What To Look For In A Reverse Osmosis System
Monday, March 16th, 2009Harmful substances in your drinking water may be a serious health and safety concern for you and your family. If you suspect your water supply is contaminated, there are things you can do to make sure it doesn’t flow from your own faucet. There are several water filtration systems for the home that can remove most of these impurities in the water you use for drinking and cooking. Reverse osmosis systems are one of these popular methods for cleaning up the water that comes out of your kitchen faucet.
The central step in the reverse osmosis process lies in what happens inside the membrane, which is the most important part of the RO set up. Here water is forced through this thin porous film which only allows anything the size of a water molecule to pass through. Anything else greater than .001 microns are prevented from penetrating this barrier. Potentially harmful impurities such as bacteria, industrial wastes and pesticides can not go through and are drained away. What comes out the other end of this membrane is mostly pure water.
The membrane isn’t the only critical component of the reverse osmosis system. In addition, there is usually a pre-filter and a post filter that come before and after the membrane in the RO set up respectively. The pre-filter blocks sediment such as sand, silt and dirt in the water from entering through. There may be another pre-filter that uses carbon to remove chlorine which may have a negative effect on some types of membranes. Then after the membrane there is usually a carbon post filter that eliminates any remaining odor or tastes in the purified water.
Reverse osmosis systems operate in the same way and look very much alike. They also use the same basic components. The only difference in RO systems is in the quality of the filters and membranes they use. When shopping for a reverse osmosis system and having it installed, home owners should first find adequate solutions for their water quality problem before making a serious commitment. RO systems must be maintained to insure water quality. That means parts and filters will need to be replaced on a regular basis. You must be aware of these ongoing costs and be ready to keep the system operating smoothly.