Translating…
If you’re considering a filtering system to purify water for drinking and cooking in your home, then you won’t find anything that will outperform reverse osmosis systems to make your water safe to drink and great-tasting.
Every day you rely on your public or private water source. Although municipal water treatment plants clean the water of particulates, they add chemicals to kill bacteria and viruses. The problem is that these chemicals are harmful to us as well. Treatment plants don’t remove these chemicals, the dead bacteria, or the traces of industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals that are increasingly finding their way into our water ways, and into our homes, putting us at risk for sickness and disease.
Private wells have many of the same contaminates, and some in much higher concentrations. Herbicides and pesticide chemicals from farm runoff, and dangerous bacteria and viruses are common contaminates from rural wells.
How Do Residential Reverse Osmosis Systems Work?
Basically, the incoming water pressure, whether from a municipal water supply, or a well, forces water molecules through a semi-permeable membrane leaving contaminants behind, which are then flushed down the drain.
The pores in a reverse osmosis membrane are as big as 0.0005 um (five-ten-thousandths microns) in diameter, which is only slightly larger than the water molecule itself. With water pressure, water molecules are forced through these microscopic pores, leaving behind a myriad of contaminates. This purified water (permeate) is stored in a holding tank, while the water that didn’t pass through the membrane, containing a high concentration of contaminants, is flushed down the drain. Household reverse osmosis systems are capable of removing dissolved solids like salts and minerals, lead and other heavy metals, chlorine, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and other harmful industrial toxins.
Because of the expense of whole house reverse osmosis systems, it’s more practical to install a system that’s dedicated for drinking and cooking water. This smaller-scale option is usually an under-the-counter system, where an entirely separate faucet is installed on your sink, fed from the storage tank below.
The Stages of Filtration
Reverse Osmosis systems for home drinking water are units that consist of several filters. Usually, there is at least one pre-filter (before the RO membrane) in the system – an activated carbon filter, which filters the incoming water. “Activated carbon” means that the carbon filter has been chemically treated to improve its adsorption properties and filtration capacity. The water then passes through the RO membrane, which filters the water much further. After the RO filter, the purified water is then stored in a holding tank.
When someone opens the counter-top RO tap, the pressurized holding tank pushes the purified water through yet another carbon filter. This filter is called the post-filter (after the RO membrane), also known as a “polishing” filter. This carbon filter further removes any lingering tastes or odors. The result is pure, healthy, and clean-tasting water, free of chemicals and other contaminates!
If your water source is from your own private well, it’s recommended that you choose a system that is adapted for wells. In these reverse osmosis systems, a sediment filter first removes rough particles, sand, dirt, rust, and silt before the carbon pre-filter. This helps keep the subsequent filters from fouling too quickly. If you need a portable system, or don’t want to install an under-counter model, you can opt for a smaller countertop RO system, which allows you to hook up a small filtration system directly to your existing tap. Simply attach the feed line to the faucet, turn the faucet on, and water is filtered through the system. It’s even small enough to sit next to your microwave, or convenient enough to take on your next camp trip.