Filtering water by reverse osmosis effectively eliminates dangerous contaminants and delivers fresh, pure drinking water. So why is it that there is so much negativity about it in the public eye? This entry is dedicated to telling the truth about RO water by covering the facts, the pros and cons, and finally answering the question “is reverse osmosis water safe to drink”. The answer might surprise you….
If you’ve been doing research about buying a filtration system for you and your family, you’ve undoubtedly come across information that paints RO water in a negative light. This leads many to believe that reverse osmosis water is dangerous or, as certain publications might suggest, totally “dead” and without nutrition. Neither of those conclusions are correct, though there are some important facts you should know about totally pure water. The truth is that water filtered by reverse osmosis is 100% safe to drink, but there are a few things you need to know before you install a filter on your home’s tap.
Tap Water
Too Much Contamination, Not Enough Regulation
The majority of us don’t think twice about the water we drink from the tap. We turn it on, drink the water, and get on with our day. But the truth is that the water coming from the tap is not nearly as safe most of us think it is. In the wake of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, public water has come under scrutiny, and the findings have made many uneasy.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, nearly 77 million people were served by community water systems that were in violation of the Safe Water Drinking Act in 2015 (source). This is nothing new, though. The New York Times reports that companies including chemical factories and manufacturing plants have violated regulations and pumped the environment full of harmful chemicals over half a million times (source) in a recent study.
Even well-regulated tap water can contain harmful toxins, chemicals, and other contaminants that can put children and adults at serious risk.
Filtering your water effectively eliminates the risk of exposure to lead, parasites, viruses, herbicides, and more.
Get Educated: Water can be full of hidden contaminants. Read up on which ones are commonly found in your water on the Water Quality Association’s website.
What is Reverse Osmosis Water?
Reverse osmosis is a process that takes contaminated water and forces it through a semipermeable membrane (meaning the membrane only allows certain substances to pass through and not others). The process forces the water though these membranes and exerts enough pressure on it to remove impurities, large molecules, and minerals. The membranes are designed to have holes small enough to allow only water to pass through, catching all of the larger substances in the process. What’s leftover is completely pure water. In fact, it is one of the most common ways of producing fresh water for drinking and cleaning around the world.
So if it’s so good, why is there so much negativity surrounding it?
We’ll get to that next. First, let’s cover the benefits of drinking RO water.
Did You Know?: The Environmental Working Group found more than 200 unregulated chemicals in drinking water?
The Benefits of Reverse Osmosis Water
Keeping your body hydrated by drinking enough fresh, pure water is the single most important aspect of human health. Reverse osmosis removes impurities from water and greatly reduces the risk of contamination. Here are a few major benefits:
Aside from the direct benefits, you also get the added benefit of saving money on buying bottled water any time you want fresh, great tasting water. That, in turn, has the environmental benefit of creating less waste.
Health, financial, and environmental benefits—what’s the catch? Why is there so much negativity surrounding reverse osmosis water? Is it actually safe to drink?
Is Reverse Osmosis Safe to Drink?
Debunking Common Myths
For all of its great benefits, reverse osmosis water is not perfect. There is a major drawback that is a source of negativity: it is totally purified. While that might sound great at first, it’s not actually as good as it sounds. Since water contains hundreds of nutrients, some of them are bound to be good for you. In fact, water contains healthy amounts of many essential nutrients. This leads many to believe that reverse osmosis water is not safe to drink or at the very least inadequate.
Myth #1: Reverse osmosis water isn’t safe because it has no nutrients
This is wrong. Yes, RO water doesn’t have many of the essential nutrients you need for your health. But neither does normal tap water either. The amount of these healthy nutrients is in fact very small. The contaminants, on the other hand, are much more numerous. The missed nutrients can easily be made up for in your diet or from supplements. Is it worth exposure to hundreds of contaminants just to get a small dose of nutrients that could easily be found elsewhere? No!
Myth #2: Reverse Osmosis Water is Too Acidic to Drink
Another issue that leads people to believe RO water is not safe is that many claim that it is acidic and could lead to stomach problems. Normal water has has a neutral Ph level of 7. When reverse osmosis removes some impurities, the Ph level can drop below 7, making it acidic. Since the water is more pure, it naturally wants to grab more CO2 from the air, which makes it more acidic when it bonds together.
