As we struggle to keep up with the Joneses we get battered with new products, new terms, new features that we absolutely must have. Reverse osmosis drinking water systems are one of those products. Let’s take time out to do a little learning and determine if it’s truly something we need.

What is it? Reverse osmosis is a membrane separation process used for removing dissolved salts, organics, microorganisms, and particulates from water. It is a highly effective and relatively simple process, using a membrane and pressure. It purifies the water and remove ions and dissolved organic molecules. No one wants to think they’re drinking “other stuff” in their water so the goal to purify and remove the contaminants is the primary goal. Interestingly enough, it’s the same technique used in dialysis, which is used by people with kidney failure.

My in-laws and parents both have this system and I can say it does a good job of cleaning out the cloudy nature of their water. It is easily demonstrated by looking at the ice cubes. Under this system the ice cubes are almost entirely clear as the impurities have been filtered out.

Reverse osmosis is a moderate to high pressure (80-1200 psi) driven process for separating larger size solutes from aqueous solutions by means of semi-permeable reverse osmosis membranes, and is where water flows through the membrane from a strong solution to a weak one. It is a complicated process which uses a membrane under pressure to separate relatively pure water (or other solvent) from a less pure solution. It is less efficient than some other options so more raw water is needed to produce finished water.

Reverse osmosis is typically used for the desalination of seawater but it’s also becoming popular in the average home.

Reverse osmosis home filtration systems provide large volumes of pure, clean, color- and odor-free water for people, pets and plants. A “hard wired” RO hyperfiltration unit is a convenience easily within reach of the average DIYer.

RO System Basics

A domestic DIY-ready RO system typically consists of several components, often sold as a kit:

1. Filter Array—four to six factory-connected filters mounted on a hangable metal housing. Higher cost systems employ more filters and deliver slightly cleaner water.

2. Holding tank—a 3 to 6 gallon capacity pressurized vessel that stores filtered water ready to flow to a sink- or counter-mounted faucet. Until direct flow systems hit the market recently, the RO process has been too slow to instantly provide a gallon or two of filtered water, hence the need for a tank. Tankless direct flow units are pricier.

3. Faucet

4. Automatic shutoff valve; hoses to connect the filter array to feed water and to the faucet, and for waste discharge

5. Needle-piercing saddle, or standard ball, feed water valve,

Water flows through the filters and is successively cleaned in “stages” as follows:

* Stage 1 Prefilter, 1 – 5 micron—removes sediment, suspended rust and sand.

* Stage 2 Prefilter, granular activated carbon (GAC) 1 to 5 micron—removes most chlorine, organic chemicals, taste, color and odor.

* Stage 3 Prefilter, activated carbon block, 1 to 5 micron—further removes chemical entities Stage 2 filter missed.

* Stage 4 Filter, osmotic membrane—the workhorse filter that gives the system its name. Removes 92% to 98% of all remaining chemicals and dissolved solids in tap water.

* Stage 5 Postfilter, deionization (DI)—removes remaining dissolved solids. Premium systems have 2 of these when ultra pure water is needed for aquariums, hydroponics and laboratories.

Selecting a System: How Large?
Choose an RO system with a filtration capacity sufficient to meet family needs. A unit that generates 3 GPH (gallons per hour) has about the same capacity as one rated at 75 GPD (gallons per day), and is large enough for many households.

Pre-Installation Considerations

1. Many RO systems require a minimum water pressure of 40 psi. Booster pumps are available if pressure is a problem.

2. Consider a whole-house filter, ahead of the RO unit, if incoming municipal or well water is unusually turbid.

3. Choose a spot for the filter array (approximately 18” H x 18” W x 8” D) that’s easy to access, since the unit needs to be serviced twice a year. If the undersink area is too small to stand or hang the array, consider a basement, utility room, etc.

4. Select a location for the holding tank (approximately 18” H x 12” W x 12” D). It can be spotted anywhere up to 30 feet away from the filter unit.

5. If there’s no available kitchen sink-top hole to install the added clean water faucet, replace the kitchen faucet with a pullout spray head model to free up the sprayer hole, or drill a new one in the countertop or sink. Careful: porcelain, marble, granite and some composites may shatter or crack unless a specialty bit and proper technique are used.

6. Supplies needed: common hand tools and Teflon thread paste.

Install the RO System

1. Install the faucet and place the storage tank in desired location.

2. Connect the feed water valve to a cold (not hot!) water line.

3. Hang or stand the filter array and place a drip pan beneath it.

4. Run a water discharge line from the filter array to a utility sink, or into a drainpipe above the trap via a saddle.

5. Connect all hoses and fittings.

Maintaining RO Systems

Except for the osmotic membrane, which lasts two to three years, change out filters approximately every 6 months or 6,000 gallons.

