Is reverse osmosis water really the best choice or are high-end carbon filters as good? Any thoughts on ionic
Saturday, April 10th, 2010 at
6:27 pm
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Is reverse osmosis water really the best choice or are high-end carbon filters as good? Any thoughts on ionic”.
Tagged with: bad water • carbon filters • chlorine • choices • free water • google • ionic water • minerals • municipality • script type • text javascript • Water Filters • water testing • whole house filtration system
Filed under: Water Filter System
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Carbon Filters are used to remove "organics" from the water, they cannot remove minerals from water. It is impossible for that to happen. If someone told you they remove chlorine from water, they are wrong.
The ionic filters, use Zeolite crystals to or a medium similar that can remove minerals, but never chlorine. The ionic filters are a "replacement" process in which one ion is replaced by another. For example, calcium ion would be replaced by sodium ion, that is how an ordinary water softner works, those are often called ion filters.
Reverse Osmosis or RO is a process that is possible because in the supply water, some of the molecules of water are in the absolute pure state, that is pure water nothing attached to the water molecule. These molecules of pure water are SMALLER than those containing impurities. The RO filter thus lets only the pure or smaller water past the filter into a pure container while FLUSHING DOWN THE SEWER the larger molecules containing impurities attached to them, that includes the cholorine molecule attached to the water molecule.
So you can see, depending how "dirty" your source water is, then the "yield" of good pure water is directly dependent on that factor. So lots of impurities in water, lots of the source is then flushed down the sewer.
Now, if you have organics in the water, then those organics will "load up" the membranes or filters media of the RO system. So it is not uncommon to place in front of the RO filter a carbon filter to rid of the organics so that the RO has a longer life before it needs to be changed.
The amount of chlorine in city water is extremely small. The chlorine is a very mobile molecule. Extremely small amounts of it effect the taste. It is however, very effective in ridding of live organisms as it is "nascent" and hunting to attach to organisms and kill them. I would not try to remove chlorine from my bathing water. First, it is of such a small quantity that the contaminants in one’s bar of soap far exceed anything that the chlorine molecule might contribute.
The system most needed is thus a Carbon filter followed by an RO membrane filter, preferably under the sink to supply good tasting water to drink and cook with. That is exactly the system used in the bottled water industry and those RO systems you see in the grocery stores.
You will find it totally un necessary and wasteful (as an RO system flushes a lot of water down sewer ) of water supply to try to use and RO filter on your whole water system, to wash, clean, and flush toilets with.
You can, however, install quite effective carbon filters to rid city water supply of organics. Where I live the fall is very bad on water supply as leaves enter the reserviours and dissolved organics enter the water supply which I remove with organic filters.
Remember, with a city supply and RO will become quickly contaminated and disfunctional unless you rid of those organics first. Good Luck.
I use a reverse osmosis filter for my drinking water and the water has a very good taste compared to what I get out of the regular tap. It takes out the chlorine taste, plus a lot of other things like lead. The one I have is only a small one for drinking water and it cost about $150 and made by Whirlpool. Most of the bottled water your buy in stores is filtered by reverse osmosis. For a whole house system I’d go for a water softener and the reverse osmosis for drinking
It seems like you have done your research pretty well judging by your comments. No one can tell you what is the best, as you have to decide which is best for your situation. All systems will purify the water, it just depends on what YOU are willing to settle for.
Your comments tell me you probably know more about this subject than anyone who will answer this question.
Go with your gut, you will make the right decision.