REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER PURIFIERS
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse osmosis is a process where water is passed
under high pressure through a thin, semi permeable membrane.
The water passes through the membrane while most chemicals
and contaminants are washed away. The water produced
by these systems is near pure and similar to distilled
water in content.
Reverse Osmosis purifiers are regarded as the top of
the range of water purifiers. They do however have their
limits:
- they are slow to produce pure water (around 3 -
9 litres per hour)
- wastes a lot of water - for every litre of filtered
water four or five litres go down the drain.
- expensive to buy and run - the fragile membrane
needs to be replaced regularly as it can become clogged
or damaged and allow bacteria through.
- reverse osmosis filters won't remove THMs and some
are damaged by chlorine.
- they are generally only used as under-sink installations,
as they require a storage tank to hold the purified
water. Bench top models are also possible and are
most often installed in the laundry for convenience.
Main Benefits of Reverse Osmosis Purifiers
- removing heavy metals - such as lead, nickel, cadmium,
mercury, arsenic, etc occur due to corrosion of copper
pipe fittings by acidic or 'aggressive' water. Other
metals can be leached or washed into water supplies
from industrial activities, although this is rare
in well managed areas
- removing minerals - natural minerals, including
fluoride will not be removed by either carbon or KDF
purifiers.
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