As an example of one of those inquiries, a reader named SonyaBWell asked, “The guy at [a LARGE retail store in her area] told us reverse osmosis wasted water and that we would save aa whole lot of money at the end of the day with a combination of faucet, shower, counter filters like [a LARGE retail store in her area] carries. He said reverse osmosis wastes like 20 or more than 20 galons just to make 1 or 2 galons of good water. Is that true?”

First of all, yes, reverse osmosis water filters do discard water down the drain as part of their operating process BUT the numbers quoted by our friend at, well, that store, sound like numbers taken from either the worst reverse osmosis systems currently in production or from the owner manuals of units from years ago.

These days reverse osmosis units remove an extreme amount of potentially dangerous, unwanted drinking water contaminants and during that process they do create a waste water stream, yes, as we said a minute ago, but where did you THINK all those contaminants went?

The discard water washes away all the contaminants that get filtered out of the source water. Without the flow of discarded water, the contaminants would remain trapped someplace in the reverse osmosis membranes and quickly cause problems with clogging.

Bottled water ‘better’ than RO water when it comes to waste water

If you think buying bottled water will somehow ‘save the planet’ from unnecessarily wasted water, think again. The next time you fork over your well-deserved money for a conveniently packaged, well (or super) purified water, take a good look at the label and more than likely you will see that it came from a water source that got filtered, more than likely at some point, using reverse osmosis.

That means on a grand scale, at some water purification factory, hundreds of thousands (and possibly millions?) of gallons of water a year get ‘wasted’ so that you can sip clean water from your recently purchased, overpriced bottle of water.

When finished with your purchase of a product that more than likely ‘wasted’ water, please do not forget to properly recycle that plastic bottle, OK? Throwing it in the trash along with other waste and saying, “My city doesn’t recycle.” … doesn’t cut it, either.

Tons of communities do not have official recycling programs but if you asked around we feel quite certain you could find the names and locations of a few places where you could properly deposit separated, recyclable products.

The convenience of bottled water comes with the burden of social responsibility. More people need to realize that… and the fact that most bottled water companies utilize reverse osmosis as a means of purifying their product.

Reverse osmosis water filters… Past versus present

As a general rule, older reverse osmosis units did discard more water than the newer reverse osmosis units and pretty much no one will dispute that fact…. but the ratio of discarded water to clean, dispensable drinking water has come down quite a bit and many reputable reverse osmosis units now claim to discard as few as 2 or 3 gallons of water for every gallon of filtered drinking water produced.

One last word regarding reverse osmosis and ‘wasted’ water

Have you ever thought about the number of activities you witness and/or participate in on a daily basis that, ahem… ‘waste’ water? While very few would argue over the necessity of these activities, they all result in discarded water… just like reverse osmosis:

• Washing dishes by hand or in a dishwasher
• Cleaning clothes by hand or in a washing machine
• Cleansing one’s body in a shower or bath
• Flushing the toilet

So, if safe, clean drinking water does not appeal to you because of a belief that reverse osmosis water filters ‘waste’ water, then perhaps you should give up a few other things… like clean dishes, clothes, bodies, and toilets.

Moral of the story

Check the the ratio of discard water versus retained, filtered water of any reverse osmosis water filtration system prior to purchase and compare its ratio to those of similar units. While in the end you will still wind up ‘wasting’ water in the name of getting thoroughly scrubbed drinking water, at least you did your due diligence in an effort to minimize the impact your wanting clean drinking water will have on the environment.

Reverse osmosis water filtration systems do one heck of a job removing contaminants from drinking water. So do they remove minerals that nutritionists say we need in our diet? Yes, but the story does not end there so please keep reading.

The majority of our nutrition comes from what we eat. Proper portions of the (un-fried and non-buttered-up) major food groups should give most of us what we need even if trace elements of otherwise necessary earth elements get filtered out of our water supply by methods like distillation and/or reverse osmosis.

