Reverse osmosis filters can not prevent chlorine from getting into your home. Even whole house reverse osmosis water filters do not remove chlorine, so they cannot prevent chlorine vapors and chloroform gas from building up in your home.
The main reason that most of us need to filter our water is to remove the things that our treatment facilities leave in and the things that they add for our safety. Chlorine is used to cheaply disinfect water, but some microscopic bacteria are resistant to chlorine and ends up in the water, anyway.
OSMOSIS
Reverse osmosis filters were never designed to remove chlorine from water. They were designed to remove minerals and with the proper membranes, they can remove salt.
Many treatment facilities use reverse osmosis water filters, as one step of their operation. Basically, the system works by forcing water under pressure through a porous membrane. The size of the pores determines what particles are blocked and which go through.
Anything that is dissolved in water will pass right through the membrane. If the molecular size is smaller than a molecule of water, then reverse osmosis filters offer no protection against them. So, chlorine and other chemicals, as well as microscopic organisms may still be in the water. But, minerals that are good for your health will be removed.
You may not think that the level of chlorine and other chemicals in the water is dangerous, but more and more studies are saying that many health problems are related to drinking and showering in chlorinated water. Over 2000 different chemicals have been found in public water supplies and most of them are known carcinogens. Meaning they cause cancer.
The most recent studies are related to the affect of chlorine and it's by-products on pregnant women. Two separate environmental groups joined together to determine how much of a threat there really is. They focused on chloroform gas, because when chlorine vapors hit your skin or other biological compounds, it can become chloroform gas.
Government reports indicate that there is at least a small level of chloroform gas in nearly every home in America. The cause they identified was showering in chlorinated water. Reverse osmosis filters for the shower will not protect you, but other systems will.
The results of the study released by the environmental groups showed an increased incidence of miscarriage, neural tube defects and reduced fetal growth in areas with chlorinated drinking water. It is believed that chloroform gas, chlorine vapors and other chlorine by-products are the real threat. If you're pregnant, reverse osmosis water filters are not protecting you from these risks.
The best thing you can do to insure your own and your family's safety is to install multi-stage filtration systems that block chlorine and other hazardous chemicals, as well as microscopic organisms. It's important to compare certifications of quality and effectiveness before you buy a system. You will see that reverse osmosis filters cost the most, but they are not the right choice for most of us.
Reverse Osmosis Filters OSMOSIS
No comments:
Post a Comment