Does whole house reverse osmosis make sense?
The short answer is "YES" but that doesn't mean that it is for everyone. We will consider the pros and cons of a whole-house RO system and you can decide if it is for you or not. First of all, water quality varies greatly from well water to surface water to municipal water. Well water may have things like iron, sulfur, manganese and tannin which almost always have to be removed, especially in the case of a whole-house RO system. Those contaminants must always be removed before the reverse osmosis process. Let's not forget that reverse osmosis removes the largest spectrum of contaminants at the most economical cost of any water treatment process. Essentially, a whole house reverse osmosis system will remove 98 to 99% of most contaminants including Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), sodium, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, arsenic and a plethora of other chemical and organic contaminants. One of the key ingredients to a whole house reverse osmosis system is proper per-treatment, which includes removing the iron, sulfur, manganese, tannin and other nuisance elements. So, ahead of an RO system, it is essential that filtration or oxidation of these contaminants are accomplished. If the water is hard, then it needs to be softened or (what I prefer) use an anti-scalant to prevent hard water build-up on the membranes. Anti-scalant systems are gaining popularity because no water is wasted and no salt is needed. A whole house RO system consists of the aforementioned pre-treatment, the reverse osmosis system itself, an atmospheric storage tank, a re-pressurization pump, ultraviolet light or Quantum Disinfection and sometimes a calcite filter to raise the pH or add some TDS back to the water. Here is what a city water whole-house RO system might look like:
Who might need a whole house reverse osmosis system? Lots of people. It could be health related in that they may want to remove as many chemicals as possible from their water. Many people have a sensitivity to such chemicals and therefore need a whole house RO system. In other cases, it may be that there are contaminants in the water that create ascetic issues such as high chlorides, sodium, sulfates and others. Sometimes we see water that has TDS levels in excess of 2,000 PPM (the USEPA recommends drinking water that is below 500 PPM). I'll grant you that the water you use to flush your toilet doesn't have to be super clean, but the amount of water used for flushing toilets in very insignificant compared to most other uses for water in your home. Washing dishes or clothes, bathing, shampooing, shaving and cleaning in clean reverse osmosis water is a pure joy. Back in the day, people used to bathe in rainwater, which is generally absolutely soft. When I was in Haiti a few years ago, we would wait for a heavy rainstorm and stand underneath a downspout plume just to enjoy a good shower. With shorts on and a bar of soap, we enjoyed every second of that shower. If taking a shower in the cleanest water on the planet, without chemicals, pesticides and hardness appeals to you, then maybe you are a candidate for a whole house reverse osmosis system. If you want to be able to drink from any faucet in the home, then maybe a whole house RO system is for you. Maybe you just want the best water possible. If so, a home whole house reverse osmosis system may just be what the doctor ordered! Cheers!
141 Comments
I can estimate such a system only if I know exactly what is in the water and at what levels. Thi si Step 1 to a successful water treatment system:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
Step 1: Get a detailed water test from a US EPA approved lab. Then we can talk.
You wont find a better test at half this price:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
Once we know what is in the water, we can tell you how to fix it for certain.
Randy,
This is a question that has popped up a lot lately and I am in the process of writing a blog on the subject (due out in the next day or two). However, there is not a lot of research on this new contaminant. Our Pulsar System 4 in initial tests has shown it is capable of removing in excess of 50% of 1,4-Dioxane and Gen-X in drinking water. However, if it were me, I would add a Reverse Osmosis System for Drinking after that just to polish it off. Additionally, more and more families are opting for Whole House Reverse Osmosis.
I would not do that, because over time, you would really concentrate the dissolved solids. Depending upon you water supply, our Whole House RO Systems waste as little as 1 gallon of water for every 4 gallons made.
Maredith,
There are several options, but I would need to know a lot more about the other contaminants in you water before making a recommendation.
Do you have a detailed water analysis?
Ron,
If you use 15,000 gallons of RO water a month, you would waste about 3,700 gallons with our low energy, high efficiency systems. That would increase you water used to less than 19,000 gallons and you could capture that waste and use it on your lawn. It would involve a tank or tanks and a re-pressurization pump. Its very do-able. If you want to discuss this further, e-mail me at support@uswatersystems.com
As long as it does not freeze and I would have some sort of roof to protect from Rain and sun,
Yes, it would. Anytime you are considering a whole house RO system, you need to have a detailed water test like this:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
You have some options, but I would not recommend dumping the water back into the well as over time it would be highly concentrated. Its not a good idea to dump the concentrate back into your well. As you continue to dump the concentrated water the TDS of the will rises from 900 to 1800 to 3000 and so on. The RO wont work like that.
1. You could capture the RO Concentrate water and use it for flushing toilets and the like, maybe even bathing and washing, but it would depend upon what EXACTLY is in your water. If you dont have a good lab test, then you need to get one of these: https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
2. Another option is to use RO for a limited number of fixtures: Kitchen sink, bathroom sink, icemakers, etc. any place where you drink water. There would be a lot less waste water that way and we can still remove the arsenic for the whole house with other technology that does not waste water: https://www.uswatersystems.com/whole-house-non-electric-arsenic-filter-by-us-water-systems.html
I can advise you which is the best method if I can see a detailed laboratory water test. Thats the first and most important step.
What I would need is a detailed water analysis from a US EPA approved laboratory, like this one:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
No one should attempt to recommend a whole house RO system without this type of test.
Once we have the results we can answer any question you have.
Please call us at 800-608-8792. We need a lot more information.
We will need to know more about your water and how many bathrooms and how many in your family.
At US Water Systems our whole house RO generally waste just 1 gallon for every 4 gallons produced and they operate at low energy (80 psi) instead of 250 psi which saves about 50% on energy and increases longivity by up to 300%.
Here you go:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/systems/reverse-osmosis/whole-house-reverse-osmosis-systems
Pipes dont absorb chemicals, so once you install a RO System, just chlorinate the lines and you should be good to go.
The Pump delivers incredible pressure for you.
Here is the system I would recommend, but we need to know more about your water:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-defender-whole-house-ro-system-up-to-3-5-baths.html
Well, a whole house reverse osmosis system removes the largest spectrum of contaminants of any water treatment process, but depending upon what you want to remove from your water, a whole house RO system may not be needed. At any rate, you dont need both. You are getting some bad advice.