Whole house reverse osmosis systems are usually used when the water source is really bad. Most municipal sources are not that bad and usually, just filtering, softening (if required) and adding and under sink reverse osmosis system for drinking water is enough to make everybody happy. Where I live the water is very hard and the total dissolved solids is about 600 ppm (parts per million, lake Michigan is 80 ppm, the ocean is about 35,000 ppm). We run a big blue (4.5″ x20″) filter rated at 20 microns followed by a carbon filter (chlorine makes my wife itch) and an under sink reverse osmosis with a 3 gallon bottle in the kitchen and one in the bedroom that we fill as needed for drinking water. Most of the reverse osmosis water is used for the orchids. If you dechlorinate your water, there will be bacteria growing in your toilets eventually. It is not harmful but you might dump a capful of chlorine in the tank once a month or so to kill the bugs.

To just filter a house and add an under sink reverse osmosis and water bottles should be less than $500.00 (US). The standard reverse osmosis system will remove heavy metals, bacteria, and cysts, the standard problems, down to acceptable levels. Viruses will pass the membrane but so far, in the USA, viruses in the water have not been a health issue and hopefully they never will. If your water source is chlorinated or you have a deep well, pathogens should not be a problem.

People who buy a whole house system are usually on a well and building a new house so the cost can be added to the mortgage. The wells usually have a very high dissolved solids level or other issues that make them undesirable for drinking.

Issues with whole house reverse osmosis systems.

1. Noise – Place them away from the bedroom. After everyone showers in the evening, the system will kick on to fill the tank and the pump will make noise. If you get a 1 gpm system, and you use 120 gallons of water showering, flushing, brushing your teeth, you will have a 2 hour pump run. If you have a teenage daughter like mine, you will have a 4 hr pump run and no hot water for your shower.

2. Cost – You will run 2 pumps, one to feed water to your house when you need it and one high pressure pump to fill the holding tank. If you need a softener, you will have to purchase salt and maintain the softener. You will have to replace the membrane every 3-5 years if it is maintained correctly (more often if you ignore the system).

3. High recovery reverse osmosis systems have a concentrate brine discharge that you will have to deal with. If you have 600 ppm going in and reduce the tds to 10 coming out and get a 50% recovery, the brine will be around 1200 ppm. If it is 66% recovery, you will approach 1800 ppm. This is too high for most irrigation needs and septic system. It is not suitable for stream discharge you you will need a separate leach line for the discharge.

Whole house reverse osmosis systems costs vary with the water quality and your needs. Get a water analysis first!

1. The basic system consists of controls, membrane and housing, high pressure pump and motor, 2 pressure gauges, 3 control valves, 3 flow meters, low pressure switch, conductivity monitor, and mounting skid. We build the high pressure system out of stainless so we never have to worry about leaks or service problems.

2. A whole house reverse osmosis system will have flows lower than the flow rate to the house so you will need a holding tank, pump and bladder (pressure) tank to feed the water to the house.

3. If the water has high calcium or you want to recover a major portion of the well water, you may need to remove the calcium/magnesium (hardness) with a softener. You may also use a polymer or acid feed to minimize hardness problems in the system. Usually, with high hardness, a polymer addition system is much less expensive to run than a softener but it takes more attention than a softener.

4. If you live in an area where there has been volcanic activity, the silica may be high in the water and that may limit the recovery rates. Don’t plan on an 80% water recovery rate.

Costs -

1. Reverse Osmosis mounted on skid with recycle loop, prefilter, all kinds of neat stuff to make it work. Approximately 6,000. USD for 1 gpm. Set up to interface to following items.

2. Water storage and repressurization system with pump and bladder tank mounted on RO skid. Includes integrated level control for reverse osmosis system. Costs run $2000-4000 depending on tank size, pressure required and flow rate.

3. Water softener if required. Sized to regenerate after set flow volume. Integrated to RO controller to prevent hardness bypass during regeneration. Available as dual system. Cost base on water analysis, usually runs $800-3000 depending on water quality.

4. Polymer addition system to sequester calcium. Used instead of softener. Costs about $000-1200 per unit.

5. Installation – plumbing and electrical. Depends on local rates but it should run $300-400 total.

our bodies are more than 80% water. We ought to drink at least 2 liters of water a day to remain healthy. Our bodies act as natural filters, so if the water isn’t perfectly clean, any harmful chemical in the water supply become gradually absorbed into our systems. It’s not a pleasant thought, is it?

Justifying the value

No one really wants another monthly payment. If you go into a home to ” sell them an RO,” that means another payment, which also means you’re fighting an uphill battle from the get-go. What if you could show customers it costs nothing to have all the benefits of pure water ? What if it even made them a profit ? Good news ! That’s exactly what you can show them, if you take the time.

