UNMASKING THE MYTHS OF REVERSE OSMOSIS
Every year, thousands of concerned homeowners invest hundreds of dollars in a reverse osmosis system. Virtually all of these individuals purchase these R/O systems not knowing some very important facts about the system.
MYTH #1: Reverse osmosis water costs you only a few pennies a gallon to produce.
TRUTH#1: To preserve any reasonable or moderate percentage of water purity(compared to manufacturer's claims), major portions of the system must be changed on a frequent basis.
When the cost of the filter and membrane changes are added to the cost of wasted water and plumber costs and divided into the number of gallons used by the homeowner over a period of one year(a realistic membrane replacement interval), the true cost per gallon will run between 25 and 35 cents per gallon. This is comparable with the operating cost of steam distillation systems.
MYTH #2: Membranes will last several years.
TRUTH #2: With good membranes running from $50 to $150 each(and some for "multi-level" marketing R/O units running up to $300 each), one can see why manufacturers are prone to "stretch the truth" about the expected lifetime of this expensive replacement item.
Even the newer TFC membranes(which are more expensive), tend to foul more easily than older technology, thus costing the homeowner even more money to keep his R/O system operating anywhere near the manufacturer's claims of water purity.
Few if any any reverse osmosis manufacturers(or distributors) provide performance data as a function of in-service operating time. Remember, the test data was obtained in a laboratory---not a homeowner's kitchen. The conditions and results are dramatically different---and reverse osmosis is a very "unforgiving" system under these conditions.
MYTH#3: Reverse osmosis will provide water that is 95-99% free of water-borne contaminants.
TRUTH #3: Reverse osmosis, when combined with a simple carbon filter WILL provide drinking water which is 98-99% free of ORGANIC CHEMICALS(chemicals which contain carbon(TCE for example); chlorine, free ammonia, etc.).
However, any carbon filter will do the same. In a home operating environment, R/O will remove only 50-80% of inorganic salts(sodium, etc) after a few months of operation.
In only rare cases do we find R/O systems removing in excess of 80% of dissolved solids(lime, sodium, heavy metals, etc) after a few months of in-home operation. The results obtained from testing hundreds of customer's water samples from in-home operating R/O units conclusively shows that manufacturer's claims for water purity are simply not being met.
Many times manufacturers will give sheets and sheets of test data showing extremely high equipment performance---and then in the small print we read "...the actual performance of (brand name) reverse osmosis systems may be less due to changes in water pressure, individual membrane efficiency, level of incoming contaminants, type of water contaminants, etc".
This is the manufacturer's "out" as they say---leaving you, the customer, holding the bag. The question here is, "...when you buy a water purifier, are you buying a system capable of providing specific in-home performance---or are you simply buying a bunch of test data sheets which do not relate to your home's water conditions."
Finally, the gradual degradation of the R/O water quality is difficult for the customer to detect, and by the time he or she decides to find out if the system is working, chances are the system is removing little or nothing---and the customer is drinking what amounts to tap water.
"My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income."
-Errol Flynn
