Does Reverse Osmosis Water Filter Reduce Bacteria in Water?

Water is life. It is an indispensable part of the human body. Water occupies 2/3 of the body weight and maintains all the daily activities of the human body systems. Ensure good quality of the water we consume can help prevent bacteria and viruses from entering our bodies.

While bottled water could be a good choice, it is not an environmentally friendly solution. Besides, the quantity of bottled water we can buy at a time is also limited, as well as the hassle to purchase and bring it home. So, what is an efficient way to access safe drinking water? This article will tell you all the relevant information you need to know.

Water that hasn't been treated contains many bacteria and viruses.Below are some commonly found bacteria in water:

The consumption of contaminated water can lead to serious health problems include jaundice, nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, fever, etc. Some of the symptoms can take days to appear and you may not think of the water you drink as the cause.

There are three effective ways to remove bacteria from water. The following section will discuss the working principles also the pros and cons of each method.

Osmosis is a natural phenomenon that happens when solvent molecules move across a selectively permeable membrane and separate the two solutions of different concentrations. The solvent molecules from the higher concentration tend to move toward the lower concentration side.
Reverse osmosis is the opposite of osmosis where pressure is applied to the liquid on one side of the membrane. When the pressure exceeds its osmotic pressure, the solvent will reverse osmosis against the direction of natural permeation.

Reverse osmosis technology is by far the most effective and efficient way to remove bacteria in water. The biggest contributor to the excellent filtration performance of an RO system is the RO membrane, which is made of specific polymer materials and owns a pore size of 0.0001 microns.
The size of the pore enables the membrane to permeate only pure water and achieve the purpose of purification. Water contaminants like bacteria and viruses will be perfectly removed as they are much bigger than the pore size of the RO membrane.

Boiling is the easiest and most well-known disinfection method to remove bacteria in water. It is worth knowing how to correctly boil water to kill the bacteria. Strictly speaking, when water just starts to boil in the kettle, the time is not enough to kill all the bacteria in the water. Therefore, you should wait at least 2 to 3 minutes for the water to boil and kill the bacteria.

Though boiling can kill most of the bacteria in water, there are some high temperature-resistant bacteria that cannot be killed through boiling. Besides that, since there’s no discharge process involved, the bacteria dead bodies will remain in the water. You would also need to wait for the water to cool down before drinking.

UV is the abbreviation of Ultraviolet rays. Ultraviolet rays are transmitted through the quartz glass, which can concentrate high intensity to kill bacteria, viruses, and micro bacteria in a short time.
Ultraviolet disinfection has a wide range of uses, such as hospitals, schools, nurseries, cinemas, buses, offices, homes, etc., it can purify the air, and eliminate musty odors. In public places, ultraviolet disinfection can prevent germs from spreading through the air or through the surface of objects.
Though UV can be effective in killing bacteria, the use and maintenance of UV light need extra effort and care. The light can cause serious damage to the eyes and skin.

As we have mentioned before, the finest filtration accuracy of 0.0001 microns makes the RO system the ideal choice for accessing safe drinking water. A Reverse osmosis water filter can not only remove impurities like rust, colloids, bacteria, and viruses, but also remove harmful radioactive particles, organic matter, fluorescent substances, and pesticides.

The system is known for the ability to reduce the total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water. The water filtered by the RO membrane does not contain harmful substances to the body and preserves the minerals that are beneficial to the body.

Today, the use of reverse osmosis technology in the water purification industry has been more advanced than ever before. Not only the systems have evolved from tank-attached to tankless, but also additional features that bring extra safety and convenience to the users.

Compared to traditional tank RO systems, tankless systems can save up to 70% more under sink space and provide you with more room for storage. The tankless design also simplifies the installation and filter replacement processes. The Waterdrop systems, for example, take only three seconds for a single filter replacement and about 30 mins for the entire system installation.

Another great benefit of the tankless design is the prevention of secondary pollution within the water tank. The tank systems have a high risk of bacteria breeding within the tank, and the users would need to clean the water tank after a period of time of use, which the tankless design can perfectly solve this problem.

In addition to the tankless design, many systems add a UV light sterilizer at the final filtration stage to further clean the water. Therefore, a tankless reverse osmosis system with a UV light design offers you double-layer protection for water safety. You can rest assured that the water you consume is clean, safe, and healthy. Read to know about reverse osmosis.