Another, and slightly more controversial, way to look at the matter involves assertions that the overall health picture of Americans continues to decline right alongside the amount of water that the average American consumes on a daily basis. So, if we as a population drink less water, then logic dictates that our wellness decline probably does not directly come from the quality of the water we drink.

That same logic could, however, point the finger of blame at the amount of water we drink. Few, if any, modern doctors would argue that the average human can live a healthy existence without enough water in his/her daily diet.

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We feel the importance of the study lies more in how some experts believe people have become overly exposed to estrogen.

Rather than simply stating that the increased estrogen levels come directly from ingestion of birth control medications, the study implied that people re-ingested estrogen that had worked its way out of women on the pill via normal waste channels, wound its way through (or in some cases around) waste water treatment facilities, entered the environment, and finally gotten consumed or absorbed by plants and animals that people then ate as part of their everyday fare.

Removing estrogen from drinking water?

We wish we had better news on this topic, but we must sadly report that we have yet to hear definitively that any one type of water filtration unit does a good job of removing estrogen from drinking water — nor possibly a number of other pharmaceutical byproducts currently entering our water supply every day.

We have, however, seen that some companies tout reverse osmosis as an effective way to remove MANY of those pharmaceutical byproducts, but NOT all — and we would certainly suggest that anyone considering the purchase of a reverse osmosis for the purpose of removing pharmaceutical residuals review the specifications carefully before making an investment.

Moral of the story?

Experts tell us our water supply keeps getting tainted by new things, or possibly by things we could not test for until recently, and the majority of us just sit idly by and say, “Oh well. The government (or someone else) will take care of it.”

Listen folks: The contaminants already exist and just like with soooooo many other ‘newly detected risks’ the responsibility to safeguard one’s self and loved ones will fall squarely on the shoulders of the individual… until those in power agree which bill will do the most good w/o ruining careers of friends, family, etc.

All of us here at Water Testing Blog would love to know if folks in power and/or in big business already have water filtration units installed their homes and offices and/or have their water trucked in from suspected safe sources. How many, if any, will answer that question?

For more specifics on the study, take a look at this page ( Prostate Cancer May be Linked to Birth Control Pills in Water Supply ); one of several we found while doing a search on the topic.

Apparently some folks believe that water lacking ANY minerals will somehow cause problems for people who consume it as drinking water, cook with it, bathe in it, etc. While somewhat true that water produced by reverse osmosis may have ‘aggressive’ tendencies in certain plumbing situations, we have found that the largest ‘problem’ people have with demineralized reverse osmosis water… is its flat, boring taste and not its lack of minerals.

Water’s ‘taste’ comes from its dissolved minerals content so it stands to reason that without any minerals would also have no ‘taste’ — a problem easily remedied by the use of a remineralizing cartridge after the reverse osmosis system.

Don’t we need minerals in our water for health?

To this day we have not personally found any solid evidence to support the notion that an appreciable amount of necessary dietary elements gets absorbed by the body from drinking water — unless, of course, the water got used to wash down a vitamin or supplement. 😛

Humans obtain the bulk of nutrients required for healthy living from the foods they eat… EXCEPT when they eat mostly (and too much) fried stuff like this.

Moral of the Story?

Eat healthy and drink clean water… and don’t buy into every ‘health trend’ and health fad’ that flashes on your television screen or in banner ads that pop up on web sites you visit.

The water we drink needs to have unwanted impurities removed. End of story.

If given a choice, we’ll take flat-tasting water over water containing potentially dangerous and/or bothersome levels of dissolved heavy metals (i.e. lead, copper, iron, manganese, chromium, arsenic, etc.) and other junk any day of the week!

The other day we received an email inquiry from ‘Wesley’ who asked a question that no one, surprisingly enough, has ever asked: “If drinking water was contaminated by fracking chemicals, would a reverse osmosis remove them and make the water safe to drink? If not, what would remove these chemicals from the water?”

