Reverse Osmosis Systems That Kill Bacteria
Everyday, consumers purchase hundreds of Reverse Osmosis systems to protect themselves and their families from chemicals and contaminants such as arsenic, lead, chlorine, pesticides, and high TDS while mistakenly believing that their new reverse osmosis system will also eliminate bacteria - IT WON'T! Reverse osmosis is not designed to remove bacteria. In fact, we now know that bacteria can grow inside the tank and that in some cases, such bacteria can be very detrimental to some individuals. RO tanks can literally become "incubators" for bacteria.. that's scary!
It is now being discovered by medical researchers that immune-compromised individuals, children with autism, infants, and the elderly may have severe health issues when exposed to the bacteria in a reverse osmosis tank. This is often referred to as Heterotrophic plate count (HPC), which is a method that measures colony formation on culture media of heterotrophic bacteria in drinking water. HPC is difficult to remove, even with the use of disinfectants. It is impossible to remove them all. So, you have a reverse osmosis system to remove contaminants because you researched and determined that RO removes the largest spectrum of contaminants of any water treatment process and now you find out that it can contain significant levels of bacteria which can be just as detrimental as other contaminants, if not more so. What can you do?
Well, some people have put ultraviolet lights after the RO or on the RO to neutralize the bacteria - UV doesn't actually "kill" bacteria - it just neuters it so that it cannot reproduce. However, having a UV under a sink after a reverse osmosis system is usually a bad idea. The UV light heats the water in the chamber and transmits the heat through the small tubing to the point that the water may actually be very hot when it first comes out of the tap. The heat created by the ultraviolet light embrittles tubing and fittings which can ultimately end in disaster (i.e., a flood under the kitchen sink).
The purpose of any drinking water system is to reduce the greatest percentage of each contaminant from the broadest range of categories. Reverse osmosis is the technology that achieves that purpose dramatically better than any other and now the RO system can kill bacteria too.
Nearly all RO systems have a final polishing carbon filter after the tank, right before the water comes out of the faucet. Until recently, that carbon, while removing tastes and odors became an excellent breeding ground for bacteria. However, now we have the new media which literally "sucks the electrons" out of any microorganism that contacts it. The new Pulsar Quantum Disinfection and Carbon Polishing Filter polishes the water as it leaves the RO storage tank and kills 99.99% to 99.999% of all bacteria. So you now have a choice: You can use an inline filter with just carbon to polish the water or you can use a carbon filter which incorporates Pulsar Quantum Disinfection Media manufactured by Claire Technologies, and polish the water along with killing 99.99% of the bacteria. Is that a hard choice to make?
You know what I have in my house! Any Reverse Osmosis can be retrofitted with the new Pulsar Quantum Disinfection Cartridge, or you can buy a filter pack which also has the Pulsar Quantum Disinfection Cartridge. At US Water Systems, we make sure that EVERY reverse osmosis system is equipped with the Pulsar Quantum Disinfection Cartridge and in so far as I know, we are the only company that does that. That's one of the main reasons you can trust your water to America's Water Company!
29 Comments
Hello Mark Timmons
What tests can we perform on water to determine if it is infected with certain types of bacteria? What bacteria would it test for?
Is a water distiller safer in terms of killing bacteria versus an RO system?
Thank you
This is the best test:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-advanced-water-test-with-bacteria.html
It tests for coliform which is the best baseline.
So we install this after the RO tank and immediately before the faucet? Wouldn’t bacteria continue to grow in the RO tank then? Thanks.
Yes, because even if you put it before the tank, bacteria will appear. I recommend replacing an RO tank about every 5 years anyway. I guess you could install two. ;)
how does bacteria get in the tank if most contaminants including, virus, bacteria, and fungi are filtered out by ro process?
There is no such thing as 100% perfect filtration, so over time non-pathogenic bacteria can enter the tank and reproduce.
