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 However, it has now become completely outdated for residential purposes.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.