the question does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink has to do with the fact that you've been tossing around the idea of purchasing a home version of the reverse osmosis system, then forget it. What you need to understand is that RO is just one step in a multi stage system. RO can't do the job alone.

If you are in a situation where you live in a remote area away from the main water lines and the only water supply that you have available to draw from is brackish or salty, then by all means purchase an RO system. You would still need a method of disinfection in this case, and once again additional filtering steps would still be necessary.

In homes that have access to the main water supply a home RO system is an unnecessary expense, because the water has already been processed by the treatment center. The disadvantages of reverse osmosis have already been pointed out in the brief section covering the larger facilities, so why would you want a second ineffective system semi-protecting your home?

Back to the initial question does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink? Only with the addition of a good activated granular carbon filter, a multi media block, and a micron filter would it be safe. These three filters will serve to effectively block all of the chemical and bacterial contamination that the original RO screening failed to remove, and in addition they will remove heavy metals from your water. The disadvantages of reverse osmosis simply don't make it worth your time.

Reverse osmosis systems weren't designed in such a way as to effectively purify water.  Will a reverse osmosis system make your water clean enough to drink?  It will make your water clean enough to drink, but still doesn't mean that it's healthy to drink it. Reverse osmosis systems are the weapon of choice for the majority of the public drinking water treatment facilities around the world.  Even the military makes extensive use of them when out in the field and not in areas where they have a safe water supply to depend on, except the military takes it a step further.

Knowing full well that a reverse osmosis system will not clean the water to a healthy standard the military runs their drinking water through an additional multi-stage purification system.  They do this in order to ensure that their people will be assured of not encountering any contaminants. Reverse osmosis systems are used primarily de-mineralize water. They are popular in industrial settings where water is required to be de-mineralized in order to make sure that the expensive machines that they are using will not be damaged by sediment buildup.

They do this because it is a cost effective way to keep maintenance costs down.  The point is that a reverse osmosis system used to clean public drinking water will do no more than the one that is designed for industrial use.  It will simply remove sediment from your water and nothing more. This means that you have to come up with a plan to combat the remaining chemical and biological contaminants that reverse osmosis systems fail to remove.  You're going to have to take the protection of your family's health into you own hands by installing some kind of high quality purification system in your home.

Many companies are hyping reverse osmosis systems for the home in order to give your family the extra protection that you need in order to be able to keep your family healthy.  The problem with that plan is that the system you have at home will do even less than the one at the treatment center did. As we have already established, a reverse osmosis system will only remove sediment from your water.  But if the sediment has already been removed before the water was released to your home. Then what is your system going to be doing?

Americas home reverse osmosis systems are sitting there and eating up your electricity, while effectively not making a single bit of difference in the quality of your drinking water.  If you include the initial selling price combined with the installation costs, and the wasted electricity, that is too much money that that you've had to spend in order to get no results. A reverse osmosis system can only make the water drinkable if it is given some extra help.  You need a high quality purification system with multiple filtering units which will remove all of the chemical and microbial contaminants that remain in the water.  As hard as they try, reverse osmosis systems just aren't enough.

Water filtration is the process of purifying water in order to remove unwanted solids, microorganisms, gases and chemical substances. The water is passed through a medium which retains the solids and allows only water to pass through. It is important that one gets clean, purified water to avoid waterborne diseases. There are various types of water filtration. They include; ion exchange, distillation, filtration, ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis.

Distillation

In this method of water filtration, the water is heated to boiling point where it vaporizes. The vapor is then condensed and stored after it has been collected. It is beneficial since it takes away a wide range of pollutants. The main disadvantage of this type of filtration is that there could be other harmful chemicals that vaporize together with the water and these could be ingested assuming that the water is purified. These are substances that could be having the same boiling point as water. Distillation also uses too much energy.

Ion Exchange

This process involves the exchange of ions. Water is passed through bead-like spherical resin materials. The water ions are exchanged with the ions attached to the beads. This method is usually used for deionization and softening of water. However, this method of filtration works best when used together with other types of filtration such as carbon filtration. This is because it does not take away many of the microorganisms found in water.

Carbon Absorption

In this method, water passed through carbon filters gets rid of unpleasant tastes, smells, chlorine, gases, and many chemicals. Occasionally, this method gets rid of microorganisms. This type of water filtration will not have an effect on hardness of water, heavy metals and solids absorbed in water. The water collected after this method of filtration can be bettered by filtration using another method.

