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
Answer:
Ken, that is a great question actually several great questions. Whether you use a whole-house water softener or a RO depends upon several issues. Reverse Osmosis removes more contaminants than any other water treatment process and you do need a water softener (and carbon filter) ahead of it or an anti-scalant system.
RO systems do waste water so do toilets, sinks, dishwashers, showers and washing machines. It used to be that they wasted three gallons for every gallon made. Now, the newer efficient systems waste one gallon for every three gallons made. That means they are 75% efficient. Your washing machine, toilets and dishwasher are 0% efficient – they waste every gallon they use.
You can capture the waste water and use it for irrigation if you want. We can help you design a system to do that.
So, do you want RO water for the whole house? Maybe maybe not!
In most cases, I would recommend a Fusion Hybrid Softener which softens the water and also removes the chlorine and chemicals, followed by a reverse osmosis system for drinking water only. Here is what I recommend:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/synergy-twin-alternating-metered-water-softener.html
https://www.uswatersystems.com/aquapurion-plus-5-stage-reverse-osmosis-system.html
Its great, but not the only thing you want to do.
Without knowing what the quality of water coming out of the machine is, I cannot hazard a guess. You need some hardness test strips to test the water. Test the water and let me know the results and I can make a determination.
They are available in a 5-pack or 50-pack:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/waterworkstm-total-hardness-testing-strips-5-pack.html
https://www.uswatersystems.com/water-works-total-hardness-testing-strips-50pk-12161.html
Dave,
First, I have to say that I would never recommend installing a whole house RO system without a pretty detailed water test such as this:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html
1. If the water is withing other parameters, then Yes, the Medium Duty RO should do it!
2. The RO system would get added to the current system. The softener and filtration is needed maybe something more, depending upon water test.
3. The system should take 4 or 5 hours to install and its pretty simple, but I have seen people charge $600 or $2,000. The key is get someone you can trust and who will talk to us on the phone. We are here 7 days a week.
4. We can generally ship within a week.
You can send them to support@uswatersystems.com
Unless you use an anti-scalant or water softener as pre-treatment for an RO, the hardness will create scale in the membrane and dramatically reduces its life. If your hardness is over 5 or 6 grain per gallon (GPG) the hardness either needs to be removed by a softener or sequestered by an anti-scalant.
I would recommend the following:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-medium-duty-whole-house-reverse-osmosis-system.html This is the RO system itself, but ahead of the system you will need the following:
Carbon Filter: https://www.uswatersystems.com/fusion-whole-house-backwashing-filter-for-chloramine-10-gpm.html 10 GPM
Anti-Scalant: https://www.uswatersystems.com/stenner-anti-scalant-injection-system.html
Its possible that you may have to add this afterwards to make the pH 7.0 neutral:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/katalox-light-ph-booster-option.html
Im sure you will questions let me know.
We are off for the Holidays and will back in the office Monday, but if you need a callback tomorrow, let me know.
There are a couple of ways of doing that:
Filtration Removes certain chemicals: https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-ultimate-dual-tank-filter-for-chlorine-chemicals-chloramine-and-fluoride-15-gpm.html
Water Softener/Filter Hybrid Softens and removes certain chemicals: https://www.uswatersystems.com/synergy-twin-alternating-metered-water-softener.html
Reverse Osmosis Removes the widest spectrum of any process: https://www.uswatersystems.com/systems/reverse-osmosis/whole-house-reverse-osmosis-systems
Call one of our Certified Water Specialists at 800-608-8792 and discuss which is right for your application.
Yes, a whole house RO system will solve that problem, but you are correct in assuming that they will put a POS system in. We see it all the time. Give me a call tomorrow afternoon and I will help you figure out what is best. I have good gatekeepers, so just say that Mark wants to take this call.
I look forward to talking with you.
Ray,
Is this on city water? How many bath rooms how many in the family?
Anne,
Since you are speaking of Chromium VI, you might be interested in a products we have:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-1-charged-membrane-filter-system-10-to-20-gpm.html
It simply gives an added layer of protection. We are using a Pulsar cartridge ahead of some of our whole house Reverse Osmosis Systems.
A UV is a good idea and for years that was the only sure way to assure that your water was bacteriologically pure UNTIL NOW!
This product actually kills bacteria UV simply renders it unable to reproduce!
Here it is:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-silecte-quantum-disinfection-system.html
Let me know if you have any questions.
If you install a RO system without more testing, there is a very high probability that it will be an unmitigated disaster.
Before we can provide a solution that we can guarantee will work, we need to know many other parameters, which are in this test:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-watercheck-with-pesticides-lab-water-test.html
Once we have that, we can fix your problem. We would love to recommend a system, but we would love it even more if it works! This is the first step.
There is a video here that explains why testing is so important: https://www.uswatersystems.com/systems/water-testing
I would need more information. Please contact me directly at mark@uswatersystems.com or call at 800-608-8792.
You should have your water tested for radon. Just because you have it in your air, is no indicator whatsoever you will have it in your water. In fact, it is unlikely. We do have a lab tests like this: https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-lab-water-test.html but I advise getteing a water radon test done locally. If you have it, we can fix it!
This statement is not always true: RO water is very corrosive regardless of pH. The truth is, that it depends upon what the incoming TDS is. If the incoming TDS is high, then the RO water will not be corrosive. If it is not high and appears to be corrosive we can raise the pH or add a little hardness back to the water. Most water heaters and faucets have linings which are impervious to corrosion.