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 However, it has now become completely outdated for residential purposes.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