Human activities or natural sources contaminate the water that affects its quality. Therefore, investing in a home water filtration system is ideally important for those people who are more susceptible to become sick from impure water.
Particularly in developing countries, water contamination is a problem. People choose bottled water on the safer side due to the unavailability of proper sanitation. You can simply buy a home test kit to test the quality of tap water available in your area.
Water purification systems are a must to access pure and clean drinking water as it is vital to health. Such water is quite safe and has reduced exposure to contaminants. If you are looking for ways to treat your tap water in your home, you have probably listened about the most commonly used methods of Reverse osmosis water filtration system and water distillation.
With the substantial differences, both of these provide you with contaminant-free and healthy water to achieve your daily water intake. But which one is considered better to suit your needs?
To remove different kinds of impurities such as bacteria, fungi, chemicals and metals like copper and lead, when the tap or groundwater is processed through different stages of filtration or distillation to make it pure and safe for human consumption, such water is known as purified water. It contains 10 PPM of TDS. Even, the essential minerals for human health are also removed in this purification process.
According to the world health organization, about 2.1 billion people does not have access to purified drinking water. This subsequently leads to an increased number of health issues in the world.
Many countries now a day’s strive to use various commercial treatment methods to make fresh drinking water available for the public. You can also use them at home.
Reverse Osmosis Method
The Reverse Osmosis water filtration method is a highly effective method, used widely both in a residential and commercial setting. It eliminates bacteria and viruses, harmful chemical pollutants and even the natural essential minerals found in the water.
In the Reverse Osmosis process, high pressure is used to force contaminant water across a special semi-permeable membrane. The membrane has small pores that let the molecules of water pass but blocks the fine contaminant particles.
The process of reverse osmosis consists of different filter stages to completely purify water. In the end, it adds the beneficial minerals back to the water with a special mineral filter, this gives a competitive edge to the RO filtration system in generating healthier drinking water.
The filter stages in the RO process include some pre and post-filters. The sediment filter is generally used as a pre-filter that plays an important role in the maximum reduction of any dust, sand and dirt particles from the water. Then it passes through the RO membrane that removes the remaining impurities down to a microscopic level. This sediment filter prolongs the life of the RO membrane.
Granulated activated carbon (GAC) is used as a post-filter in a Reverse Osmosis system that effectively captures the unpleasant taste and odour in the water.
In the residential RO water filtration system, the collected contaminants will be flushed into the drain. For the optimal performance of the unit, it is recommended to occasionally replace the filter blocks and the RO membrane.
RO systems are available in 2 configurations. The most common is the point-of-use (POU) system. This is designed to deliver filtered water at a single faucet like the one at your kitchen’s sink.
The second configuration is the point-of-entry (POE) system, which is also known as the whole house water filtration system. This is designed to provide purified water to the entire house or to each water dispenser in the house. This will benefit in showering, laundry and dishwashing by having soft and contaminant-free water.
Strengths \ Weaknesses Of Reverse Osmosis Method
Strengths
Reverse osmosis is mostly beneficial for water filtration in the areas where pesticides and herbicide are abundantly used and make their way into the public water system.
Reverse osmosis filtration systems are compact and small enough to be easily installed in the cabinet area under the sink.
This system is powerful and provides ultra-pure drinking water in a large capacity for everyone in the house.
In comparison to distillation, RO clearly pull ahead in terms of size and power.
However, to get rid of the effects of hard water on your water-using appliances, then it is recommended to use a water softening system together with a POE reverse osmosis purification system. This is a more economical setup to get clean and purified water for drinking and soft water for other purposes.
Weaknesses
It takes good such as beneficial minerals along with the bad impurities.
It can be expensive, depending upon the model units and replacements of filter blocks.
Many countries now a day’s strive to use various commercial treatment methods to make fresh drinking water available for the public. You can also use them at home.
Water distillation
Water distillation is a specific process of water filtration. In which the water boils and turns into steam. This steam is then collected in a condenser where it afterwards cooled off and returned into a liquid state. All the impurities and contaminants are left behind.
Then the water drops pass through the last stage of filtration which is the carbon-post filter. In this stage, all the harmful chemicals such as lead and sulphate will be removed. Now, the water is completely pure and it contains the only 1PPM of TDS.
It is an effective process to kill microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa and viruses. But on the other hand, it also removes oxygen and minerals from the tap water, which consequently changes the taste and intrinsic value of the water that can be useful for your health.
For water distillation at home, you will need to get a countertop distiller to purify the water and reducing all the contaminants even the VOCs. The device requires almost 4 to 6 hours in producing each gallon of pure water.
Strengths \ Weaknesses Of Reverse Osmosis Method
Whereas water distillation is an ancient filtration process, there are many key factors that make it less desirable for residential use.
Strengths
As the distilled water is remarkably pure, it is common practice to use it in medical or health-related facilities and laboratories.
Distilled water is contaminant-free, though some people prefer this for drinking.
Distilled water is vitally helpful for people with having weak immune system because it is pure from pesticides and impurities.
people suffering from HIV/AIDS and other certain types of cancers are at greater risk of getting sick from impure food and water. They may benefit from using distilled water.
Weaknesses
It is a time-consuming process. As it requires approximately 4 to 6 hours in generating a water gallon.
The process of distillation uses a considerable amount of electricity which will enhance your expense.
Water distillers are costly and it also requires replacing the post-filter blocks for optimal performance.
Additionally, the generation levels of water from the distillation system are limited per day. So, it is not suitable to meet high demands for large organizations and areas with heavy traffic
Which is better?
When comparing reverse osmosis water Vs distilled water, remember both types of processes produce some amount of wastewater. In both systems, the collected contaminants on one side must be flushed down the drain from the system.
When looking for improved treatments of tap water, it is better to ask which is suitable for your needs. Although both reverse osmosis and water distillation almost remove everything from the water, the earlier puts back the essential minerals in the water through a special mineral filter. This will also add taste to your drinking water making it a perfect choice.
If you choose distilled water, then you surely add several mineral-rich vegetables to your diet, to meet the natural mineral deficiency.
Both of these water purification methods have their own strengths and weaknesses. Overall, RO water is healthier to drink, but ultimately choosing the best system depends on your personal preference.
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