With the growing popularity of whole house water filtration, reverse osmosis water filtration systems have become a popular and highly effective method of water purification. Once you request more information about your local water purification system from your state’s environmental agency or have your private well tested, you will know if a reverse osmosis system will work for you. Below are some key points to consider before buying a reverse osmosis water filtration system.
Reverse osmosis water filtration systems work by sending pressurized water through the microscopic pores of a membrane (filter). Being semi-permeable, the membrane eliminates a large percentage of impurities and contaminates. Even though the technology has existed for over 50 years, reverse osmosis has become widely used in industry and government to produce pure drinking water from sea water. Only more recently has reverse osmosis water gained popularity as costs have decreased significantly. Now the bottled water companies are getting in on the RO bandwagon, touting their water as being better for you than you tap water and, in most cases, they are correct. However this does not mean you have to pay the outrageous prices for bottled water.
At a cost of well over $6 per gallon, bottled water is not only bad for the environment, but bad for your budget. Compare that to an average cost of $0.05 per gallon from a good reverse osmosis system and the cost savings add up quickly. While there are very basic models that install to the faucet in your kitchen, I recommend an under sink reverse osmosis system that comes with several filtration stages (in addition to the RO membrane itself) to be sure you have the most pure water available.
The primary downside to a reverse osmosis system is the upfront cost. Retail prices are from $400 to over $1000, however, this cost is quickly recouped for those that purchase bottled water. You can get wholesale pricing by clicking below:
Another potential downside is that it generally takes about four gallons of water to purify one gallon of drinking water. To alleviate this, there are so called zero waste reverse osmosis systems that recycle the rejected water back into the membrane. In addition, you can set up an inexpensive waste water capturing system to use the rejected water for flushing your toilet. Additionally, some scientists argue that removing the beneficial minerals such as fluoride, magnesium, and calcium (common in tap water) makes purified water less healthy than tap water. In my opinion, the minerals found in water are also found in abundance in the food you eat, so there is nothing to worry about. As for the fluoride, just continue to brush your teeth with a fluoride based toothpaste and you are all set.
Before investing in a reverse osmosis water purification system, you need a detailed report about your local drinking water. You can either get this from a state agency or have your private well tested. You can also get a free water usage consultation if you Contact Us. We can design a custom solution for your situation.