Person holding glass of water purified by a reverse osmosis water filter.

How Does a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter Work?

Person holding glass of water purified by a reverse osmosis water filter.
A reverse osmosis water filter gives you purified water on demand.

Making sure you and your family have clean water to drink is important. That’s why many Houston homeowners invest in a reverse osmosis water filter for their homes. These systems purify the water so you can get bottled water quality or better right from the tap. Keep reading to learn more about how reverse osmosis works to clean and purify drinking water. 

Want better quality water? Contact us now to schedule a free water test for your home. 

What is a Reverse Osmosis Water Filter?

A reverse osmosis water filter is a type of water purification system that removes contaminants from your water. It provides the cleanest water possible for the whole family to drink. Originally, it was designed to desalinate ocean water, but these systems are now possible to install right under the sink to provide purified water on-demand from your tap. 

How Does a Reverse Osmosis System Purify Water?

So, how exactly does a reverse osmosis system work? This relies on a process called osmosis, which might sound vaguely familiar from a high school biology class. Basically, osmosis is a process where you can use a semipermeable membrane to increase the concentration of things like minerals and chemicals in water. As such, reverse osmosis is the opposite – it decreases the concentration of contaminants in water. The membrane of a reverse osmosis (R.O.) system features incredibly small pores that allow small water molecules through, but stop bigger molecules of contaminants like lead, arsenic, asbestos, and other potentially dangerous contaminants. 

Generally, reverse osmosis water filters feature a series of pre-filters before the water even gets to the reverse osmosis membrane. These pre-filters remove a lot of the larger contaminants that can reduce the life of the membrane and make more frequent replacement necessary. These filters usually include a sediment filter to remove solids like dirt and rust and a carbon filter to remove things like chlorine and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Then the R.O. membrane removes around 99% of impurities like lead, asbestos, and 82 other contaminants that may be in your tap water. 

Benefits of R.O. Water Purification Systems

Reverse osmosis filters come with pros and cons, just like any other piece of equipment in your home. However, often you’ll find the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Here are some of the main benefits of installing reverse osmosis water filters in your home:

  • Cleaner drinking water
  • Better tasting drinking water
  • No need to purchase bottled water
  • Easy to add to any tap

These systems can save you significantly on bottled water and also provide your entire family with the safest drinking water, since it filters out nearly all contaminants. You can add them to the kitchen tap and other places where you get water to drink in your home. It’s a way to get purified water on demand straight from the sink. 

Get Cleaner, Safer Water with Southern Water Solutions

Our team at Southern Water Solutions is here to help you provide the cleanest water for your family. We will test your water to look for quality issues and provide you with a custom solution based on the results. Our experts can help with water softening, whole house filtration, as well as reverse osmosis water purification to ensure you get the best tasting and healthiest water in your home. Get in touch now for a free water quality test to get started.