Reverse Osmosis Water & Distilled Water – A Side-By-Side Comparison

The myth of reverse osmosis water & distilled water is that the former only costs a few pennies a gallon. The second is that reverse osmosis will provide the home with water that is nearly 99% free of contaminants. However, the price tag for water purification systems, softeners and conditioners might make you think twice about installing such a unit in your basement.

The reverse osmosis market is generated primarily by water softening companies who want to sell the reverse osmosis home system. A home unit packages the reverse osmosis purifier with a water softening conditioner. The whole house unit is then offered for a few thousand dollars. The benefit to the end consumer is considered high because a clean, soft drinking supply is excellent for laundry, bathing and drinking and easier to produce in large quantities than distilling it.

Water is a fundamental part of daily life so the packaging of these two products together is often successful. However, home distillation is preferred in cases where the reverse osmosis unit is improperly or poorly coupled to the H2O softening system; the allegedly 'sanitized' supply may have a very high saline or sodium content.

When purchasing water for your home through a vending machine or through bottled water outfits, the H2O is cleansed through a reverse osmosis system and is from the local taps rather than some 'mountain spring.' The major difference between distilled H2O and reverse osmosis is that distilling it requires steaming or boiling it to remove impurities.

It's not uncommon for many people to continue that process today, filling a kettle or a pot with water and setting it on the stove to boil. The process of boiling removes a lot of the chlorine and other chemicals from the water, leaving it 'still' or 'clean.' While home distillation is not perfect, it costs less than reverse osmosis systems by a long shot and requires little in the way of equipment. Distilling is also done with a portion of water at a time unless purchasing 'still' H2O from somewhere.

Return from Reverse Osmosis Water and Distilled Water to the Home Page