For water to be considered drinking water it must be consumable by humans with out causing illness; not all fresh water is suitable for drinking. In some places where stagnant water lies in warm muggy places, water can develop many pathogens and harmful micro organisms; to make these types of water drinkable, they must first be treated with chlorine tablets or iodine. Drinking water comes in many forms in America and some other countries; but in many other countries, clean drinking water sources are a serious problem.  It is essential for all life on earth to have clean water; humans in particular need to drink at least 64 fluid ounces per day for the best health.

Drinking Water in America

In America the citizens are lucky to have generally good quality water that comes straight from the tap; there can be some contaminates in some areas, but in general Americans enjoy an abundance of clean drinking water. Many other countries have a severe shortage safe clean water to drink, as such people die of diseases that people in America aren’t as concerned about. The main areas of concerned in America’s drinking water from the tap are contaminates from either old pipes or improper cleaning processes; unwilling to take the risk, many Americans also purchase purifying water filtration systems or bottled drinking water.

Polluted Drinking Water

Many countries including America have polluted drinking water; this pollution comes from large companies, individual’s litter and trash, fossil fuels, and many other forms.  Pollution is the leading cause of water contamination in many countries, and most of contaminates that people are familiar with are lead, arsenic, and mercury are some; these are dangerous at every small levels. The leading causes of illness among people however are in pathogens and microscopic organisms; most human’s reactions to these are mild and result only in “stomach flu” like symptoms.  Pollution is a human created and solvable problem, better drinking water for all is essential.

Water and Health

Most people know that drinking water is healthy, and most even know at least  8 glasses a day are what the body needs for the best health; what most people don’t know are the reasons why their bodies need so much water everyday. Our bodies are over 70% water; our bodies use water for every function of life, blood, tears, saliva, skin, organs, and every other part of the body. Our bodies also use water for most functions; eating, crying, sweating, urinating, breathing, and even more. Humans are dependant on water as is every other living organism on the planet. 

Humans and Drinking Water

Humans have a responsibility to the planet to provide fresh clean water to everything, humans are not the only life on the planet, but they are the only life able to consciously remedy the problem. Human kind pollutes, uses, and modifies the planet, and some individuals care enough to fix what others have broken.  It is the human responsibility to clean the planet as a whole for the good of every living thing; humans can help clean the water using the basic principals of recycling. 

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The number of gallons being flowed through water coolers has nearly doubled in the last half a decade, due to the growing concerns about the safety of tap water. The increase alone isn’t directly sourced from offices but also schools, universities and hospitals are opting to exchange their water coolers for reverse osmosis systems.

This change is primarily motivated by the fact that coolers can provide the perfect breeding grounds for high amounts of unhealthy bacteria, which can cause diarrhea and unsettled stomachs. In a study conducted on a Boston University campus which examined their own water coolers, dangerous levels of potentially harmful bacteria were found. Of the ten water coolers that were tested, each contained a count exceeding 2,000 times the government’s recommended quantity, or four times the 500 organism ceiling. These bacteria are not thought to be present when the water is delivered, but rather the dispensers and spigot are thought to be the major cause for concern. When connected to the cooler the bottle is sitting in a contaminated holder thus infecting the clean drinkable water.

Fortunately a process of reverse osmosis does not have the same amount of bacteria infecting the water. Instead of harboring bacteria reverse osmosis, purifies even the dirtiest of water. The process is called reverse osmosis given that that the method requires pressure to force unpolluted water through the membrane, leaving the impurities behind. Reverse osmosis process uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate and remove dissolved solids, pyrogens, submicron colloidal matter, viruses and bacteria from the water. This technique leaves no space for the common bacteria found in today’s drinking water as it removes almost 99% of the total dissolved solids (TDS) and 99% of all bacteria, leaving the user with fresh clean drinkable water. Prices of reverse osmosis systems cost one time payment of $149 US. In comparison to the Water dispensers there is a significant difference. The lone standing base itself, costs starting at $122US plus the bottles of water. The expenses are endless and there is no guarantee your water is as clean as the reverse osmosis systems.

