With how saturated the water is getting with pollution nowadays, water purification systems are a must now. Without them, you can not really expect to have clean water free from all the harmful contaminants. And if those contaminants do end up inside your body, your health is sure to deteriorate over time.
Now that you know the importance of drinking pure water, you might want to know about the filtration systems available in the market. Well, it is pretty saturated too.
However, the topic that rises up from time to time in that criteria is reverse osmosis vs alkaline water because most of the systems implement one of these two mechanisms.
And if you were in a dilemma among those two, you can stay a bit worry-free because we will provide you enough information regarding those two. Hopefully, by the end, you will not be in the predicament that you are now in.
Reverse Osmosis
First of all, let us talk about the filtration mechanism that is regarded as the ultimate water filtration system. It is regarded as such because of how advanced the system is.
This mechanism consists of multiple semi-permeable membranes to offer you the most enhanced filtration system. Many even state those membranes as mosquito nets because they generally work in the same manner.
As we mentioned, there are multiple membranes in this system. The water first has to go through the first membrane that blocks off all the solid molecules in it. In that stage, it will take out most of the sediments that might remain in the water. After it is done doing that, it will pass it through the second membrane.
And the main functionality of the second membrane is to purify the small impurities that might remain in the water. This second membrane is going to take out small molecules such as TDS, lead, chlorine. Then it will pass the water to a carbon cartridge to complete the last step.
The last step would remove about 97 percent of the other types of impurities that might remain in the water. However, this step would strip out the essential molecules too.
As a result, you will end up getting water that is not only free from impurities but also calcium, potassium, and magnesium too. Those are beneficial for human health.
Alkaline Water Purification System
Another type of filtration mechanism that is quite common in the filters is the alkaline purification mechanism. This mechanism is famous for offering the right pH value of the water.
Now, you might ask what exactly does pH value has to do with water. Well, it does play an important role. You might not know, but the acidity of something is determined by measuring the pH value.
For example, if the liquid has a lower pH level than 7, it is acidic. And Alkaline systems ensure that the water does not have that pH value.
In addition to that, these do not require any sort of electrical power to filtrate water too. The filters that it has will solely rely on the flow of the water for the purification system. It would not require any sort of additional push to make the mechanism work.
Lastly, unlike some of the other filtration systems, the Alkaline system will not strip off the essential minerals that are beneficial for the human body. In other words, you would get the minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals that you might not get from the other systems.
Differences Between RO and Alkaline Filtration Systems
Now that you have a general idea about both the filtration systems, you might also want to know about the differences that lie in between them. Well, they do have some key differences. And those are as follows:
Power
We have already mentioned that the alkaline purification system does not rely on electrical power. Instead, it will depend on the natural flow of water to decontaminate the water.
On the contrary, the RO systems require a higher water flow because of having multiple semi-permeable membranes. Without adequate flow, it will not be able to make an efficient purification.
And if the flow is not adequate, you will have to add an electrical motor. That means, in the case of cost-efficiency, RO systems are not that recommendation worthy.
So, if you do not want to spend extra money after getting a purification system, the alkaline filtration mechanism is the one that you should opt for.
Essential Minerals
Alongside the power, we also have discussed that the RO systems strip away the water’s essential minerals. Yes, the ones that are beneficial for the human body are stripped away. Well, the system can not really be blamed for this. The mechanism’s efficiency is so high that it does not leave those beneficial minerals from the water.
On the other hand, alkaline systems let those essential minerals pass through. That means you will be getting the full content of beneficial molecules that water should have. Alongside that, this system will also add more electrolytes to the water. Those additional electrolytes will enhance your hydration level.
Wastage
Typical RO systems have a wastage ratio of 4:1. It is going to waste about four gallons to purify one gallon of water. Now that is a substantial amount of water wasted. However, it’s necessary to ensure that the required amount of pressure is applied for the purification process.
Nonetheless, many advanced models are available that will lower down the amount of wasted water.
On the other hand, as alkaline water systems are generally installed on top of the filter, they do not really waste any water. So, you will not have to worry about any water wastage at all.
Size
In the case of overall dimensions, the RO systems are comparatively larger than the alkaline ones. As a result, you are going to need a lot of space to properly install these in your water delivery system. You might even have to buy a lot of mounting hardware for some of the specific models.
On the other hand, alkaline systems require a small amount of space. Many of them will not even require that many amounts of mounting hardware too. The installation process is relatively straightforward also.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is better – alkaline water or reverse osmosis?
If we take the pH value into consideration, we can say that the alkaline water is better than the reverse osmosis. RO system will generally make the water acidic. Alongside that, they will also take out the essential minerals from the water.
- Is alkaline water a waste of money?
One of the key points of alkaline water is the added electrolytes, which most of the water purification systems fail to add. At that point alone, we can say that alkaline water is not a waste of money.
- Can you drink alkaline water every day?
It depends. Usually, drinking alkaline water at a small amount is always recommended. But if you drink a gallon each day, your body will have a hard time trying to balance out the pH level. For that reason, we would recommend drinking a small amount of alkaline water every day.
- What happens if you drink 2.5 pH water?
Water with 2.5 pH levels is harmful to the body. It is considered as acidic and drinking that will promote disinfections. Alongside that, it might damage many organs of your body.
- Is drinking too much alkaline water bad for you?
Yes, too much alkaline water can be bad for health. As we have mentioned above, drinking a small amount is always advisable.
Final Words
Hopefully, we were able to provide you enough information on the topic of reverse osmosis vs alkaline water. To conclude, we hope that you are no longer in the predicament that you were before.