Is A Reverse Osmosis Water Dispenser The Answer To Home Water Filtration?

Are you sure that you want a reverse osmosis water dispenser?  Some reverse osmosis water filtering systems are very good.  Others do not include enough steps to truly protect your health.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends a reverse osmosis water dispenser as one option for people with weakened or non-functioning immune systems, along with other options, to remove parasitic cysts from publicly treated tap-water.  Cryptosporidium and giardia cysts may cause illness similar to food poisoning in the average person, but in someone with immune deficiencies, they can cause death.

That’s why the EPA recommends that some people should use additional protection.  They also want to remind you that exposure to parasitic cysts can occur when you are brushing your teeth or washing fruits and vegetables.

All of this is true.  My only problem with reverse osmosis water filtering systems is that they do not remove other harmful contaminants.  Those might not kill you today, but they could kill you later down the road.

For example, chlorination kills bacteria, but creates a byproduct called trihalomethane or THM, for short.  We now know for a fact that THM exposure causes cancer.  At one time, that was a subject up for debate, but not anymore.

A reverse osmosis water dispenser will not remove THMs.  They can only be removed through a process called “adsorption” (not absorption as with a sponge).  A purifier that contains an adsorption step traps THMs and other chemicals on the surface of a block composed of carbon and other media.
If the block is properly designed, it will also remove parasitic cysts.  The design must be a sub-micron structure, so that the cysts cannot pass through.  This is another option suggested by the EPA.

Some newer reverse osmosis water filtering systems contain an additional carbon filtration step to remove some of the chemicals that would normally pass through the porous membranes.  So, the addition of the carbon filter is good, but why do we need or want the RO step?  There is really no reason for it.

A reverse osmosis water dispenser is no better than a multi-stage filtration device that costs about a third of the price.  In one way, the less expensive technology is better.

Naturally waters have a trace mineral content that is good for your health.  Research has shown that drinking de-mineralized waters causes digestive problems, can lead to electrolyte imbalances and nutritional deficiencies.

De-mineralized is what you get from distillation and reverse osmosis water filtering systems.  The newer multi-stage purifiers use a process called ion exchange to turn copper and lead ions, which are always present, into potassium and sodium. 

So, instead of de-mineralized, you have something to drink that is safe and pure, tastes good and is good for your health.  If you have ever drunk from a reverse osmosis water dispenser, you have noticed that the taste is stale and unpleasant.  That’s just a matter of taste, of course, but you can have something better for less.

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