Many people have questions like, "How does reverse osmosis work?"There are some companies that are selling whole house reverse osmosis systems, so understandably people would have questions.
The systems are expensive and the advertising hype sounds too good to be true.
The truth is that whole house reverse osmosis may be an expense that you can do without.
It's simply not a good choice for most people.
It doesn't really purify tap water.
It does not remove the chlorine and other chemicals that bother most of us.
It doesn't make the water taste better.
But, back to the question, "How does reverse osmosis work?"Water under high pressure is forced through a porous membrane.
The size of the pores determines what particles are trapped.
Visible dirt, for example, would be filtered out.
Chemicals, microscopic organisms and toxic metals like lead would pass right through with the water.
So, you might ask, "What's the point?"There really is no point to whole house reverse osmosis.
Unless you can see that your water is really dirty.
The dangers that most of us face come from those things we can not see.
Reverse osmosis has industrial applications, because it can be used to de-mineralize water.
In some industries, using de-mineralized water to cool metallic parts prevents rust and excessive wear.
In other words, the parts last longer.
In other industries, such as film processing and car washing, the minerals would cause spotting and imperfections.
But, people need minerals in their drinking water.
Studies have shown that people who consistently drink de-mineralized water suffer from mineral deficiencies.
Besides, minerals improve the taste of the water.
Even bottled water companies are adding trace minerals to the water to improve the taste.
For the home, the best filters use several steps to remove chlorine and chemical pollutants.
Activated carbon filters derived from coconut shells block chlorine.
Micron filters trap microscopic organisms that can cause illness or even death.
Ion exchange filters balance the mineral content, so that water is softer, but still healthy to drink.
Whole house reverse osmosis is expensive to maintain and requires the help of a plumber to install.
Other, better home filters can be installed without the help of a plumber.
There are whole house systems that do call for a plumber, but most of us are safe with an under the counter kitchen unit and a shower head filter or two.
The experts say that any filter is better than no filter at all, but it's doubtful that whole house reverse osmosis will really make a difference.
That's why companies that sell them are adding other filters, like activated carbon, to improve the performance.
But, they still waste about 5 times as much water as they clean.
Units that waste less do not work as well and have to be replaced more often.
Hopefully, this answers your questions about how does reverse osmosis work and you can see that there are better choices for your home.