Reverse Osmosis: The Solution to Cleaner Water

This tastes funny.

When drinking water tastes “funny”, people will tell you. When drinking water lacks any distinguishable flavors, folks tend to keep it to themselves. We’ve noticed that the majority of people don’t have a favorite brand of bottled water, but they do have a least favorite brand of bottled water. There are many variables as to why water may taste a certain way, but what if the water at your sink tasted just as good as those fancy glass water bottles, at a mere fraction of the price?

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How do you say “sisomso”?

Truth be told— we’re having trouble agreeing on a pronunciation, so for the sake of time we’ll just keep referring to it as “reverse osmosis”. Whether you own a reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system or not, you’ve probably encountered one at some point. But outside of it being a separate faucet for drinking water, what do you really know, if anything, about RO filtration?

It all started with a pig bladder.

The first recorded demonstration of semi-permeable membrane water filtering occurred in the 1740s. A French physicist used a pig bladder to test the concept of semi-permeable membrane filtering, which is an integral component to any RO system. The water molecules flowed through the membrane and trapped unwanted contaminants at the membrane wall, resulting in visibly cleaner water. Although the tested hypothesis was an overall success, the discovery and concept sat on a shelf for nearly 200 years before being put to daily use.

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RO, RO, RO your boat.

Fast-forward to World War II, submarines began using semi-permeable RO filters to save cargo space. Filtering salts and minerals from ocean water into drinkable water (referred to as “desalination”) was a painfully slow process, but the operational advantage of RO filtering proved to be well worth the research and development. This old, but freshly-refined technology would eventually bring better tasting water to the masses.

Apply pressure.

Today, most in-home RO systems have up to 5 stages of filtering— we’re happy to report, as pigs are everywhere, that these 5 stages no longer require a pig bladder or 1940’s submarine equipment. The majority of in-home RO systems consist of a sediment filter, carbon filter, and a semi-permeable membrane filter. Pressure forces water through the membrane slowly, separating the permeate (fresh water) from the brine (unusable water), which is why in-home RO systems include replacement filters and tanks for permeate storage. Depending on the system, the standard 2.8 gallon tank can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to fill with fresh water, so having a tank of usable RO water readily available plays a key role in the RO system.

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We’re here to help.

Commercial Service technicians are industry experts in modern RO systems. Whether the RO system is a single point-of-use (most common) or a whole-home solution, our trusted technicians are trained and proficient in RO system installations and repairs. If you’re in need of a reverse osmosis system installation, repair, consultation, or quote, contact us today at 812-339-9114.