Product Reviews Facts and Notes

Residential reverse osmosis systems are one of the best systems, if you are fighting a salt water battle. If you don’t have a salt water issue, then you have options with the newer technologies that are much less expensive to buy and to operate. We will compare one of these options with reverse osmosis in this article.

You may be reading this article because you have been hearing more and more about the importance of reducing our body’s exposure to toxins. Something often referred to as reducing the “body burden.”

For a long time now the quality of the water we drink and bathe in has been a concern, but today scientists are telling us a greater concern is the body burden being imposed by the poor air quality in our homes. Chloroform, one of the toxic byproducts of chlorine in our water, is one of the worst offenders.

The EPA said, “Every home in America has an elevated level of chloroform gas (in the air) due to the vaporization of chlorine from tap and shower water.” (Also, while the shower produces the most chloroform in the air, the dishwasher and the washing machine aren’t far behind).

The quality of the air and the quality of the water in our homes can both be enhanced greatly by whole house water purification units, since they remove the toxins as soon as the water enters the home.

And, there is a compelling reason to look at RO and SF technologies before you buy, because they differ significantly in initial costs and the cost to operate.

Good quality residential reverse osmosis systems are around $10,000. Good quality residential selective filtration systems come in at about $800. For most of us that difference might determine whether or not we can even get a whole house unit.

What causes the huge price difference?

One of the hardest things to remove from water is salt and, years ago, RO was developed as a cheaper way to clean up salt water than by using distillation. But that was when water and electricity were both very cheap. Today RO is an expensive technology as you will see.

RO systems push water through a membrane using the home’s water pressure. The membrane’s pores are microscopic in size, allowing only molecules small than a water molecule to pass through. Larger contaminants remain behind the membrane.

Not all contaminants are stopped by the membrane. Chlorine, its byproducts and many other chemical compounds have small molecules that allow them to pass through easily. Carbon filters are added to remove them and to protect the membrane.

The RO systems are faster than distillation, but the smaller units will only produce a gallon of filter water every two or three house. The larger whole house units are good for about 80 gallons an hour. Either system, large or small, uses pressurized storage tanks for delivering larger quantities of water quickly.

The minimum pressure required to operate most of the smaller countertop units is 40 psi (pounds per square inch) and older homes, or some well water systems, may need to add booster pumps. Since more pressure is required to operate the whole house systems, booster pumps are usually included with the unit.

These systems waste a large quantity of water that will not go through the membrane even with sufficient pressure applied. This water is often thrown out with the collected contaminants. The typical system wastes two to five gallons of water for each gallon that is filtered.

While there are systems that do recycle the waste water, it is the cost of the recycling, extra pumps (if needed), electricity, and storage tanks that lead to the higher initial costs, and higher operating costs. Also, the more parts in the system, the more Murphy’s Law is likely to influence required maintenance and further increase operating costs.

If you are on a chlorinated water system (95% of us are), a good option for consideration is selective filtration.

Selective filtration on the whole house level uses an innovative multistage filtration process consisting of mechanical filtration, redox and adsorptive filtration to rapidly process the water.

Toxic metals dissolved in the water, such as lead or mercury, are removed by a chemical exchange process using a redox filter in a simple filtration technique. Until the recent development of redox filters, only RO or distillation could remove dissolved lead and other toxic metals from water.

Chlorine and its byproducts, along with other organic chemicals, are 99 percent (plus) removed by the activated charcoal. And, the total process treats water somewhat like a water softener, with no sodium added, and the odors, bad tastes and sediment are also removed.

Selective filtration units are simple to install, and work quickly to filter over 7 gallons of water per minute with no waste, and no electricity, storage tanks, or booster pumps required.

For anyone wanting to improve the air and water quality in their home, selective filtration systems are a viable cost saving option to consider.