Very good question! Too bad we don’t have a definitive answer. 🙁

Why no definitive answer?

Quite honestly, until gas companies come clean with the full list of ingredients they put in fracking fluids we will never really know what method of water filtration will work best to remove them. We do know, however, that properly functioning reverse osmosis water filter systems will put a serious dent in the concentrations of commonly found drinking water contaminants… including a number of the compounds currently identified as fracking fluid components.

Will reverse osmosis save your bacon, if fracking fluid somehow makes its way into your water supply? As of right now we don’t know for sure, but we bet water treated using reverse osmosis will contain far fewer contaminants and we, if given the option, would rather drink the RO (reverse osmosis) water!

Please note, however, that as we conducted the research for this blog posting we uncovered something that we did not, previously fully understand… reverse osmosis units on their own do an excellent job of improving water quality by cleansing it of SOME unwanted contaminants potentially found in fracking fluids (i.e. dissolved metals), but a person looking for a water filter certified to remove other common fracking fluid components like VOC’s (volatile organic contaminants) should seriously consider purchasing a unit equipped with pre and/or post filters that scrub the water for VOC’s.

As an example, of what we just talked about, the Pentek RO-3500 reverse osmosis system has tested and certified to NSF/ANSI to Standard 58 for the reduction of Pentavalent Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium, Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity in water, but not VOC’s.

Don’t get the wrong idea about the Pentek RO-3500, though. The reviews we found for the unit speak VOLUMES about its ability to clean up otherwise unpleasant drinking water. It just may not work as well for the purpose of removing fracking fluids from drinking water.

So… If not reverse osmosis, then WHAT?

Again we want to stress that until gas drilling companies must reveal the full list of potential ‘nasties’ they put in fracking fluid, no one will really know the best way to remove fracking fluid from drinking water.

If you plan to buy a water filter, also plan to have your water tested by a certified drinking water testing laboratory. Whether you choose use a mail order water testing service like National Testing Laboratories or you opt for the services provided by a local laboratory, a water test may keep you from foolishly spending your hard earned money on the wrong type of water filtration system!

Who knew? Certainly not us! Ha ha.

Having said that, in hindsight we do realize that we have done a not-so-great job when it comes to offering up options for NSF/ANSI certified reverse osmosis water treatment systems… so today we’d like to bring a family of three NSF/ANSI certified reverse osmosis systems manufactured by Watts Premier, Inc. to your attention.

The Watts 315, Watts 415 and Watts 525 have all tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the reduction of Arsenic (Pentavalent), Barium, Cadmium, Chromium (Hexavalent), Chromium (Trivalent), Copper, Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Radium 226/228, Selenium, Turbidity, and TDS — and each one has a price tag under $300.

Watts 315 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 415 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 525 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

The main difference between the three units? From what we can tell the main difference lies in the number of filtration steps in the units:

• Watts 315 RO System — 3 levels of filtration: 5 micron Sediment Pre Filter 10″. Granular Activated Carbon Block Pre Filter 10″. Extruded Carbon Filter (CTO).
• Watts 415 RO System — 4 levels of filtration: 5 micron Sediment Filter for suspended solids. Granular Activated Carbon Filter to improve taste and odor while reduce heavy chlorine presence. High Quality TFC Membrane. In-Line Granular Activated Carbon Post Filter to give a final polishing to water for improved taste and odor.

• Watts 525 RO System — 5 levels of filtration: 5 micron Sediment Filter for suspended solids. Granular Activated Carbon Filter to improve taste and odor while reduce heavy chlorine presence. Carbon Block Pre Filter. High Quality TFC Membrane. In-Line Granular Activated Carbon Post Filter to give a final polishing to water for improved taste and odor.

We hope that by presenting a few more affordable reverse osmosis water filters that have earned NSF Certification (see this page for more details on these units’ NSF qualifications) we have helped a few people become more familiar with the sorts of compounds and potential drinking water contaminants that reverse osmosis systems can reduce/remove.

