Comment by tempsy
2 years ago
Surprised more people don't install reverse osmosis filters in their homes. Fairly easy to buy and install.
2 years ago
Surprised more people don't install reverse osmosis filters in their homes. Fairly easy to buy and install.
RO systems filter out beneficial minerals, are $$, and waste a lot of water. I wouldn't suggest them for most people.
Sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about.
> filter out beneficial minerals
Take a supplement if you feel you are deficient in any specific mineral because it doesn't justify whole body fluoridation or ingesting sketchy tap water. Flint, MI isn't an isolated incident.[0,1,2] Anecdotally, my mom's cousin's family died from silent uranium contamination of the tap water in the Four Corners region.
> are $$
I bought a 100 GPD RO system for $180 that uses generic parts. Running cost is $70/year including cleaning and membranes. Yes, it's work.
> waste a lot of water
FUD. Using less water on landscaping, hygiene, and laundry are far more important. Brine only leaves the system during generation. If there's no demand, e.g., you're not taking any water out of the tank, then there's zero waste. Permeate pumps ($50 option) reduces brine waste considerably by saving the backpressure leaving the system and boosting the intake pressure at the membrane. The brine waste stream is roughly 2x with a permeate pump vs 8x without. RO water at our house is only used for drinking and ice, which is ~2 GPD, so the total water usage is trivial.
0. https://mytapwater.org
1. https://www.businessinsider.com/cities-worst-tap-water-us-20...
2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/31/americas-tap...
Having had one for years they are fairly expensive, require some not insignificant maintenance and cleaning to keep them running optimally and are made almost entirely of plastic and are not recyclable.
A better option would be a carbon + sediment filter but again these are usually plastic fiber or at the least some sort of synthetic fiber and carbon in a plastic shell - a slight step up in recyclability than RO filters though.
I'd wager it's far more efficient for the municipality to get their water quality right at the source than every home fit a filter.
Use a different sediment pre filter that those cheap-o ones. It's just to prevent fouling of the rest of the system should serious sediment or scale come down the pipe.
For a final filter, it's a good idea to use a specialized filter for chemicals of concern, typically heavy metals and/or chloramines. (Example: https://matrikx.com )
NSF polypropylene should be studied more but I doubt it is a significant source of microplastics. Although, I wished pressurized residential RO systems could be 99% stainless steel or something else inert and easy to clean like thick borosilicate glass because PP does stain. It's important to use NSF listed / FDA compliant (CFR21.177.2600 A-E) O-rings and lubrication rather than random junk from Amazon. Any "water filtration" system that doesn't use RO or significant water pressure is only for taste and not a filtration system.
Preaching to the choir here. ;] To be specific:
- RO for drinking water and icemaker for most people. Fancy: Bathroom faucet RO needs additional piping, pump (sometimes), and a larger tank.
- Whole house filters (3- to 5-stage carbon) provides a belts-and-suspenders check on tap water quality.
- Cation exchange (salt consuming) water softeners where applicable. Soft water feels good in the shower and improve laundry efficiency. A house's exterior and kitchen cold water ideally should be plumbed with filtered hard water, bypassing water softening for irrigation.