Water Treatment

Reverse osmosis is a very simple process. In fact, it utilizes the same concept as the cells in our bodies, transferring substances between porous membranes. Here is a simpler way of looking at it. If you place salt water in one chamber and fresh water in another and the pressure is greater in the fresh water container, the fresh water will transfer between the membranes separating the two chambers until the pressure is equal.

Using this idea, filtration scientists reversed the process, pressurizing the salt water so that it will pass through a man-made membrane and into the fresh water chamber and leave the salt or any other contaminants behind. This works on your main water supply, allowing you to remove any potential contaminants from your home drinking water, including high levels of sodium that result from water softening.

If you soften your water or use a distillation process before it reaches your tap, a reverse osmosis filter is a necessary upgrade to ensure all drinking water is safe for your family to consume.

Your water is considered hard when the levels of certain minerals get too high. These include lead and iron as well as excess ions of both calcium and magnesium. Hard water is only bad for your health when those levels get very high, which is quite rare. But even at low levels, hard water can be extremely damaging to your home and its pipes.

Hard water speeds up corrosion of pipes, causes damage to your fixtures, and results in lime scale buildup on your walls and in your bathroom. It can even make it quite uncomfortable to bathe due to the excess levels of metal in shower water.

If you think you have a problem with hard water in your home, the best thing to do is to talk to a professional plumber about having a water softening system installed. These systems can reliably reduce the amount of metals in your home’s water, and they cost relatively little to install and maintain.

Your water treatment system should be calibrated to remove only the contaminants found when your water was tested. For instance, if you have hard water, softening is a recommended step. But if you have softeners installed, you often need a reverse osmosis system as well to remove excess sodium from the softened water.

High levels of nitrates or arsenic are another specific problem and specialty resin cartridges are required for removal of these types of contaminants. To cut down on basic sediment and other non-harmful contaminants, a kitchen countertop filter that attaches to your faucet or under your sink is very effective.

Regular maintenance on your water treatment system is important, but this mostly involves simply checking and replacing cartridges and filters. The amount of time required between maintenance visits varies depending on your system and your contaminant levels. If you have high levels of metals or debris in your water, your filters may need to be changed more often.

You can take care of most basic water filter changes required in your home. However, cartridge changes for nitrate and arsenic removal systems should be done by a professional. Regular service should be performed on your reverse osmosis system to check for proper pressurization and water balance. If the system becomes ineffective, your drinking water may become unsafe.

Finally, you should have your water tested every year for common problems like pH imbalance, high bacteria levels and water hardness. Beyond those tests, heavy metal tests should be done once every 2-3 years to check for things like high chlorine and calcium levels as well as excessive lead or iron levels that could develop due to corrosion in your pipes.