This article has many false statements. First off, RO does indeed filter out bacteria, RO can even remove salt from ocean water. Also UV does indeed kill bacteria and viruses, it does not remove the dead pathogens but it does kill/inactivate them. UV does not penetrate the shell of cysts such as crypto but a 1 micron filter can remove those so an RO will be able to do that as well.
JohnJohn (that is your e-mail name), What are your credentials to say what you do? What grade are you in? My credential are that I am a Master Water Specialist with over 50 years of experience, and when you make a statement like “RO systems can even remove sodium” I see that you don’t have a clue. Yes, they remove sodium, BECAUSE THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE DESIGNED TO DO – Desalinate sea water! Yes, they can take out bacteria, but generally, not for long as the bacteria can plug the membrane material, and it relies on a mechanical seal, which can fail. Yes, RO can remove bacteria, but relying on just that isn’t very smart. If it removes bacteria, how can it be that a RO pressure is often full of heterotrophic bacteria? It had to get by the membrane… that’s how. In fact, many RO manufacturers say in their literature, “Not for microbiologically impure water.” UV does kill bacteria by inactivating their ability to reproduce; the ability to reproduce is what causes sickness as they overwhelm the host’s body. What you omitted is when they can’t reproduce they die rapidly as they are no longer a threat, and dead bacteria are nothing but dead. UV can penetrate cysts with proper contact time and a 1 Micron Absolute can remove most, but I would be more comfortable with a Zerta Charged filter that is sub-micron. I have a UV followed by a Disruptor Filter which is like .003 Microns. I feel safer with that. Study up! You will get there.
Obviously a very weak attempt to sell a product. This is from the cdc.gov themselves! How exactly do you just explain this away??? “Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing bacteria (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli); Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing viruses (for example, Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus)” Gee, imagine that, actual experts totally and absolutely disagree with you…. I highly recommend you do a little bit of research first before you put something in to print that’s absolutely false.
Dear Mr. Louis Puglisi, Yes, bacteria will be removed via reverse osmosis due to size exclusion (i.e. the bacteria are larger than the pores in the reverse osmosis membrane so they can’t pass through). That is true and if that were all there was to it then you would be right instead of DEAD wrong… which is what you would soon be if you tried to remove bacteria continuously with reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis typically removes 95 to 99% of Total Dissolved Solid or TDS. TDS are organic and inorganic materials, such as metals, minerals, salts, and ions dissolved in water. In the real world, the TDS removal is closer to 95% than 99%. That means that about 5% of the bacteria can and does get through the membrane, seals, and around other imperfections. Once past the membrane, bacteria reproduce and divide exponentially. Reverse osmosis is not designed to remove bacteria. In fact, we now know that bacteria can grow inside the tank and that in some cases, such bacteria can be very detrimental to some individuals. RO tanks can literally become “incubators” for bacteria. There can also be defects in the membranes which allow the bacteria to pass through. The bacteria can also move around the o-rings, which typically seals the reverse osmosis into place within its housing. Additionally, the bacteria forms a “slime” or biofilm on the membrane which can compromise the pores, either blocking them off (shitting down water flow) or opening them up to allow more bacteria to enter the system. Secondary contamination, where bacteria will move up the pure water stream and attach to the membrane, is also a possibility. This is why while bacteria can be removed via reverse osmosis, these systems are not certified to be microbiological purifiers and under no circumstances should an RO Membrane be relied upon to eliminate bacteria from contaminated water. Here is a whitepaper published by the National Library of Medicine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20512722/ which definitively shows that bacteria gets into RO permeate water. Most manufacturers of reverse osmosis systems have a disclaimer on their products that says something like this: “Not for use with water that is microbiologically unsafe.” If the water is contaminated with bacteria, then the prudent thing to do is to treat that water with chlorine, ultraviolet or some other disinfection method that does not rely on a mechanical seal to prevent bacterial contamination. Those are the facts! Now, I am going to address the slanderous comments you made about me: 1. So why print something that’s so absolutely fallacious? 2. I am more than qualified to say that the information in this article is absolutely false. 3. You say your credentials are you’re a “water specialist?” Is that a joke? That’s obviously a self proclaimed title that means absolutely nothing in reality! So why embarrass yourself? 4. More importantly, why muddy the name of a great company like US Water with absolute nonsense! Your credentials mean absolutely nothing. 5. Come on, if you’re going to try and pull a fast one on the public, do a better job than this! And do the honorable thing, remove this foolish article and stop taking down a good company with you!!! 6. Obviously a very weak attempt to sell a product. 7. Gee, imagine that, actual experts totally and absolutely disagree with you…. I highly recommend you do a little bit of research first before you put something in to print that’s absolutely false. For your information, I got my plumbing license long before you. I am a Certified Master Water Specialist and am the longest tenured in the Water Quality Association. Being a plumber does not qualify you to be a Master Water Specialist, in fact, in very short order I could demonstrate beyond a doubt that you have no clue what you are saying, even though it rises to the level of libel and slander. I am going to give you the courtesy of retracting what you have said and write an apology before I take any action. Words Matter! If you don’t believe that, find out! By the way, thank you for the kind words about US Water Systems – I am the Founder!
