Reverse Osmosis Filter

The value of reverse osmosis water filter systems for home use has been overstated by manufacturers and marketers. Large facilities typically use reverse osmosis treatment during the initial or secondary stages, but it is a long way from being clean enough to pass government standards for public drinking water. And, as you probably know, those standards are not that high.

There are over 2000 different cancer causing chemicals in tap water. Reverse osmosis water filter systems can block very few of them. They work by forcing water under high pressure through a porous membrane. The size of the pores determines what substances are blocked.

Most chemicals dissolve in water and their molecular size is smaller than that of water. So, when the water passes through, the chemicals go right along with it. Reverse osmosis treatment was never designed to do what most of us need an in-home system to do.

People who can see dirt in their water may be wise to invest in reverse osmosis water filter systems, but additional filters are still needed to make the water "drinkable". Armies use portable units when they are traveling in areas with dirty water, but they also use disinfectants, because the system does not kill or trap bacteria.

Companies that need de-mineralized water often invest in reverse osmosis treatment, because it can reduce the mineral content to practically nothing. People should not drink de-mineralized or distilled water. It's bad for the digestion and can lead to mineral deficiencies.

The compounds that come through the tap are too small to see with the naked eye. Sometimes, you can smell them or taste them, but they are mostly microscopic. That's one reason they are so dangerous. We don't know that they are there.

Several years ago in Milwaukee, over a hundred people died as a result of drinking tap water. The water supply had been infected with a microscopic parasite that may only cause a stomach ache, but can cause serious illness. Water experts commonly refer to the microscopic organisms as cysts.

Reverse osmosis water filter systems can not block cysts. The cysts are resistant to chlorine, which kills most living things in the water and can cause health problems in humans. So, even though the treatment facility in Milwaukee had done everything they were required by law to do, they were unable to protect the public.

Environmental groups would like for the government to do more to protect us. But, they may be doing as much as they can. Years of dumping pollutants on the ground, where it seeps into the water supply and directly into the water, either purposefully or because of run-off can not be corrected over night. It's up to us to protect ourselves.

Reverse osmosis treatment cannot protect us, but there are excellent water filters that can. You should learn more about those and forget about the reverse osmosis water filter systems, at least for now.