As soon as you’re ready to start talking about ROs, you need to ask a few questions. I recommend you have a sheet prepared to record answers. Figure 1 is one of our forms, which we simply call the “Drinking Water Survey Form.” You want to preface your questioning by saying it “helps determine what equipment to recommend, and to see how much money you can be saving.” We suggest you write the answers down immediately to the form questions. Take a minute to review this technique.

I hope you see how this exercise convinces the customer that you’re not there just to take their money, you’re there to give them better water and save them money. Another advantage of the form: If there’s a rebuttal, something classic like, ” I’ll buy it in two months,” or ” I’ll get it next spring when my tax return money comes in,” with a completed form you’re already in a great position to overcome this. You’ve demonstrated to the customer that by not making the correct decision tonight, they’ll not only be continuing with untreated water buy they’ll be wasting money. This is a powerful position to be in, and it works.

The tea bag test

Here’s an interesting item to add to your demonstration. The premise is to boil RO water and customers “raw” tap water in separate containers and make tea with both. One serving suggestion with this test: use orange pekoe tea, not herbal. It’s the most common tea in any supermarket.

Put a tea bag in each container. The tea made in the RO water will be much more fragrant and clear. The tea made in the tap water will be brown, have a lot less fragrance and have an oil slick on the surface with particles floating in the water. The harder the water, the more distinct the contrast is between the two. The best part of this demonstration is the difference gets ceven clearer the longer you leave it. One sales person I know asks clients to leave the water overnight and look at it in the morning, for an even bigger impact. Be sure to get the water really boiling, not just warm. I guarantee this demonstration is worth the trouble.

Doggie’s Choice

Another demonstration technique includes putting a bowl of RO water and a bowl of tap water, fresh from the tap, on the floor. Use identical bowls to make sure the test subject-the family dog- isn’t used to drinking out of one of the bowls. Have the family bring their pet in (this test will work with birds, also). The animal will almost always choose RO water, as they can smell the fact that it has no chlorine. This is the reason why many dogs and cats drink out of the toilet bowl, toilet water has sat in the bowl long enough for the chlorine to dissipate. Remember, many people will buy an RO system for their animals, fish or plants, while they’d be unwilling to spend the money on themselves.

The ice cube demo

Similar to the tea bag test but not as dramatic, it involves putting an ice cube made from tap water into a glass container filled with RO water. As the ice cube melts, white flakes that look like dandruff leach into the pristine water. You can make this demo look even worse by bobbing the ice cube with your finger. Also, if the homeowner is a scotch-and-water drinker, offer to mix a drink for them with RO water. I have sold many a system using this technique, as real whisky connoisseurs can definitely taste the difference.

The TDS test & Color test

In your exhibition / trade show or in your show room. If you’re selling in an area with a high chlorine content, this test works well. Carry them in your demonstration kit. The solution will often indicate a very high TDS numbers in their tap water and turn black, dirty in their water. How to use the “TDS tester or Electronic Color tester”, please visit http://www.pure-pro.com/tester.htm

The taste test

This test is the climax of the demonstration- the last test you do before going for the close. When performing this test, again move quickly so the chlorine doesn’t dissipate from water.

Line the family up and give each member a small amount of RO water in a glass. Explain that you’re going to have a tasting, like a fancy wine tasting, and the first thing you have to do is “cleanse the pallet” by swishing the RO water in the mouth and swallowing or spitting it out in the sink. Get each member to do this twice so the pallet and tongue are completely cleansed. Now, quickly fill glasses with tap water and get each member to taste, swishing it around the mouth as they did with the RO water. If you’ve done this right, you will, at the minimum, get loud moans of disgust, as by contrast the can now really taste the chlorine and any dissolved solids in their water. About a third of the time they’ll run over to the sink and spit out their tap water in revulsion.

This is a great set up for the close. All you do is hold up RO water and their tap water, asking, “if it didn’t cost a penny more, which water would you like your family to drink ? ” They always point to the RO water and that means they’ve just told you they want to buy it. Refer back to the savings you worked out with them at the beginning using the Drinking Water Survey, showing them they can be saving $30 or $40 per month and getting better water.

Conclusion

Now you have a few tips that will make a big difference in selling ROs. Maybe you’ve already used some of these techniques, but have discontinued them for some reason. Remember that people buy for emotional reasons. Demonstrations that involve sight, smell, taste and as many other senses as possible are far more effective that lectures. Also, involve the whole family in your demonstration. Many decisions today are made ” for the children,” and who would turn down an RO system when their kids are spitting tap water into the sink in revulsion? Refresh your demonstration and get a bigger piece of the RO pie.

Why is Reverse Osmosis better?

The US EPA have recognized membrane processes such as Reverse Osmosis as a “best available technology” for meeting a wide variety of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regulations.

Why use Reverse Osmosis purified water?

Reverse osmosis have become the water purification method of choice for drinking water in many households and bottling plants throughout the world. No wonder, as reverse osmosis has become the best and most efficient method to purify polluted and undesirable water into pure and tasty water.

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