The original home water filtration method was a reverse osmosis water purifier fitted to your water supply. In the years since this system was introduced, more effective and economical systems have become available and yet major players in the water industry continue to push the old system. This article looks at the disadvantages of reverse osmosis water filters.
Why Are They Still Sold?
These outdated systems are still being promoted by water marketing companies that realize the profits to be made from these very expensive units that start at $10,000 each.
These systems are disproportionately expensive, starting in the region of $10,000 to supply and fit, let alone the annual running and maintenance costs. When there are systems a tenth of the price that will do a better job and have vastly reduced maintenance costs, how are people still persuaded to buy them? The answer lies in the big marketing bucks available to push this outdated product. These units cost a lot to purchase and install, making profits to large water companies lending their weight to them great; well worth their outlay financially to market hard.
Waste
One of the many disadvantages of reverse osmosis water filters is the incredible amount of water that is flushed away as waste, in order to produce a tiny fraction of filtered drinking water.
As an example, in order to produce 5 gallons of treated water, units discharge between 40 to 90 gallons of water as waste! This is bad enough, but if you are one of the thousands of people using a septic system to collect waste water from your home, then the chances are you will need to upgrade the size of your tank.
Power
This particular system needs plenty of power in order to turn waste water in to that which is drinkable. Certainly when you take into consideration the ratio of waste water to make drinking water a lot of electricity is required and this is not only bad for your home electricity bills but for the environment as well.
So Does Reverse Osmosis Make Water Safe To Drink?
The big question! With all this power usage and waste-water sloshing around the system, does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink?
There is no doubt that this system will make the water safer to drink than if left untreated, but the one word answer to "does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink?" has to be no.
Other disadvantages of reverse osmosis systems are their removal of healthy minerals and failure to remove some of the harmful cysts and chemicals in the 'purified' water.
One manufacturer has freely admitted as much with a proviso that these kinds of units are only designed to clean up the water's aesthetic properties. They don't actually act as a way of preventing waterborne toxic and microbiological chemicals from getting into the supply.
One other disadvantage of reverse osmosis filters is that they can remove all the natural minerals which are good for us from the water. If giving your family fresh, clean, pollutant free water as efficiently and cost effectively as possible is your aim, then you would do well to look elsewhere.
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