How Reverse Osmosis Cleans Drinking Water

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When the Environmental Protection Agency releases press reports indicating that one in five water systems in the U.S. distributed contaminated drinking water, wise consumers begin considering the alternatives. Most often, these alternatives include subscribing to a water service for bottled water delivery or adding drinking water filtration to an existing water supply.

Before signing up with the water service that bought the largest ad in the yellow pages, it is important to evaluate all the options and to know what you are really getting for your money. One of the most important questions to ask is, "Where does my water service get their water?" If the answer is that they are using a filtration system, then you need to know that not all filters are created equal.

One of the most popular methods of drinking water filtration is reverse osmosis. In simple osmosis, as occurs in nature, a liquid under pressure passes through a filter such as the semi-permeable membrane of a cell wall or a deposit of sand and gravel until the pressure is equalized. The liquid that emerges on the other side of the filter is purer because the filter has trapped the larger molecules or contaminants. Reverse osmosis uses pressure to force the water being treated to pass through the filter.

The semi-permeable filters used for reverse osmosis treatment are usually made of a polyamide-based material that has a very small pore size and is biologically and chemically resistant to breaking down. The advantage of using a reverse osmosis system is that the small pores restrict most of the organic matter such as bacteria from passing through. It is also highly effective on filtering out inorganic salts and minerals. Reverse osmosis leaves the water nearly pathogen-free and greatly reduces the risk of waterborne diseases.

The disadvantage is that very small molecules can slip through the pores as well as the water. Chlorine, as well as some pesticides and herbicides, all have molecules small enough to slip through the filtering membrane. To fix this, a second filtering through a carbon filter is needed. Taken together, reverse osmosis in conjunction with a carbon filter will provide very safe drinking water.

To give a candid representation of reverse osmosis, one more distinction needs to be pointed out. Safe drinking water is not necessarily the most healthful or best tasting drinking water. While the contaminants are being filtered out, some beneficial minerals are also being trapped and removed. Regular drinking water contains traces of iron that maintains healthy red blood cells and manganese that helps regulate protein and gives the water a better taste. This is also a problem with other methods of water purification such as distillation.

The reverse osmosis method is used on-site in many bottleless water coolers. They hook up to an existing cold water line to give a continuous source of drinking water. This eliminates the opportunity for treated water to become re-contaminated as it sits in storage, or in a cooler. Some companies can hook one of these units up right under your kitchen sink.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

In South Florida find out more about West Palm Beach drinking water. Visit our website to learn more about West Palm Beach and South Florida bottleless water coolers. Call 954-522-2267

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