Reverse Osmosis FAQs

Reverse Osmosis FAQs frequently asked questions. These RO drinking water systems are a great way to provide pure, great tasting water. And it is great for cooking and drinking water for you and your family. Below you will find some of the most frequently asked questions and the answers to those questions.

Q. Does reverse osmosis remove sodium?

A. Yes, reverse osmosis removes up to 98 percent of all sodium in the water. As well as nitrates, lead, chlorine, pharmaceuticals and many more impurities.

Q. Do reverse osmosis drinking water systems waste a lot of water?

A. Our reverse osmosis systems are state of the art technology. And very efficient with waste. Our customers have reported to us that on average, 1.0 gallons go to drain for each one gallon of clean water. These systems only run when you use water. So even if your family drinks three gallons of water a day. You are only putting 3.0 gallons to the drain. To put that in prospective, an average shower puts up to sixty gallons to the drain.

Q. Can I hook up my reverse osmosis system to my refrigerator or ice maker?

A. Yes, we offer a fridge kit that comes with thirty foot of hose and all the fittings you need to hook to your refrigerator, and you will have pure, great tasting water at your fingertips. This pure water also makes clear, clean ice. No more cloudy, discolored ice cubes.

Q. Is it true that a reverse osmosis system removes all the "good" minerals that your body needs?

A. The reverse osmosis system removes up to ninety-eight percent of all minerals from the water. We at Water Filters of America™, believe that you should get pure, clean drinking water and then add whatever you want to it. Your diet should provide the minerals your body needs, not your water, but for those that are concerned about lacking the good minerals, we offer a mineral pH cartridge that puts the good minerals back in as well as raising the pH.

Q. I see many different gallons per day systems offered, which is best?

A. In our opinion, the fifty gallon per day system is the best you can get. We could put virtually any gallon per day filter in our systems for the same cost, but we have found that anything more than fifty gallons per day, the quality of water decreases and anything less than fifty gallons per day does not make the water fast enough. The fifty gallon per day provides the highest quality of water and makes more than enough clean, great tasting drinking water for the average family.

Q. Should I put reverse osmosis on the whole house?

A. You should only use reverse osmosis on the whole house if you have specific problems with your water, such as naturally high sodium content. Unless you have a specific issue that would require whole house reverse osmosis filtration, it is usually not a good idea. In order to do a whole house, you would need a commercial size reverse osmosis system, large storage tank(s), re-pressurizing pump, pressure tank and a float valve.

These units require a great deal of space and can be quite expensive. You would also need relatively clean water going into the system (no hard water or iron). You would normally need some type of pre-treatment depending on the quality of your water and many need post-treatment to raise the pH back up as well. In most cases, it is much more practical and economical to use reverse osmosis only at the point of use where you get the majority of your drinking and cooking water, such as the kitchen sink and refrigerator, rather than the whole house.

Q. Will reverse osmosis remove iron and hardness?

A. It is not recommended that you run anything more than 0.3 ppm of iron or a hardness above 10 gpg into a reverse osmosis system. Although it will remove iron and hardness, these contaminants will plug up the filters very quickly. If you have iron in your water or high levels of hardness, you should treat those issues at the point of entry or on the whole house. For iron problems, take a look at our Terminox™ ISM Filters and for high hardness levels our Water Softeners.

Q. Can I use reverse osmosis to treat bacteria?

A. Although reverse osmosis will greatly reduce certain types of bacteria, it is not the normal recommended treatment method due to the fact that it is not effective in completely eliminating many types of bacteria, and some nuisance bacteria, like iron bacteria, for instance, which will plug up the filters. If you have e-coli or coliform, it is recommended that you treat the whole house with either chlorine or ultra-violet (UV). We also offer the reverse osmosis drinking water system with UV, that will kill most bacteria for drinking water only.

Q. Why do I need a separate faucet?

A. The reverse osmosis system is for your drinking and cooking water and does not provide enough water for washing dishes or regular water usage. Also, it is not made for hot water. So you would use your regular sink faucet for those things. And the R.O. faucet for your clean, great tasting water.

If you have a question that you do not see here in our reverse osmosis FAQs. Please do not hesitate to contact one of our expert technicians. Either by phone, email or chat. And they will be glad to answer any questions you may have about reverse osmosis, water softening or any other water filtration question.

Reverse osmosis FAQs frequently asked questions