Reverse Osmosis Does Not Make Water Safe to Drink. Here are 5 reasons to choose another type of water purification system.
1. Reverse Osmosis De-mineralizes the Water
One reason reverse osmosis does not make water safe to drink is: RO (reverse osmosis) demineralizes the water. Trace minerals are vital to our health. All water from natural sources has some mineral content. If it is removed regularly, digestive problems and nutritional deficiencies can occur.
2. Reverse Osmosis Wastes Water and Electricity
This is one of the biggest cost reasons against using reverse osmosis systems. The more effective they are the more water they waste. For every one gallon of water RO processes it uses (wastes) from 1/2 gallon to 5 gallons of water. It also wastes electricity because other water filter systems do not need electricity to filter water.
3. Chemicals Pollutants Get By Reverse Osmosis
From a health point this is an overwhelming reason why RO should not be used especially for in home use. Chemical pollutants pose is a very serious danger. As a result, surface water and ground water in all countries is being contaminated. It has been estimated that over 1000 cancer causing chemicals, along with drugs, have been found in water supply systems.
Reverse osmosis does not filter these dangerous villians from your tap water. Therefore, reverse osmosis does not make water safe to drink. This is one of the greatest disadvantages of reverse osmosis.
4. Bacteria Gets By Reverse Osmosis
Cyst contamination is real possibility in just about any water. The federal government has stated that finding cysts in the water supply is impractical.
When cysts are ingested they grow and sicknesses result, such as, severe diarrhea and stomach pains. This can be very dangerous for children who are immune compromised.
5. Reverse Osmosis Price is High
There are other more advanced and more effective water filter systems that cost much less. You can get a whole house filter for as little as 1/10th of the cost of a reverse osmosis system. Pay less and get more.
The 5 Disadvantages of Reverse Osmosis Are:
1. It de-mineralizes water creating a possible health risk. Our bodies need minerals for good health.
2. Using extra water and electricity to pressurize water is an obvious waste of money.
3. Since chemical contamination gets through the RO system then why have such a device? Who wants possible drugs and medication in their water?
4. Bacteria, cysts, etc have no place in our home drinking water. We need a water filter system that removes them.
5. Price of the RO system is also wasteful because you are not getting what you are paying for: Protection and safety. You get more by paying less.
The bottom line is reverse osmosis water filter systems do not make water safe to drink.
In my research I found an excellent water filter system that works beautifully. It does the job efficiently. It does not cost a fortune.
There are many advantages of reverse osmosis water filter. Gone are the days when people happily consumed direct tap water and remained healthy. Ironically, people did not suffer from as many diseases back then as we do now, even though they consumed unfiltered water, because the direct water from the tap was good enough for daily consumption.
It is only in the recent times that the tap water seems to be often contaminated and not considered potable. People are now compelled to install water purifiers at home to have safe drinking water. There are various kinds of water filters readily available online and in retail shops. The reverse osmosis water filter is the current rage among water filters. Fundamentally, there are many different types of water filters, and each one of the works on a specific principle.
The most common are activated carbon water filters that work on adsorption principles to remove impurities and substances which are harmful for the body and skin. The benefits of activated carbon in various facets of our daily life are well known.
One of the main benefits of using reverse osmosis water filter is that it succeeds in removing impurities that have led to serious health complications. It also prevents the ugly scaling and stains untreated water can cause.
This kind of filter renders the water soft, free from harmful chemicals and also great for the skin and hair. This reverse osmosis water filter is one of the most preferred one amongst many households today.
Around the world, household drinking water purification systems, including a reverse osmosis step, are commonly used for improving water for drinking and cooking.
Such systems typically include a number of steps:
a sediment filter to trap particles including rust and calcium carbonate
optionally a second sediment filter with smaller pores
an activated carbon filter to trap organic chemicals and chlorine, which will attack and degrade TFC reverse osmosis membranes
a reverse osmosis (RO) filter which is a thin film composite membrane (TFM or TFC)
optionally a second carbon filter to capture those chemicals not removed by the RO membrane
optionally an ultra-violet lamp for disinfecting any microbes that may escape filtering by the reverse osmosis membrane
In some systems, the carbon pre-filter is omitted and cellulose triacetate membrane (CTA) is used. The CTA membrane is prone to rotting unless protected by chlorinated water, while the TFC membrane is prone to breaking down under the influence of chlorine. In CTA systems, a carbon post-filter is needed to remove chlorine from the final product water.
Portable reverse osmosis (RO) water processors are sold for personal water purification in various locations. To work effectively, the water feeding to these units should best be under some pressure (40 psi or greater is the norm). Portable RO water processors can be used by people who live in rural areas without clean water, far away from the city's water pipes. Rural people filter river or ocean water themselves, as the device is easy to use (Saline water may need special membranes). Some travelers on long boating trips, fishing, island camping, or in countries where the local water supply is polluted or substandard, use RO water processors coupled with one or more UV sterilizers. RO systems are also now extensively used by marine aquarium enthusiasts. In the production of bottled mineral water, the water passes through an RO water processor to remove pollutants and microorganisms. In European countries, though, such processing of Natural Mineral Water (as defined by a European Directive) is not allowed under European law. (In practice, a fraction of the living bacteria can and do pass through RO membranes through minor imperfections, or bypass the membrane entirely through tiny leaks in surrounding seals. Thus, complete RO systems may include additional water treatment stages that use ultraviolet light or ozone to prevent microbiological contamination.)
