13 Benefits of Reverse Osmosis Systems
Written by: Gene Fitzgerald // Last Updated: Aug 25, 2023
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Wondering whether purchasing a reverse osmosis system is a good idea for your home?
Let me tell you, these systems have so many benefits and advantages!
We’ve tried to find all of them and made a list out of it. So without further ado…
Contents
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Key Takeaways
A reverse osmosis system brings many benefits to the table:
- It’s highly effective at purifying water making it safe to drink.
- You also get clean water for cooking.
- RO water tastes a lot better.
- Better tasting water could mean you drink more of it for improved hydration.
- A storage tank means filtered water on demand.
- You can ditch bottled water.
- And save money doing so!
- RO systems are easy to install
- And low maintenance.
- They are customizable to meet your filtration needs.
- RO water makes crystal-clear ice cubes.
- The process is energy efficient.
- Reverse osmosis system remove sodium from water which is key if you are on a salt-restricted diet.
13 Benefits and Advantages of Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration Systems
So, what are the benefits of reverse osmosis?
1. Effective Contaminant Removal for Safe and Healthy Drinking Water
Probably the best thing about reverse osmosis water purification is its thoroughness. This is hands down the #1 filtration method available on the consumer market right now. Reverse osmosis can effectively remove many types of contaminants. This also includes some contaminants that might be particularly challenging for other types of water filters.
With a good RO system, you can get rid of the following and more:
- Disinfecting chemicals (chlorine, chloramine)
- Sediment
- Nitrite, nitrates
- Pesticides
- Organic compounds
- Bacteria and other microorganisms
- Heavy metals
- Salts
- Minerals
2. Clean Water for Cooking
You will also be able to enjoy clean, fresh water for your cooking. You might not realize just how much contamination can affect your food. This isn’t just about staying healthy. Contaminated water can directly affect the taste and smell of food cooked with it. This also applies to washing fruits and vegetables and even your dishes.
3. RO Water Tastes and Smells Fresh
If you want your drinking water to taste as best as possible, reverse osmosis is the way to go. Because it removes pretty much all contaminants, all that’s left is the natural taste of fresh water.
The difference might be shocking when you drink reverse osmosis water for the first time after being used to heavily contaminated water. For some people, this factor alone makes the investment worthwhile.
4. Meet Your Daily Hydration Goals
Some people need more motivation to drink water regularly. When your water tastes and smells bad, this can severely discourage you from drinking it on a daily basis. And for some people, this leaves them turning to substitutes like sugary drinks and other unhealthy beverages.
With the help of a reverse osmosis system, you can easily meet your daily hydration goals by purifying your water and making it a more appealing option.
5. Filtered Water on Demand
You won’t have to wait a lot to get your filtered water if you’re using a reverse osmosis system with a large enough tank. You just have to turn on the dedicated faucet and that’s it. Your tank will automatically force the system to switch off once it’s full, and will reactivate it once it needs to be filled. This requires no interaction from you.
6. Ditch Plastic Water Bottles
If you’re tired of all those plastic bottles piling up in your home and having to throw them out regularly, that’s another good reason to look into reverse osmosis. You will not only enjoy less clutter in your life, but you’ll also decrease your contribution to global pollution.
Sure, there are alternatives to plastic bottles that are slightly better – like glass bottles. But those come with their own disadvantages, like increased weight.
7. Save Money
Once you’ve made the initial investment into a reverse osmosis system, that pretty much exhausts your expenses related to it, other than the occasional filter replacement.
From then on, you will actually be saving money. Those savings will be realized in multiple ways. You will no longer have to buy bottled water or even beverages, and you might be more inclined to cook at home once the taste of your food improves.
8. Point-of-Use Reverse Osmosis Systems Are Easy to Install
It doesn’t take a lot of hard work to install or reverse osmosis system. You can do this yourself without hiring a professional. Even when it comes to drilling a hole through your countertop, the process is still relatively simple.
You can purchase a complete kit and do the whole installation yourself. As an added bonus, this also allows you to configure the system more precisely to your liking. More on that below.
9. Low Maintenance
Reverse osmosis systems are great for people who don’t like to perform a lot of maintenance. Other than replacing the membrane and cleaning the storage tank occasionally, there isn’t much to do to keep a reverse osmosis system running. Even those tasks are pretty easy to do.
So if you’re looking for something that involves minimal hassle, you should definitely consider a reverse osmosis system for your home.
10. Customizable
You can easily configure your system to make it work exactly like you want it to.
- For example, you might add additional pre-filtration stages.
- You can also add a remineralization stage to compensate for the decreased mineral content of your water.
- If you like using a UV filter, you can attach one to your reverse osmosis setup as well.
There is also a lot of information about this online. You can talk to other people who have their own reverse osmosis systems and figure out a solution that might not have been obvious.
11. Clear Ice Cubes
This might sound like a small benefit, but if you enjoy icy drinks it will matter a lot to you. Using reverse osmosis filtration is the best way to produce clear, perfect ice cubes. There’s something almost magical about seeing one of those cubes for the first time after you’re used to the regular murky ones produced by your tap water.
12. Energy Efficient Process
Most point-of-use reverse osmosis systems work solely based on the water pressure in your plumbing system. As such, they are very cost-efficient, all things considered. This makes reverse osmosis suitable for remote living and people who are conscious about their resource usage.
13. Get Rid of Sodium
Water with high sodium contents can be potentially dangerous to people with specific diets that are already rich in salt. That’s another benefit of reverse osmosis systems. Sodium is among the contaminants that get removed in the process.
If you’re using a water softener, this might be particularly important to you. That’s because those systems usually work by introducing sodium into the water and might raise it to dangerous levels for certain diets.
Further Reading:
What Is a Reverse Osmosis System and How Does It Work?
How does a reverse osmosis system work exactly though? In reality, it’s actually pretty simple:
Water is forced through a thin membrane at a very high pressure. The pores of this membrane are small enough to only allow water molecules to pass through. Almost everything else – meaning all contaminants – gets left on the other side along with the wastewater.
This process is highly effective at removing contaminants. It’s also efficient in terms of energy utilization. The only main drawback to reverse osmosis is that it tends to waste a lot of water. But even that can be addressed with the right additions to the system.
Cons
- Flat taste of water: Since you’re now drinking water with no impurities in it, you might notice a peculiar flat taste the first time you try RO water. That’s normal – it means that the system is doing its job correctly. However, it might take a while to get used to this taste.
- Mineral loss: Reverse osmosis is very thorough at removing contaminants. For some people, it might be a little too thorough. If you’re counting on the minerals naturally contained in your water in your daily diet, you might be displeased to find out that they also get removed in the process. This can be mitigated by adding a remineralization stage.
- Wastewater: Some water will get wasted in the filtration process. If you don’t use any pressure pumps or re-filtering, the amounts can be quite significant.
- Replacement filter cost: You will have to occasionally purchase new filter cartridges once the old ones wear out. Given the lifespan of the average filter/membrane though, this is still significantly cheaper than buying bottled water.
- Slow operation: You might have to wait for the tank to fill if it’s currently empty, and that can take a while because reverse osmosis is a slow process.
- Space requirements: You will need some free space under your sink or on your countertop to install a reverse osmosis system, especially one with a storage tank.
- Needs dedicated faucet: If you’re using an under sink unit, you’ll have to install a separate faucet for it.
- Drain connection needed: To get rid of wastewater properly, you will need to hook up a drain connection to your system.
If you have any questions about the advantages of reverse osmosis please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
About the Author Gene Fitzgerald
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