Don’t worry, this is perfectly fine. It’s because the Ph level will return to normal when it comes in contact with food in your stomach. In general, the Ph level will drop to around 5.5, which is far less acidic than the acids in your stomach. So if you are drinking it on an empty stomach, the acid in your stomach is far more acidic than the water you are drinking. That means it will not have any effects.
Myth #3: RO Water is Scientifically Altered
The term reverse osmosis is not very common in daily life. This leads a lot of people to think that the water has been treated in some way or another and that it has been modified by an unsafe process. The truth is that reverse osmosis is just a simple filtration process (involving very complex science) like any other filtration system you’ve ever come across.
Reverse osmosis uses a film membrane and high pressure to push the water through the membrane. Water molecules are small enough to pass through the membrane, contaminants are not. Simple as that. Once the water passes through the filtration system, the only thing that’s left is pure water, nothing else. There’s no alteration done to the water. When you drink a glass of RO water, you are drinking water in its purest form.
Although RO water is not perfect, it is perfectly safe to drink. Despite claims that it is not nutritious enough, too acidic, or genetically modified in some dark laboratory beneath the surface, none of those are grounded in reality. When the water passes through the membrane during the process, the product on the other end is totally clean water without any impurities. Yes, reverse osmosis water is 100% safe to drink.
Why do I get nausea from my RO system and my ph is 29. Is there any nutrients in stage RO system
Dear Helen, pH never goes above 14. It’s the TDS- total dissolved solids you might be talking about.
When the membrane in ro system gets dirty, the water smells really unpleasant. In my ro system, the water smells oily.
Check with your service provider for membrane replacement.
Hi does RO remove Fluoride from water and at what stage. Carbon?
If at all possible
yes it does
The pH scale is from 0 – 14. 29 is impossible.
The pH level in the RO water should be about 5-6 and it’s acidic, that’s why some RO system has a built-in Alkaline filter that helps to balance the pH to be neutral (ph at about 7).
This used to happen to us as well. Once we started putting a pinch of himalayan sea salt in our glass we stopped getting nausea or reflux!
Can RO system to remove bacteria and virus in the water?like E.coli, Salmonella? Thanks
Wihardjo
Is it safe to use my 4 stage RO system water om my clap machine instead of buying distilled water from the store
I use store bought RO water and use it my cpap. No problems
RO water is nearly as pure as distilled, so it should be sufficient. The most important thing is to clean your CPAP to prevent lung infections.
No. Distilled water is pure water, free of all minerals thst might damage the inner workings of your machine. Please continue to use distilled water for cpap purposes.
Yes this is perfect guideline
Good job ????????
I have a water filtrate and system that has not been changed couldn’t have bacteria in it and be causing me illness?
What is the difference between ro filters and polypropylene filters? Namely LOTUSH20 which filters to 2.0 micron and adds magnesium back into the water
It depends on the claims associated with the PP filter in question. Typically, activated carbon pre filters (found within RO systems) will remove a portion of chemical constituents within the water prior to reaching the RO membrane. Once reaching the RO membrane, the contaminants not reduced by the carbon (due to lack of adherence to the carbon via polarity or smaller size particles than the mesh of the carbon) will then be reduced by the RO membrane. PP filters normally filter by size only, thus you would not eliminate the chemicals via polarity and surface area adherence. I was a water filtration toxicologist.
How can this article state that RO contains no lead, no solids and no parasites? The engineer and owner of my local large commercial and residential plumbing experts – who install RO, told me that RO will eliminate up to 90% of many contaminants, when thre system is new. It will not eliminate Chromium 6 and other contaminants effectively (a major issue in CA & other areas). They also advised me that as the machine and core ages (even during the first year), it’s filtering at approx. 70% and continues to decrease.
The only way for me to achieve the healthy water I desired was to RO, prefilter for my specific contaminants, remineralize, and have a water ionizer. The result is clean, alkaline water with a small amount of minerals. I add a pinch of Himalayan salt, drink from glass only & test my water once per year to ensure that everything is working properly. I’m still paying less than bottled water, drinking far better water, and helping the environment.
I like your system. Seems logical. Matt I ask how you re mineralize?