Membrane pore sizes can vary from .1 to 5,000 nanometers (nm) depending on filter type. "Particle filtration" removes particles of 1,000 nm or larger. Microfiltration removes particles of 50 nm or larger. "Ultrafiltration" removes particles of roughly 3 nm or larger. "Nanofiltration" removes particles of 1 nm or larger. Reverse osmosis is in the final category of membrane filtration, "Hyperfiltration", and removes particles larger than .1 nm.
In the United States military, R.O.W.P.U.'s (Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit, pronounced "roh-poo") are used on the battlefield and in training. They come ranging from 1500 GPD (gallons per day) to 150,000 GPD and bigger depending on the need. The most common of these are the 600 GPH (gallons per hour) and the 3,000 GPH. Both are able to purify salt water and water contaminated with N.B.C. (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) agents from the water. During a normal 24 hour period, one unit can produce anywhere from 12,000 to 60,000 gallons of water, with a required 4 hour maintenance window to check systems, pumps, R.O. elements and the engine generator. A single ROWPU can sustain a force of a battalion size element or roughly 1,000 to 6,000 soldiers.(from Wikipedia)
Formally, reverse osmosis is the process of forcing a solvent from a region of high solute concentration through a semipermeable membrane to a region of low solute concentration by applying a pressure in excess of the osmotic pressure.
The membranes used for reverse osmosis have a dense barrier layer in the polymer matrix where most separation occurs. In most cases the membrane is designed to allow only water to pass through this dense layer while preventing the passage of solutes (such as salt ions). This process requires that a high pressure be exerted on the high concentration side of the membrane, usually 2–17 bar (30–250 psi) for fresh and brackish water, and 40–70 bar (600–1000 psi) for seawater, which has around 24 bar (350 psi) natural osmotic pressure that must be overcome.
This process is best known for its use in desalination (removing the salt from sea water to get fresh water), but since the early 1970s it has also been used to purify fresh water for medical, industrial, and domestic applications.
Osmosis describes how solvent moves between two solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane to reduce concentration differences between the solutions. When two solutions with different concentrations of a solute are mixed, the total amount of solutes in the two solutions will be equally distributed in the total amount of solvent from the two solutions. Instead of mixing the two solutions together, they can be put in two compartments where they are separated from each other by a semipermeable membrane. The semipermeable membrane does not allow the solutes to move from one compartment to the other, but allows the solvent to move. Since equilibrium cannot be achieved by the movement of solutes from the compartment with high solute concentration to the one with low solute concentration, it is instead achieved by the movement of the solvent from areas of low solute concentration to areas of high solute concentration. When the solvent moves away from low concentration areas, it causes these areas to become more concentrated. On the other side, when the solvent moves into areas of high concentration, solute concentration will decrease. This process is termed osmosis. The tendency for solvent to flow through the membrane can be expressed as "osmotic pressure", since it is analogous to flow caused by a pressure differential.
In reverse osmosis, in a similar setup as that in osmosis, pressure is applied to the compartment with high concentration. In this case, there are two forces influencing the movement of water: the pressure caused by the difference in solute concentration between the two compartments (the osmotic pressure) and the externally applied pressure.(from WikiPedia)
Reverse osmosis is similar to the membrane filtration treatment process. However there are key differences between reverse osmosis and filtration. The predominant removal mechanism in membrane filtration is straining, or size exclusion, so the process can theoretically achieve perfect exclusion of particles regardless of operational parameters such as influent pressure and concentration. RO (Reverse Osmosis), however involves a diffusive mechanism so that separation efficiency is dependent on influent solute concentration, pressure and water flux rate [1]. It works by using pressure to force a solution through a membrane, retaining the solute on one side and allowing the pure solvent to pass to the other side. This is the reverse of the normal osmosis process, which is the natural movement of solvent from an area of low solute concentration, through a membrane, to an area of high solute concentration when no external pressure is applied.
Water is a gift of nature!
The total amount of water on the earth is finite, while man's capacity for pollution is accelerating fast with the growth of population, agriculture and industry across the globe. Local water bodies may very quickly be exhausted and become polluted due to greed and ignorance; water can become a source of death and disease rather than life.
The water-related infections of man are extremely numerous and diverse. In general the following are the ways in which diseases may be carried by water.
* Pathogenic organisms are transmitted from one person to another through their domestic water supply. (e.g.) cholera, typhoid and hepatitis.
* Inadequate water supply, lack of personal cleanliness (e.g.) trachoma and skin infection
* Infection transmitted by organisms which live in water. (e.g.) helminths (parasitic flukes) that spend part of their life cycle in water.
* Insect vectors which are related in some way to water transmit inflection. (e.g.) yellow fever, malaria etc.
The need is great in the Developing World!
1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water
2.9 billion people do not have adequate sanitation facilities
11,000 children die each day of water-related diseases
Welcome! This lens discusses where the contaminants in our drinking water come from, and how water filtration works to eliminate them. Read about water-related diseases, the need for clean water in the developing countries, and what you can do about it.
