by David Eastham
When it comes to cleaning up salty, brackish, water from a well, or even water laced with a lot of iron, manganese, sulphur, etc., reverse osmosis reviews are very good. And, I would say well deserved. However, RO technology is costly and cumbersome to say the least, and, unless you have the salt water problem, there are now much better systems to use. Today we will do a reverse osmosis water treatment comparison with more modern technology.
In large areas of the U.S., people are dealing with brackish water, or water with high mineral content. I have been offered such water that I just could not drink due to the strong taste or smell. I have also tasted the water after it was filtered with a RO system and, although the owner’s though it tasted great, I always found it to be “stale” tasting.
Compared to the unfiltered water the stale water is much better, but it does point to another problem. The funky taste came from the lack of minerals in the filtered water because the RO system completely removed them. Minerals such as calcium and potassium give water its pleasant taste, and these minerals are essential to good health. But, water without any minerals is a little acidic and, if consumed, it will rob calcium from our bodies in order to get back to a neutral state. Those suffering from osteoporosis may want to consider mineral supplements if they are drinking water from a RO system.
Many experts in the areas of health and nutrition feel water stripped of minerals is unhealthy if used on a long-term basis, since cancer seems to only exist in environments which are acidic.
The RO filter consists of a semi-permeable membrane that filters out any matter larger than a water molecule. This is done by forcing the water through the membrane and sometimes, if there is not adequate water pressure, a booster pump may be needed.
Even with adequate pressure, however achieved, much of the water still will not pass through the membrane and, with many systems it becomes a costly waste byproduct.
The vast majority of our drinking water is “sanitized” with chlorine, a poison, and chlorine will not be removed by a RO system because the molecules are even smaller than water’s and will pass thruogh the screen. The same is true of the thousands of synthetic organic chemicals found in our water supplies. To have these compounds removed a carbon filter must be used in combination with any RO system.
Any filter system will somewhat reduce your water pressure, but, as you might expect, RO systems are very slow producers. In order to have an adequate supply of water for bathing or doing laundry you will need a storage tank complete with a diaphram to maintain pressure.
When these units are assembled with the filters, pump (if needed), storage tank, etc., there are a lot of things to go wrong and the largest areas of gripes in the reverse osmosis reviews is over maintenance costs and start up costs.
If your drinking water comes from a water utility company, or from a chlorinated well, not plagued with brackish water, I would strongly urge you to compare the RO system to a selective filtration system. They are also referred to as multi-stage systems.
In multi-stage filtration the water flows through activated carbon that has been blended with a filter resin and compressed into a solid block. This modern technology filters out the chemicals with the carbon, the minerals leave through ion-exchange, and the rest of the bad guys get trapped with the tiny submicron filter pores. All you get is clean, healthy water with all the healthy minerals still there (by choice).
And, it’s all done with no pumps, no storage tanks, no extra maintenance or operating costs, and no need for mineral supplements.
About the Author:
David Eastham has done extensive research on such subjects as a reverse osmosis water treatment comparison to find the very best ways to provide families
good, clean water. Follow him for his choices as the very best dollar for dollar buy, and the very best product overall, in
water filtration systems.