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 have 3500 SF home with 4 bedrooms and 2 showers and 3 toilets. My current tap water TDS levels are around 350 ppm. I would like to get to close to zero and neutral pH. What kind of whole house system you recommend and at what price? Thanks!
Mark,
I know this is an older post, but it is valid to my situation and I have a question about whole house RO. We have decided that the municipal water currently provided requires additional whole house filtering, specifically to address poor performance of water using appliances such as the clothes washer etc. My concern is the waste water generated by the system. We currently use an average of 15K gallons per month on a municipal system that where we pay for every gallon, am I correct in stating that a whole house RO system will increase my monthly water usage to at least 30K gallons? If that is a true statement, then whole house RO, as much as I would enjoy it, would not be financially feasible. Can you recommend another system that will still reduce solids and contaminants but that is more economical to operate?
We are a family of 6 in an 1800 square foot home. The house is a typical 4 bedroom 3.5 bath track home. We do use several thousand gallons for irrigation and I believe I could install the system downstream of the irrigation but I do not know the effect that would have on waste water usage.
I appreciate your time.
If we install a whole house RO system, are the existing chemicals still in the existing pipes? My home is 110 Years old and we have Chromium-6 in our public water. All together we want to get a whole house RO System. We also are looking for a general price for a family of 5, 1.5 bathroom house. Does the pump also control the water pressure to the house? We also have an existing water softner.
Please advise .. I would like to do this ASAP
1. Will existing pipes be clear from long chemical exposure?
2. Appx cost for RO Sys
3. Does pump help with water pressure?
Thank you
Who makes the most efficient whole house RO system? Here in AZ water is at a premium but the water is bad also. Can you recommend a company?
Hello Mark,
I must agree, the grammar Nazi might be from a different English teaching country and therefore misled. I found no issues. I have a home in SW FL and last year spent about $6K for a system by Culligan. I purchased from them believing they were among the best. today I dont have any faith in the system. I keep getting errors on the softener side control station. I have to continuously play with it to make it work. when it is in error water will not stop back washing and the water in the house is yellowed. I have opted not to purchase their over costly service plan as it appears they are only going to put in salt every other month and the cost for that is just ridiculous. Any suggestions for these last comments would be greatly appreciated. Id love to take them to court at this point for selling us a POS system that by means of internet clearly has global issues. I am more pissed at myself for not being more thorough with my research prior to purchasing. I was thinking about whole house RO but Im not sure if that is the way to go. Two of us live here but it is a 3br, 2ba home on a well. I am very skeptical about the water but have no idea what is in it. The salesman from culligan used a test on the counter here at home so I doubt he knows what he is talking about. What should we do at this point? What tests should we have done? Is a whole house RO system really what we need?
What is your experience with water Radon testing? We are purchasing a home and going through the air radon testing. In the process of researching, weve discovered it can also come into the home from water sources (dishwasher, washing machine, etc.) We do have well water. I have seen some aeration systems to mitigate it, but overall this appears to be uncommon. Is this not really an issue, or too new to know. Why arent more water treatment companies offering mitigation? WBP has a site on it, but theyre in New England. I havent found anything in my state (Illinois). Any info would be appreciated.
We have a RV and we will be living in the full-time and traveling all over the US. Not knowing what kind of water we will be getting into, what would you suggest. Im leaning towards a whole house system with a water softener. Also, do have companies that would install a system or should it be portable as space matters a lot?
Mark We live in a rural setting on 20 acres. Our well has good quantities but also has high levels of TDS, (1500), one of which is sodium @ 611 mg/L. Hardness is 150 and pH is 8.6. There is also a chloride level around 600 mg/L. Other measured factors are Calcium 59 mg/L; Iron 0.054 mg/L; Magnesium 0.18 mg/L; Silica 10.8 mg/L; Zinc 0.004; Fluoride 1.4 mg/L; Sulfate 160.0 mg/L; and, Turbidity of 0.1.
We have been told that a R.O. system would solve the water quality problems and besides taste, corrosion is certainly one of the most aggravating problems with our water. We have replaced several plumbing fixtures in our house since building it in 2010 due to corrosion. I would hate to go to the expense of a whole house system only to find we had not solved the corrosion issue. As a side issue, we have plumbed the house for fire protection but have never yet allowed our well water to be introduced to the system for fear of corrosion ruining the fire sprinkler heads. This is another big reason we are considering a whole house R.O. system.
There are only two people living here full time. My wife and I. We use less than 100 gallons a day, (around 70 80), but would like to size the system for a family of four should we decide to sell at some point. Can you help with some information regarding the issues Ive mentioned? Thanks Mike
We have a well on two acres and are outside of city limits. We just tested Chromium 6 and are at 19 ppb. We have a RO system at the sink for drinking but are concerned about bathing and dishwashing. A local company came out to quote us at around $30,000 for a whole property system with a large holding tank and a leach line. He said for every gallon we use, a gallon and a half is used to wash away the contaminants. Is there an alternative to this? something cheaper and just for the house use? Watering our plants and washing our cars with filtered water is expensive and unessesary.
Hi Mark. I currently have quite a situation on my hands. I have a newly-built house that we were ready to close on that is until the results from our well came back. Long story short, our results came back with the gross alpha (GAPA) at a reading of 107 and the standard for our county is 15! The builder thought the solution was a softener system (which we had already), but the results didnt come back much lower on that test. I convinced to add an RO system, but they only added it to the kitchen sink. I am currently embroiled in a battle to get them to instal a whole house system. Ive got 3 little boys under 6 and cannot chance them ingesting the water. So, here are my questions:
1) Our house has 5 bathrooms (approx. 4000 sq ft). Would the medium duty whole house system suffice?
2) We already have a 250 gallon tank and treatment system (softener with carbon filter). Does the older treatment system need to be replaced with this new RO system or does the RO system get added to the current system?
3) What is the average cost to install such a system?
4) How quickly are you able to ship the size system we would need?
Thanks so much and I look forward to your help and insight into our major problem!
Please provide pricing on any of these items. I understand it may shock some people, but to not easily find some kind of reference point despite your ability to customize based on number of people, # bathrooms, etc. is not very helpful. I came to this site looking for an idea so that I could budget for it. From the conversations I have seen above, it doesnt appear there are any relative price points on this website at all, which, to be sure, does not make me want to stay and look around or contact you for a quote. I live in Canada, so I really just need an idea on a whole home system.
Thank you for your consideration.
How much electricity does a whole house RO use? It uses a pump so I wanted to understand how much the electricity would cost for an average system.
Mark,
Received the test results back on a house that my husband and I are looking to buy. high lead levels. samples were taken directly from well. need to figure out how much a whole house RO system would cost. could I send you our test results for you to look at?
Hi Mark,
How do you get rid of iron and sulfur in the water? We have well water with a water softener, but the water still smells and I still have that lovely orange stain in my toilets and showers/bathtubs.
Been thinking that a RO for the whole house would take care of the problem, but from what you say in your article, that is not the case.
How do we remedy the issue then?
Thank you for your input.
Ginny
I have a water softner system as I am on well water. The system was put in by a local company called Kinectico. They say it will give me city like water. Well, it doesnt and everytime I shower my skin feels dry or like it has a film on it and my wifes hair is thinning and she also has a film feel on her skin after she showers in another shower in the house and she has to always use tons of lotion afterwards. Will a whole house RO system help me? I go on vacation to TN and never have an issue with my skin at any of the cabins I stay up there? Is it just that it is a bad softner system or is it in the pipes? Thank you.