Jack
For me, I have the 7 stage APEC System ROES-PHUV75. There’s two particulate filters, charcoal filter, membrane, charcoal filter, UV light, and finally, a mineral block. It’s specifically designed to raise PH, can but it also adds a subtle flavor as well so you’re not just drinking wetness. It comes with the first set of filters and a UV light, and everything you need to install. The unit cost us just over $300, and the filters, membrane and UV replacement cost about $200 a year ($90 every six months, plus a $20 UV bulb every 12). Worth every penny, I promise. There are many on the market that are cheaper, but it’s been said a million times, you get what you pay for. They’re not difficult to install, as everything’s color-coded, but without knowing your range or scope of skills, I highly recommend calling in a certified plumber. It can be installed in under an hour, so less than a hundred bucks for installation. They are slow to fill the reservoir tank, but once it’s full, it’s glass after glass of fresh, clean, great tasting water.
RO system filters all the good minerals and nutrients in the water. This article goes in depth in explaining how RO works and justify why is is “OK” to remove the nutrients. I choose to find a better solution. I use a water purifier that filters out 160+ contaminants but keep all the healthy nutrients, plus it has a built in UV light to kill the viruses and bacteria making it safe to drink.
How does your filter decide which are the contaminants and which are healthy nutrients? Must be very intelligent. lol
Hello I wanted to share some strange stuff. My local tap water failed its testing regulations again and has always had very hard water and the local water utility company is taking steps to fix the problem. However I switched the family and pets to RO water, but have found that it can be harmful to our dog and cat. Would spring water be a better option for all of us? Before this information was released I tested the tap water with a TDS meter and it read 500 ppm and should read much less, because all or fish were dying off. Strange thing is the PH was 7 with tap or RO water. Another strange thing is we use a brita faucet system and the meter shows no differents when it is used or not, both at 500 ppm. I also tested the RO water with the same meter and it read 4 ppm.
Hi Mike
My BF insisted that my hard water could be easily corrected with a Brita water pitcher/ filter. My TDS meter reads between 750-930 ppm when water is taken directly from the faucet.
I was concerned about the health of my 3 cats and rescued bunnies (4 of whom had gotten bladder sludge before I realized that hard water could be a significant problem).
I learned about the ZeroWater filter and started using that. My BF bought me a new Brita filter to show me how impressed he was with Brita and how much money I could save… The reading was 664 with a brand new Brita filter.
I’ll stick with ZeroWater for me and my furry gang????????????????????????????????
Which water purifier is better for kidney transplant patients R.O/UV/UF/TDS/TASTE ENHANCER? Or combination?
I have a RO system whose tds water output is 40 is it safe to drink
I drink alkaline water 9.5, I have recently added the alkaline filter to my system. What is the alkaline level with this filter added?
Does this alkaline filter make my RO water better to drink?
Hello ,
Wanted to know which RO purifier makes the water alkaline too? Have read about Aquaguard having such a machine is it avaliable in other brands?
Which is the best RO purifier which wastes the least water and is suitable in voltage fluctuations.
thanks
APEC systems have several that are pH and mineral friendly. I have the ROES-PHUV75 and I couldn’t be happier. as long as you keep up on filter changes, they’re the best thing since sliced bread.
Thank for the informative article. Cleared many of my doubts. I agree that RO water has a great taste.
Bore water with tds 1820 is usable for domestic utility not drinking
Mike said it can be harmful to our pets. WHY?
It is not harmful to pets, it is simply filtered water. Tap water, which most people give to their pets is more harmful than RO water, there must have been another factor or reason as to why Mike’s pets were unhealthy.
I’m beginning to think many of the people commenting didn’t read the article and just commented.
Which water is good to consume..RO water or double filtered water?
Is it true that Reverse Osmosis water removes about 60% of the beneficial minerals from the food we cook?
Also, is it true that Reverse Osmosis leaches minerals from our bodies?
No and no, it’s perfectly safe to drink and/or cook with.
Hi,
We have always been drinking ozarka water bottles, is the water filtered by RO system safe for drinking and a good replacement for Ozarka water bottlles? We have kids at home so would like to know if it’s perfectly ok for them to drink from RO system everyday. Thanks.
I currently am using a 4-filter RO system we have had for 2 years. We have NOT changed any of the filters since installation. Very recent readings performed (by the mfr) are still very good: TDS=8, CH=0, PH=7.6, TH=1ppm.
The normal manufacturer recommendation is 3 of the filters be changed every 18 months, the 4th filter (membrane) every other 18 months. If my readings are so good right NOW, do I still need to change these filters like the mfr suggests?
Thanks for sharing useful information. RO water doesn’t have many of the essential nutrients that we need for our health.