Bill writes:

Do reverse osmosis systems waste water? If how do they waste water and how much waters is wasted?

Hi Bill

Yes, reverse osmosis units do waste water. This is because of the way they filter. What happens is that when water enters the filter, it is pushed up along side of a reverse osmosis membrane, much like a rubber sheet. Some water molecules pass through this membrane, resulting in the water you drink from the machine. The rest of the water, with the concentrated impurities, is sent to drain. This is called the concentrate.

It depends on the manufacturer, but up to 50% of the water that enters the machine leaves for the drain.

If this bothers you, distilling water produces water of similar composition to reverse osmosis water with much less water waste. Home distilling machines are available to the general public, and you can click here to look at an example.

Hope that helps,

Mike

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