Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the best ways to remove harmful chemicals from your tap water, and it’s inexpensive and easy to do. If you don’t know what RO is, here’s a quick explanation: RO creates purified water by passing tap water through a semi-permeable membrane, which separates the good stuff—minerals and other healthy elements—from the bad stuff (like pesticides). The result? Cleaner, healthier drinking water with more minerals than most bottled water. In this article, we’ll explore six reasons reverse osmosis is an effective purification method.
It Removes Chlorine and Chloramines 
Most public water supplies use chlorine and chloramines to disinfect their water before sending it to customers. Reverse osmosis removes chlorine and chloramine, a more harmful chemical than chlorine. Chlorine is a disinfectant that kills bacteria in tap water (and it can be found in swimming pools). However, if ingested by humans, chlorine causes all kinds of health problems like digestive issues and respiratory disorders. Chloramine is even more harmful than chlorine because it stays in your body longer after ingestion. It’s better to avoid both chemicals completely if possible.
Reverse osmosis will eliminate these chemicals so that you can drink clean water without adversely affecting your health or taste buds.
It Removes Disinfection By-Products (DBPs)
One of the main benefits of reverse osmosis is that it can remove disinfection by-products (DBPs) formed when chlorine or chloramine reacts with natural organic matter in the water. These byproducts include trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, and other chemicals.
So why is this important? Well, not only do these DBPs taste bad and smell bad—they’re also linked to digestive issues and increased cancer risk.
It removes PFAS and PFOA
Reverse osmosis can also remove PFOA and PFAS, chemicals used in manufacturing a wide array of household items. For example, PFAS are used in making nonstick cookware and other household items; however, they also leach into the water supply when they’re heated.
PFOA is another type of chemical that’s commonly found in tap water supplies across the country. It’s often used in making Teflon products like pots and pans or stain-resistant fabrics for clothing; however, it can be released into the environment through wastewater treatment plants.
Both PFOA and PFAS have many health concerns associated with them due to their toxicity levels: long-term exposure has been linked with higher risks for certain cancers and developmental defects in fetuses exposed during pregnancy (even at low doses). Reverse osmosis removes these potentially harmful contaminants from your drinking water supply by removing them at the faucet’s source rather than waiting until after filtration through carbon filters or reverse osmosis membranes have already taken place inside appliances like countertop under-counter refrigerators.”
It Removes All Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are chemicals that evaporate at room temperature. These chemicals can be found in paints, wood preservatives, cleaners, and other household products. Some common VOCs include formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene.
Reverse Osmosis is one of the best ways to remove these harmful substances from your tap water. Reverse Osmosis filters out all volatile organic compounds by forcing water through a membrane with pores too small for them to pass through. This allows you to enjoy pure water free from dangerous contaminants like VOCs.
It Removes Heavy Metals
Reverse osmosis systems remove heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, and copper. However, it does not remove all heavy metals; there may be some in your water source that a reverse osmosis system cannot filter out. Although this isn’t a huge issue for people who live far away from industry or other sources of pollution, it is worth considering if you are concerned about the quality of your tap water. To ensure that your drinking water has no traceable amounts of heavy metal toxins in it after purification by an RO system (most common types used at home), adding a carbon filter before the RO unit can help remove any leftover particles. This will also increase the efficiency of your RO but may require more regular maintenance.
It Leaves You With Drinking Water That’s Better Than Bottled Water Quality
Reverse osmosis is a process that removes contaminants from water. It’s used in the food and beverage industry, where it can be employed to remove harmful chemicals from drinking water. For example, if you dilute a concentrated salt solution with pure water and then filter it through reverse osmosis membranes, you’ll get back purified saltwater on one side and fresh drinking water on the other.
In terms of RO systems for residential use, the advantage of using reverse osmosis is that you’re getting pure drinking water at home without having to buy bottled beverage products (which are often expensive). One million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. As of 2021, more than half a trillion plastic bottles will be sold annually. Around 380 million metric tons of plastic are produced yearly. 9.1 billion tons of plastic have been made since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity. Virtually every piece of plastic ever made still exists in some shape or form (except for the small amount that has been incinerated).
Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles annually, averaging about 13 bottles per month for every person in the U.S. That means by using reverse osmosis and a reusable water bottle, you could save an average of 156 plastic bottles annually.
Reverse Osmosis is one of the best ways to remove harmful chemicals from your tap water.
Reverse osmosis is a water purification process that uses pressure to force water through a membrane, removing contaminants and impurities. It’s commonly used in the food and beverage industry and medical applications like dialysis. Reverse osmosis has also been shown to remove harmful chemicals from tap water.
When you think about it, it makes sense that reverse osmosis would be effective at filtering out chemicals: after all, this is how your kidneys work—they use pressure to push toxins out through your ureters and into your bladder, where they can be discharged with urine.
We hope you’ve learned some valuable information about reverse osmosis. It is a great way to purify your tap water and is one of the best options for people who want to drink healthier water. If you have questions about RO or want to learn more about it, feel free to reach out to one of our water treatment specialists at c and j water.
