Living in a house with bad water can be unbearable. Low-quality water is often contaminated with sediments, chemicals, and heavy metals. It’s also loaded with disease-causing microorganisms that can severely damage your health. If you’re currently dealing with bad water, don’t worry. There are easy ways to improve your water’s quality.
Reverse osmosis systems are highly effective water filters that keep your water free from impurities. Installing a reverse osmosis water filter in your home has many benefits, and in this article, we’ll look at all of them. But before we go right into the benefits of reverse osmosis systems, let’s explain what a reverse osmosis system is and how it works.
What Are Reverse Osmosis Systems and How Do They Work?
- RO systems are filtration systems that remove a wide range of impurities from water. They filter off physical and chemical contaminants like sediments, mineral deposits, nitrates, chlorine, heavy metals, pesticides, and PFAs.
- RO filters are semi-permeable and work under high pressure. As contaminated water passes through the system, the impurities are trapped on the semi-permeable membrane, and only clean water molecules pass through.
- Reverse osmosis systems have a sediment filter and a carbon filter, which are either present as pre-filters or post-filters. Pre-filters come before the semi-permeable membrane, and post-filters come after the membrane. The sediment filter removes large particles like rust, sand, and debris, while the carbon filter absorbs contaminants such as chlorine and heavy metals.
Whether you use a private well or you get your water from a public water source, ro systems are a good pick for your home. If your home uses a private well, you’d most likely deal with pesticides and similar chemical contamination in your water due to agricultural runoff from farmlands. RO systems effectively remove pesticides from water. They also remove 98% of other dissolved contaminants, including nitrates and fluorides.
Types of Reverse Osmosis Systems
Reverse osmosis systems are either point-of-use systems or whole-house water systems. Point-of-use reverse osmosis systems are installed at different water outlets and filter water coming from those outlets. Examples of such systems are under sink water filters and countertop water filters.
- Under sink water filters are fixed under the sink and filter the water passing through the sink’s faucet. They require installation and usually take up a lot of space. If you don’t have enough space, this might not be the filter for you.
- Countertop systems are portable and require no plumbing or complex installation. If you’re looking for something easy to install, practical and space-friendly, then a countertop reverse osmosis system is an excellent choice for you.
Unlike point-of-use systems, whole house reverse osmosis systems are fixed in your main water line, and they filter your water before distributing it to different outlets in your home.
8 Benefits of Adding Reverse Osmosis to Your Home
Here are all the reasons why a reverse osmosis filter is a must-have in your home!
1. Standard Filtration
Reverse osmosis systems thoroughly remove impurities from water. They remove obvious impurities like large particles and less obvious ones like lead. Whether you have one installed as a point-of-use or as a whole house system, you’re guaranteed to get contaminant-free water. RO systems are also better than most filters because they filter your water twice, first with the pre-filter and then with the semi-permeable filter membrane.
2. No Need for Bottled Water
RO systems remove the need for bottled water. Whole house or point-of-use reverse osmosis systems ensure that your tap water is safe to drink.
3. It saves money and reduces plastic waste.
Bottled water comes in single-use plastic bottles. People usually dispose of these plastic bottles without recycling them. When this happens, plastics become a threat to our environment by causing pollution. If you use a reverse osmosis system at home, you’ll have no reason to buy bottled water. You’ll be reducing your carbon footprint and saving the environment from global warming caused by plastic waste.
What’s more, you’ll also be saving a lot of money. You can spend an average of $266 yearly on bottled water (multiplied by the number of people in your home). But you can get a countertop ro water filter for less than $100 and enjoy clean water. Whole house systems may be more expensive to install, but they prove to be cost-effective in the long run because it’s a one-time installation.
4. Easy to Install
RO systems can come as countertop systems, which are portable and easy to install. If you don’t want to deal with complex plumbing and installation, the countertop reverse osmosis system is your best option. Countertop systems have a faucet that connects directly to your kitchen tap. The filter removes the impurities as water passes through the unit, leaving you with clean water.
5. Budget-Friendly
You can get a reverse osmosis filter in your home without breaking the bank. Point-of-use reverse osmosis systems are affordable and just as effective as whole house systems. Reverse osmosis system cost depends on many factors, including the size of the system. A whole house setup is much bigger than a point-of-use system application and thus more expensive. Also, most countertop reverse osmosis systems costs way less than under sink filters and are even cheaper to install.
6. Health Benefits
Water impurities cause many health problems. Heavy metals can cause kidney and liver failure. Pesticides in drinking water cause cancers. Fluoride in water can be good in the right amounts, but it causes pain and tenderness of the bones when in excess. RO systems do a fantastic job of removing these water impurities and keeping you and your household safe from health challenges.
7. Removes Minerals
In addition to removing many water contaminants, reverse osmosis filters also filter off minerals from your water. They can remove calcium and magnesium, which are responsible for water hardness. These minerals cause scales to build up in your appliances, reducing their effectiveness and shortening their life span. RO systems remove calcium and magnesium preventing them from forming limescale. Remember that ro systems do not replace water softeners, but they can help protect your appliances.
8. Simple Maintenance
Reverse osmosis systems are relatively easy to maintain, especially if you decide to go for POU systems. All you need to do is to change the filters regularly. The system’s manual gives you a step-by-step guide on how it’s done.
The Thing About Microorganisms
Reverse osmosis water filters are good for your home, but they have one big downside: They don’t remove microorganisms from water. If your home uses a public water supply, this might not be a problem for you because water treatment plants have already done their job. For private well owners, water treatment is entirely up to them. Before choosing a reverse osmosis system, carry out a test on your water to confirm the presence of microorganisms. If your water is contaminated with microorganisms, an ro system will not meet all your water filtration needs. You can purchase an ultraviolet filter to use alongside your ro filter. UV filters are very effective at killing microorganisms.
For more information, visit best-osmosis-systems.com