It’s an obvious fact that clean drinking water is vital for keeping oneself healthy.
The issue with drinking any water is that it contains harmful toxins and inorganic compounds like lead, which in excess can cause high blood pressure and kidney issues. In view of the pollution in our environment and the reduction of natural resources, we really want a method for eliminating these pollutants in our drinking water.
The fundamental justification behind the RO water purification to be such a hugely popular system to filter water is its capacity to eliminate impurities from water. Subsequently a majority of the population are purchasing RO water filters for filtering their drinking water. However, the significant question that emerges is; does RO filter kill bacteria and viruses in water? Let’s explore this in detail.
What is RO system in Water Purifiers ?
Water is life! However, the subject of concern is; how far the water we drink is safe for us? The appropriate answer is very obvious! While we believe that boiling the drinking water or utilizing Reverse osmosis (RO) makes the water safe to drink, this is really not the complete truth. Here’s everything you really want to have some familiarity with about RO water that you drink each day.
Reverse Osmosis, commonly referred to as RO, is a technology that is used to remove a large majority of contaminants from water by pushing the water under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane.
Does RO Purifier Kill Viruses ?
As per a study directed by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology, most purifiers don’t totally kill water-borne viruses like Hepatitis E, and subsequently, RO water isn’t deemed safe for drinking. Most authorities on the matter would agree that, the purifiers do give bacteria-free water, yet the viruses stay longer than bacteria in water, which makes the water unsafe for drinking.
The world has entered a time where sanitization is currently pretty much as significant as it has at any point been. With the Coronavirus spreading all through the world, individuals need to know how they can protect themselves. All things considered, there are no reports that COVID-19 can be transferred through water supply. Nonetheless, there are numerous viruses and bacteria that can be.
Side Effects of RO Water Consumption
Consuming reverse osmosis (RO) water for even a couple of months can make serious side effects, warns WHO.
It has been scientifically affirmed that drinking reverse osmosis water causes more real and quicker damage than most contaminants found in tap water. Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems to purify water are being used widely. Other than the organizations that market RO water purifiers, there are a few other not so famous RO purifiers also in the market, which seem to take advantage of the fact that that people have totally been convinced by the concept of Reverse Osmosis and seem to think that this technology is the best available to filter their drinking water.
The RO framework of course eliminates water pollutants. Yet, they likewise eliminate 92-99% of beneficial calcium and magnesium! After analysing many scientific studies concerning RO water, the World Health Organization expresses that such water impacts the human body. RO water which doesn’t contain enough minerals, when consumed, filters minerals from the body. This implies that the minerals being consumed in food and vitamins are being urinated away. Less minerals consumed in addition to more minerals being discharged causes genuine negative side effects and enormous medical issues.
In a scientific report performed to check whether minerals consumed in food can compensate for the absence of minerals in RO water, researchers reasoned that reduced mineral intake from water was not compensated by their diets. Low-mineral water was answerable for an expanded elimination of minerals from the body. When utilized for cooking, RO water was found to cause significant losses of all fundamental components from food (vegetables, meat, cereals). Such losses might reach up to 60 % for magnesium and calcium or significantly more for other micro-elements (e.g., copper 66 %, manganese 70 %, cobalt 86 %).
Conversely, when mineralized water is utilized for cooking, the deficiency of these components is a lot of lower, and at times, significantly higher calcium content was accounted for in food because of cooking. Other than the adverse impacts depicted above, RO systems likewise waste 70-80 percent of water during filtration. This ‘reject’ water is saline as it has a higher concentration of compound contaminants and is of no utilization for any other reason.
According to a review directed by a government-funded body, which assessed eight domestic water purifier brands, it was tracked down that only two – one outfitted with a hollow fibre layer and the other with a gravity-fed filter, could totally eliminate the viruses. The purifiers that were tried incorporated those utilizing activated carbon filters, ceramic candle filters, sediment filters, iodine resin gravity filters, polyester filters, ultraviolet irradiation, reverse osmosis, and hollow fibre membrane filters.
The study additionally featured that there are no set principles for virological assessment of water purification devices in India. The conclusion authorities on the matter agree is that, there is a requirement for a national policy for the assessment of such purifiers by the administrative specialists and at the manufacturing plant level. This will guarantee the accessibility of quality domestic water filters and purifiers.
Additionally, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which looks the standardization, certification, and quality of purifiers, should strive hard in bringing a positive change in this segment. There are world-class, sustainable options too in water filtration systems than gives clean, tasty water on tap that also retains all essential minerals. The best amongst water filter for home is Doulton, which neither need electricity nor waste a single drop of filtered water.
