RO or Reverse Osmosis water became popular since it was initiated as home water purification system in the 1970s. Today, there are more than hundred commercial RO plant manufacturers in every country of the world that are selling their products to industrial clients. In this post, you will learn about the Major Health Benefits and limitations offered by RO water and how it affects your health. The type of treated water most often used by packaged drinking water companies is reverse osmosis water.
The reverse osmosis or RO water purification method includes forcing water through a semi-permeable membrane. This membrane is used for filtering the contaminated water. If the size of contaminants is larger than water molecules, those contaminants will be filtered out by this membrane. If the size is smaller, they will remain untreated.
Major health benefits of RO water purification
You must have tasted packaged water of a brand and you must have liked it too. No doubt, the quality taste offered by RO treated water is the best one, but when you research and experience, you will find some limitations that outweigh its major advantages.
SEE ALSO: 5 Largest Wastewater Treatment Plant All Over The World
The main benefit of RO water is that the purification system removes some unhealthy contaminants. A good RO purification system has potential to remove contaminants like arsenic, sodium, nitrates, lead, and copper, some organic chemicals and municipal additive fluoride.
A few limitations of RO water:
RO water purification method is 40 years old and this process was primarily used to de-salinate water. Some limitations of RO water are as under-
- The water is demineralized
As maximum particles such as sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, are larger in size, so these are removed by the system using semi-permeable membrane of RO system.
You may also find some contradictory information online that tells major Health Benefits of osmosis water. After reading it, you will be convinced that drinking de-mineralized water is not good for health.
Health risks involved-
- Gastrointestinal problems
- Bone density issues
- Joint conditions
- Cardiovascular disease
Removal of natural minerals also makes water tasteless. Many people thus add liquid minerals to their RO treated water to enhance the taste.
- Usually water is acidic
The primary reason why we say RO water is unhealthy is due to removal of minerals, RO water becomes acidic. Drinking acidic water will not help maintain healthy level of pH balance in the blood.
- Some harmful contaminants stay in water
While it is claimed by RO plant manufacturers that their system is proficient in removing variety of contaminants in water, the RO membrane alone doesn’t remove volatile organic chemical, chloramines and chlorine, pharmaceuticals and some synthetic chemicals that are found in municipal water.
What do commercial RO plant manufacturers have to say about Reverse Osmosis system?
They suggest if people are using reverse osmosis system and are not prepare to give up, they can use re-mineralization cartridge or add-on to their RO system.