Here we go again with this “Certified Master Water Specialist” term. WHO exactly is certifying you? That’s not how certifications go my friend! Just the fact that you keep using that title without stating who it is you are certified by, tells me it’s genuine. And you are going to get me for slander? Geez, that is so ridiculous… me and the CDC as well I guess because I am quoting them!!! And yes my credentials absolutely do qualify me because I have been installing and servicing water treatment systems for the better part of 40 years! Every system made in existence has particles that will pass through that are smaller than the filter is designed to catch. DUH! 100% would mean zero water flow. Just because there are contaminants they get past the filter does NOT mean the filter does not work! What is wrong with you??? Everybody knows that bacteria can grow inside the tank. So what? that doesn’t make the system not capable of removing bacteria.
I doubt that you are anything but an internet troll, and yes, I could sue you for slander (actually libel, since it is written), but I do know that if you were given an enema, they could bury you in a shoe box! It is explained all over the blog and website, but you can find out my certifications here: https://wqa.org/grow/professional-certification/ I actually hold all of the Certifications and have maintained them for over 45 years. By the way, I also provide water treatment training to plumbers, including the Chicago Plumbers Local 130, and here are some videos of the training to prove it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjOK02j5jkY&t=304s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOKtIApO9hM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb_52zG_ges I am also bound by the WQA Code of Ethics, which I also teach, and telling someone RO will eliminate bacteria would be a violation of such code, but evidently, you don’t care about ethics. I do have a book that I would encourage you to read. It’s right up your alley: https://wqa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Water-Treatment-for-Dummies-2nd-Edition.pdf If you are ignorant of facts, then you are simply ignorant. There is no shame in ignorance, but when you ignore facts or twist facts, you are no longer ignorant – you are stupid! If stupid could fly, you’d be a jet!
The CDC themselves says this… I would love to see how you are going to talk this away? “Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing bacteria (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli); Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing viruses (for example, Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus);”
What’s so sad about this article is I love US Water and wholeheartedly believe in their products. So why print something that’s so absolutely fallacious? I am a 43 year State Licensed Master Plumber. That is my credentials. Therefore I am more than qualified to say that the information in this article is absolutely false. Bits and pieces are true but not enough to make a general broad statement that reverse osmosis does not remove bacteria! You say your credentials are you’re a “water specialist?” Is that a joke? That’s obviously a self proclaimed title that means absolutely nothing in reality! So why embarrass yourself? More importantly, why muddy the name of a great company like US Water with absolute nonsense! Your credentials mean absolutely nothing. Come on, if you’re going to try and pull a fast one on the public, do a better job than this! And do the honorable thing, remove this foolish article and stop taking down a good company with you!!!
I am just a guy trying to alternate from drinking bottled water to Softened and then Reverse Osmosis treated water for long term safety.