Although we have not, yet, decided for ourselves how we feel about the fluoridation of public water supplies, we do know that many people have already taken sides and line have already gotten drawn in the sand.

One one hand, some folks believe fluoridation of public water supplies has greatly helped the general public by making teeth more resistant to cavities and decay. On the other hand, with all the other sources of fluoride (i.e. dietary supplements, fluoride toothpaste, etc.) in the general public’s diet these days, some people have unknowingly received potentially unhealthy amounts of exposure to fluoride… and technically, fluoride counts as a toxic compound.

Getting back to the point of this article, though, Margaret asked, “I read on About.Com that reverse osmosis systems will remove fluoride from water an that they are too expensive for general use. Is that true?”

Quite honestly, we guess that the information on About.Com got posted a number of years ago when reverse osmosis water filtration systems did cost a small fortune — but those days have come and gone.

Nowadays the average homeowner can pick up an NSF/ANSI Certified point-of-use reverse osmosis water treatment for under $300.

As an example, the Pentek RO-3500 bears the NSF Mark (NSF/ANSI STANDARD 058) for its reduction of Arsenic (Pentavalent), Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Chromium (Hexavalent), Chromium (Trivalent), Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS, and Turbidity.

It also bears a second NSF Mark (NSF/ANSI STANDARD 042) for reduction of taste, odor and chlorine.

The first step towards choosing a water filter system?

Get your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories to see what, if any, unwanted drinking water contaminants your water contains.

Recently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated publicly that they will soon recommend lowering the maximum amount of fluoride allowed in water to a level that will still give citizens the benefits of reduced tooth decay while hopefully preventing excess exposure to fluoride.

Current guidelines place the maximum allowable levels of fluoride between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L or ppm) and the new recommendation would place that limit at 0.7 milligrams per liter.

Why the alleged need for guideline reform and upper limit reduction? Quite simply, the world has changed and no longer do Americans get their dose of fluoride from only one source. The quote below goes into more detail on that point.

“Today both HHS and EPA are making announcements on fluoride based on the most up to date scientific data,” Pete Silva, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Water, said in statement. “EPA’s new analysis will help us make sure that people benefit from tooth decay prevention while at the same time avoiding the unwanted health effects from too much fluoride.”

The statement notes that Americans have access to more sources of fluoride than they did when water fluoridation was first introduced in the United States in the 1940s. Water is now one of several sources of fluoride. Other common sources include dental products such as toothpaste and mouth rinses, prescription fluoride supplements, and fluoride applied by dental professionals. Water fluoridation and fluoride toothpaste are largely responsible for the significant decline in tooth decay in the U.S. over the past several decades. ( source )

Will changes, if they occur as a result of these recommendations, have any effect on the lives of most people? No, not really. We will all most likely go on with our lives completely oblivious to the reduction in fluoride levels in our drinking water.

That does not mean, however, that some folks will stop their efforts to get all fluoride removed from drinking water. A certain element exists in our society that despises fluoride in all its forms and wants it vanquished from public water supplies altogether.

Fluoride reduction in drinking water?

If government agencies won’t mandate the removal and/or reduction of fluoride levels in drinking water, and people still want it, home water filters for fluoride reduction do certainly exist. Note that we said fluoride reduction and not fluoride removal.

To our knowledge no water filtration units commonly available to the general public will remove all fluoride from drinking water. Quality water filtration units will, however, bear certification to reduction standards established by organizations such as the NSF, an independent testing organization involved in many areas of quality and safety dealing with consumer goods.

As an example, NSF Standard 58 deals directly with the reduction of specific drinking water contaminants. See below.