Ultra-filtration

In this method of filtration, water is passed through an ultrafilter which acts like a molecular sieve. It takes away dissolved molecules according to their size. It is beneficial in that it efficiently takes away many particles, microorganisms, pyroids and colloids exceeding their rated size. It also gives very high quality water and uses less energy.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis as the name suggests, is the opposite of natural osmosis. Here hydraulic pressure is put on the concentrated solution to act against the osmotic pressure. Purified water is then collected on the lower part of the membrane. This type of filtration produces water that is purified. The water collected does not contain any salts, sugars, ions and molecules that had been dissolved before filtration. Water filtered using this method, will not have the pleasant tastes that carbon filtered water has. This method is advantageous as it needs minimal maintenance.

Ultraviolet Radiation

This method of water filtration is mainly used to kill germs. Mercury lamps producing 254nm UV light are used. The microorganisms in the water are inactivated when the DNA and proteins of their cells absorb Ultra Violet radiation.

It is advisable that one should combine two or more filtration methods to get better quality water.

There are many different kinds of water filters for home and depending on various factors like budget, priorities and volume; you should able to find the one that is most suitable for your home.

There is no dearth when it comes to picking one up that can get the job done and you should find it relatively easy to choose the one that comes closest to satisfying all your requirements. However, do know that not all water filters are as good as they claim to be.

There are some that are barely good and others that do exceedingly well. When you do go about buying the filter, make sure that you know for sure regarding the technology that is powering the filter system.

Don't buy something that you were attracted to visually or probably what the salesman thought would suit your purposes.

It makes logical sense to buy a model that is good at its job rather than one that you might get at a rock bottom price that is loaded to the teeth with features. After all, water filters for home have to be good at their fundamental job or they are not worth being bothered about.

The basic technologies that make for good water purifiers are the ones which use multi stage or process filtering and also ones which use established technologies like carbon filters in conjunction with something else.

Avoid water filters for home that use reverse osmosis or are built to be point of use distillation. These two techniques are not very effective at getting rid of impurities.

Moreover, some techniques are even known to alter the contents of water to make it more suitable for consumption. This is less than ideal and potentially something that can rob your drinking water off its valuable minerals.

When searching for facts about the best water filtration systems, it's a good idea to consider the following question, reverse osmosis reviews, do they tell it all? The answer is emphatically no!

Much of the problem lies in the fact that not all systems are meant for the same purpose and if you use a well for your water, it will contain different contaminants than if you receive it via a reservoir. So you really need to understand the efficiency level of these machines as well as their capabilities. Websites that compare with reviews often fall short and many are just hyped up marketing copy and useless jargon.

Popular approved filter systems in Australia, Argentina, Canada, which are used for reviews on American websites include:

Whirlpool (wher 25)
AvantaPure
Culligan
Kinetico

Chlorine degrades membranes

Unfortunately a review will not tell you whether the membrane used in the machine is a cheap generic one, so this is the first thing that you need to learn about. If you water has been treated in a reservoir, they will use chlorine which degrades membranes regardless. Here you will be better looking for a multi filtration purifier.

If you are reading a customer review you will find it's uncommon for them to talk about the removal of contaminants and you may read:

tasted my first glass of water today, what a difference
it took the plumber longer to install than I expected
they use Lasco fittings
I highly recommend

Or:

issues with customer service quickly resolved
I recommend to my family and friends
my family loves this instant water
the installation was a breeze

To be honest these tell you absolutely nothing. You may have other people explaining that the filters are easy to change, what the storage tank looks like or that they use it to cook their pasta and potatoes in, but to learn anything of value, you will need to read the product performance data to learn about the really important high tech pointers.

Perhaps you will be lucky enough to come across a website that has done all the hard work for you and will really give you the low down on osmosis and other systems and what to look out for. If you are really impatient then you may be even tempted to skip the rest of the article and look to the bottom of the page for the answers. However I hope you will stay around a little longer.

Some reverse osmosis reviews will provide you with ratings out of five or ten, but this is just a personal opinion on the likes of the comments above.

Multi filtration offers a better solution

A review will not tell you how these systems waste water and will cost you much more to run than a multi filtration system or that you will either still be drinking certain pollutants or else water that is completely devoid of essential minerals. They will not explain about silver nitrate that is often used alongside carbon crystals and the dangers relating to this. It's no good keeping your eyes shut to the lack of information in a review.

You may even prefer a whole house multi filtration machine when you learn about the dangers or showering and bathing in contaminated water. In order to learn the whole truth, don't rely on reverse osmosis reviews, instead read on to find out more: