John from Ontario Writes:
What is RO water
Hi John
RO is short for reverse osmosis. It is simply a type of filter, so RO water is water filtered through a reverse osmosis filter.
Reverse osmosis is the highest level of filtration that man has devised. There are many different types of filters, and this one is classified as a membrane filter. That is, the water has to pass through a thin membrane, which allows molecules only of a certain size to pass. Most membranes contain physical pores of a certain size, except reverse osmosis. This membrane contains no physical holes. Rather, it uses it’s own molecular structure to accept water molecules to pass through and reject almost everything else.
The benefits of reverse osmosis is that it filters out just about everything leaving almost pure H2O. If you had a water source that was not very secure – like a shallow well on a farm, and you were concerned about things like pesticides, herbicides, and nitrates – then a reverse osmosis filter would be the best choice for you.
There are several downsides to R.O. filters. Because they are such a tight filter, the water must be very, very clean before hand otherwise the filter will clog up very quickly. Also, drinking pure H2O isn’t particularly good for you for two reasons:
- Gasses are allowed to pass through the membrane, including CO2. Because there is nothing else for the water to react with, it combines with the CO2 to make carbonic acid. This makes RO water acidic and corrosive. It will usually come out at a pH of around 6, depending on the content of CO2.
- Water is called the universal solvent for a very good reason. Plain H2O is very good at dissolving a wide variety of substances. Natural water is very rich in minerals because of this, and much of the minerals vital to our good health come from natural water. Think of plain H2O like a sponge, needing to soak up minerals. It will do this from your own body, making this an unhealthy long term choice to drink. It is especially bad for women with or at risk of getting osteoporosis.
Most water professionals consider RO a last resort technology, for the above two reasons.
I hope this answered your question. If you have any other questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to write in again.
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