NSF/ANSI Standard 58:

“Overview: This standard was developed for point-of-use (POU) reverse osmosis (RO) treatment systems. These systems typically consist of a pre-filter, RO membrane, and post-filter. Standard 58 includes contaminant reduction claims commonly treated using RO, including fluoride, hexavalent and trivalent chromium, total dissolved solids, nitrates, etc. that may be present in public or private drinking water. ( source )

Want an example of an affordable reverse osmosis system that has tested and certified to NSF Standard 58, the Pentek RO-3500 Monitored Reverse Osmosis System reduces for TDS, Fluoride, Turbidity, Lead, Nitrate, Selenium, Arsenic, Copper, Cadmium, Barium, Cyst, and Radium… and has a price tag under 270 dollars.

• Chromium will appear in nature in one of three forms: Chromium(0), Chromium(III) or Chromium(VI).
• Chromium(0) gets used in the production of steel.
• Chromium(III) and/or Chromium(VI) may appear in compounds used for chrome plating, making dyes and pigments, tanning leather, and preserving wood.
• Chromium(III) aids the human body in its use of sugar, protein and fat, though health officials suggest not using excessive amounts of dietary supplements containing chromium compounds.
• Higher levels of chromium(VI) may cause irritation to the lining of the nose, ulcers in the nose, runny nose, and other breathing problems such as asthma, coughing, shortness of breath, and/or wheezing. While both Chromium(III) and Chromium(VI) in air can cause the aforementioned problems, effects occur at much lower concentrations of Chromium(VI) than Chromium(III).
• Chromium(III) and Chromium(VI) may exist in drinking water and have no associated tastes or odors.
• If ingested, Chromium(III) compounds tend to have less toxic tendencies and appear to cause fewer health problems than Chromium(VI) which causes anemia, irritation of the stomach, ulcers in the stomach, and ulcers in the small intestine.
• Some laboratory animals exposed to Chromium(VI) experienced sperm damage and damage to the male reproductive system.
• Some Chromium(VI) compounds may cause skin ulcers and a percentage of the population have extreme sensitivity to Chromium(VI) and/or Chromium(III) with allergic reactions manifesting themselves as severe redness and swelling of the skin.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the EPA have determined that Chromium(VI) compounds are known human carcinogens. ( source )

• Some developmental effects have been observed in animals exposed to Chromium(VI). ( source )

Regulations, rules and recommendations pertaining to Chromium?

The EPA has determined that exposure to chromium in drinking water at concentrations of 1 mg/L for up to 10 days is not expected to cause any adverse effects in a child. The FDA has determined that the chromium concentration in bottled drinking water should not exceed 1 mg/L. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has limited workers’ exposure to an average of 0.0005 mg/m3 chromium(VI), 0.5 mg/m3 chromium(III), and 1.0 mg/m3 chromium(0) for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. ( source )

What NSF/ANSI Standards apply to chromium in drinking water?

Standard 53, Standard 58, and Standard 62.

For more information on the specifics of those NSF/ANSI Standards and others, take a look at the NSF International Web Site. It offers a wealth of information for both the consumer AND water professionals alike.

Removing chromium from drinking water?

As far as units for the average consumer, pretty much only reverse osmosis makes any sense. One could use a process like distillation, but it has a flow rate that most likely would not meet homeowner needs and a much higher entry cost.

As an example of a reverse osmosis that carries NSF Certification for chromium reduction, you may want to take a look at the Pentek RO-3500 which has a price tag of under $270 and appears to offer a lot of filtering power for the money.

Pentek RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis Water Filters have tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the reduction of Pentavalent Arsenic (Arsenic V), Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium (Chromium VI & Chromium III), Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity.

My son has just been diagnosed with an immune deficiency, and I should be sterilizing his drinking water -which I am doing by boiling for him. I am wondering if distilled or reverse osmosis, bottled water would effectively remove bacteria from the water, and be a safe alternative. Would one be better then the other.

Thank you for your time,

Lisa

Thank you, Lisa, for your question and it pains us to learn of your son’s condition. We hope that modern medicine can find a way to help your son live a long and healthy life.

