Written by: Alexandra Uta // Last Updated: Jan 11, 2023
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Our bodies are made up mostly of water, and we all know the importance of drinking the purest water we can get our hands on.
Boiling water is a good start. But what if you are already using a reverse osmosis system? Do you need to boil reverse osmosis water, or is it a waste of time and energy for the most part?
Let’s find out!
Key Takeaways
Unless there is a boil water advisory, you do not need to boil reverse osmosis water even when used for drinking.
Reverse osmosis systems do a remarkable job of filtering out most if not all harmful pathogens, metals, and chemicals from drinking water.
Thus, RO water does not require additional purification unless your water is highly contaminated. But even if that’s the case, boiling will rarely be the right treatment method.
Reverse osmosis water is already extremely pure. Almost 100% H2O!
Providing the system is in good working order, and the maintenance schedule is adhered to, it will remove most waterborne pathogens.
In contrast, boiling barely removes any contaminants from water; it simply kills pathogens. If you have a decent RO system and are using municipal water deemed safe for drinking, then no further treatment is required.
A properly functioning RO system can remove pathogens from water, but this can be affected if the water is highly contaminated, if your unit has not been well maintained, or if your unit has been purchased from an unregulated source like a hardware store.
For these reasons, during a boil water advisory, you should boil your reverse osmosis water just to be on the safe side and replace all the filters of your RO system after the advisory is lifted.
Potential contaminants that may enter the water supply during a boil water advisory include bacteria, cysts, and viruses. These can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
A decent RO system with pre and post-filtration steps can remove a broad range of contaminants. This includes arsenic, cadmium, chlorides, chromium, copper, cysts, fluoride, lead, nitrites, nitrates, radium, sulfate, VOCs, PFAS, and much more.
Reverse osmosis also removes minerals from water, including the good ones, so some systems incorporate a remineralization filter to add them back in after the water has completed the RO filtration.
To decide if an RO system is right for you, it’s important to consider its pros and cons.
If you have any thoughts about the question, do I need to boil RO water, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
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