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Let’s face it if you are in a business needing de-ionized water or reverse osmosis water you are always concerned about the quality of your water. I know as a mobile detailing business that when we have ultra clean water in our tanks we are a happy camper. We know it will make your job so much easier. We also like the idea and concept of spot free water. Have you ever considered how Reverse Osmosis really works? Let me describe the process from my industries perspective.

In R.O. water pressure forces water through a fine membrane that filters out between 85-95% of the dissolved solids in the water. Water lacking these solids won’t water spot a car. It’s important to have soft water filter inline the R.O. system prior to R.O. Some systems have a water softener/carbon filter/R.O. system in that order. This saves life on the R.O. membranes. R.O. units are measured in gallons per day (GPD) because there flow is relatively slow. Usually they run twenty-four hours a day and the water is put into a storage tank to be used later. Small R.O. units that cost between $2,500 and $5,000 put out 4 gpm. To go to 10 gpm, the speed at which you’d want to fill your tank, the cost of those units starts at $25,000.

Car washes need units that make between 500 to 1000 gallons a day for the rinse cyles. A small unit will work because 4 GPM (gallons per minute) X 60 minutes is 240 gallons. So, in four hours at night when the car wash isn’t being used, they will have one thousand plus gallons. The only problem for them is that a thousand gallon tank is five feet wide and eight feet tall.

An R.O. machine works best when it�s running clean water through it. Otherwise, the membranes let nature take over. Then you have not reverse osmosis but osmosis. It’s better to have a small machine running twenty-four hours a day than a big machine running two hours and then shutting off. R.O. membranes should have a constant positive flow through them. Some industry leaders believe twelve to thirteen hours is the maximum you should run an R.O. unit a day. They think the machine will last longer.

Silica, iron, aluminum and bacteria cause irreversible damage to membranes and that’s why pre-filters are a must to keep membranes from fouling. Fouling results when particles suspended in the feed water are deposited within the R.O. unit. Fouling reduces permeate flow rate. Bacteria fouling usually doesn’t cause the permeate conductivity to increase until your system is extremely plugged. Other particles may cause permeate conductivity to increase.

Most biological and particulate silica foulants can be removed with the proper chemicals. Bio-fouling is a problem. Pre-treatment may have little impact on R.O. unit fouling. Simply killing the bacteria won’t work because the same number of fouling particles (living or dead) still enter the R.O. unit. The best way to handle bio-fouling is cleaning the equipment and the upstream pipes and filters. Chlorinated water will be bad and should be un-chlorinated before entering the R.O. unit. Fouling by non-living particles is handled by your pre-filters, or additional sediment filters or cartridge filters with a nominal filtration rating of five microns or less. This can be complicated stuff and you can call your franchsior for a telephone number of a fair and honest local or regional water purification consultant.

Chlorine is the most common agent to chemically attack and destroy the polyamide thin film membranes that are commonly used in car washes. Activated carbon blocks are used generally in filters upstream from R.O. units. Larger units use granulated carbon filters or other methods. Active chlorine consuming sites on the activated carbon material is depleted over time and eventually dechlorination will diminish and finally cease. This will allow chlorine to damage downstream chlorine sensitive membranes in your R.O. unit. Carbon filters must be replaced as frequently as their manufacturers specify.

Most commercial R.O. units are too small to justify installing instrumentation to determine when to clean them. Cleaning periodically can remove most scalants and foulants. If you wait too long permanent damage will be done and proper cures will not work. If you wait until you have low flow problems, the elements may be plugged significantly and chemical cleaning may be ineffective or may take many hours to get the elements back to near original performance.

If you want, you can have the R.O. dealer do periodic cleaning on a service contract. It may be worth your while. Expect to pay between $80 to $160 per quarter. Watch for parts price gouging. Some companies are like sharks. If well taken care of, the membranes will last years. You may want to have a technician also check upstream filters. That way, if anything does go wrong, it’s their responsibility and you can make them pay. Make sure your contract is tied to their lifetime warrantee. Regular Maintenance Of Reverse Osmosis Units is ultra important and you should change your prefilters often. Water softeners every month, carbon filters quarterly. Be sure to check the pressures weekly and membranes will need changing every so often too. Think on this.

Lance Winslow

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