Regarding your question about the best way to sterilize water for people with compromised immune systems, the EPA and CDC co-released a document back in 1995 that gives a lot of useful information on the topic entitled Guidance for People with Severely Weakened Immune Systems.

Below you will find excerpts from that document relating directly to the questions you asked:

• Cryptosporidium has caused several large waterborne disease outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, with symptoms that include diarrhea, nausea, and/or stomach cramps. People with severely weakened immune systems (that is, severely immunocompromised) are likely to have more severe and more persistent symptoms than healthy individuals. Moreover, Cryptosporidium has been a contributing cause of death in some immunocompromised people.
• Although data are not sufficient for EPA/CDC to recommend that all severely immunocompromised persons take extra caution with regards to their drinking water, individuals who wish to take extra measures to avoid waterborne Cryptosporidiosis can bring their drinking water to a full boil for one minute. Boiling water is the most effective way of killing Cryptosporidium.
• Only point-of-use filters that remove particles one micrometer or less in diameter should be considered. Filters in this category that provide the greatest assurance of Cryptosporidium removal include those that use reverse osmosis, those labeled as “Absolute” one micrometer filters, or those labeled as certified by NSF International under standard 53 for “Cyst Removal.” …. Water treated with a point-of-use filter that meets the above criteria may not necessarily be free of organisms smaller than Cryptosporidium that could pose a health hazard for severely immunocompromised individuals.
• Many, but not all, brands of bottled water may provide a reasonable alternative to boiling tap water. …. Any bottled water treated by distillation or reverse osmosis before bottling assures Cryptosporidium removal.

• Neither EPA nor CDC maintains a list of point-of-use filters or bottled water brands that meet the above criteria. NSF International can provide a list of filters that meet the NSF criteria.

We suggest you take a look at the NSF Web Site to see what systems meet their requirements. In a situation like yours, you will want to make certain the product you purchase will accomplish all your objectives — and then some.

One system we came across recently, the Pentek RO-3500 Monitored Reverse Osmosis System,

NSF Tested & Certified Standard 58 for reduction of TDS, Fluoride, Turbidity, Lead, Nitrates, Selenium, Arsenic, Copper, Cadmium, Barium, Cyst, and Radium.

The Pentek R0-3500 features the 3 stage system, one ROM-230TN membrane, a D15 sediment filter, a D20 carbon filter, and one long-reach lead-free faucet. Unit comes with a standard installation kit and instructions.

Another feature of the the Pentek RO3500 which makes it quite nice… an electronic monitoring system that keeps track of the water filters cartridges’ lifespans and informs the owner when they need replacing.

What elements does the RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis System reduce and/or eliminate? The unit has the ability to filter out the following elements as well as many other chemical compounds:

• 90.2% TDS ( test for TDS )
• 98.9% Arsenic ( test for arsenic )
• 90.5% Fluoride
• 98% Phosphates
• 99.99% Cysts
• 99.7% Turbidity
• 98.7% Lead ( test for lead )
• 87.4% Nitrate ( test for nitrates )
• 80.7% Nitrite ( test for nitrites )
• 97.5% Selenium
• 99.9% Copper ( test for copper )
• 97.3% Cadmium
• 86.6% Hexavalent Chromium ( test for chromium )
• 92.8% Trivalent Chromium
• 80% Radium 226/228
• 90.7% Barium
• Chlorine ( test for chlorine )
• Sediment & Particulates

For more information on the Pentek Reverse Osmosis System mentioned above, please read its detailed specifications on FiltersFast.Com.

One final word

Use of a reverse osmosis systems does NOT guarantee the elimination of ALL possible biological contaminants since some biological contaminants have sizes smaller than the membranes in RO units can filter out.

For that reason you may want to consider adding a UV Sterilizer to your filtration setup. These devices render biological contaminants incapable of reproducing by altering their genetic structure with specific wavelengths of light.