The ROM IV: Our Best Reverse Osmosis Water Filter
Here at efilters, water filtration is what we do. We have spent years researching different filtration brands and devices in order to always offer our customers the best options on the market. Along with keeping great products in stock, our team is always standing by to answer our customers' questions and make sure that they have the filtration solutions they need. For anyone looking for the best possible home water quality, our ROM IV system is one of the best reverse osmosis water filter options available on the market today.
What is Osmosis?
One of the first questions that we hear when discussing reverse osmosis is how it works. In order to properly understand the RO process, you have to first understand what osmosis is and how it works. Simply put, osmosis is a natural process that describes how a liquid interacts with a semi permeable membrane. This is a membrane that allows certain substances like water through, while not allowing dissolved materials in the water to pass through.
Osmosis is important when it comes to water with different levels of dissolved solids. If you put pure water on one side of a semi permeable membrane and water with dissolved solids on the other side, osmosis will cause water to flow towards the side with more dissolved solids. The goal of osmosis is to achieve balance on each side of the membrane. The clean water will flow towards the dirty water side in an attempt to lower the concentration of dissolved solids.
Obviously this process cannot defy gravity, so at a certain point the flow of water will stop. This is determined by the osmotic pressure of the system. The level of water on the dirty side will continue to increase until the weight of water pushing down on the membrane and the flow of clean water across the membrane balance each other out. At that point the process stops and you are left with slightly less water on the clean water side and slightly more water on the side with more dissolved solids. Now that you understand how osmosis works, it's time to look at how it can be used to filter water.
How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?
The natural osmosis process makes cleaner water flow into water with more contaminants. Reverse osmosis, as the name suggests, reverses this process. Instead of diluting water to lower the concentration of total dissolved solids, the goal of reverse osmosis is to increase the amount of dissolved solids in water by removing fresh water using a semi permeable membrane. In order to achieve this, RO filtration systems take advantage of osmotic pressure.
When you put water on one side of the membrane and nothing on the other side, water will slowly trickle through the membrane and clean water will collect on the other side. At a certain point, osmotic pressure will cause this process to stop and balance out. In order to get as much pure filtered water out of the system as possible, the filter has to overcome the natural osmotic pressure on the membrane.
This is achieved by applying pressure to the input side of the membrane. As dirty water enters the RO filter and is pressurized beyond the osmotic pressure of the system, clean water collects on the output side of the membrane. This process continues until only a small amount of water is left on the input side. This remaining water will carry all of the contaminants of the water, while the output side will be almost completely pure drinking water.
Other Filtration Systems
The RO process is unique compared to other filtration technologies. Most filters pass water through special filtration media in order to filter it. This media is typically carbon based, specifically activated carbon. This powdered material has an incredibly high surface area due to countless microscopic peaks and valleys on the surface of activated carbon.
These filters are pretty simple compared to reverse osmosis systems. Instead of using membranes to filter out waterborne contaminants, the carbon based filtration media captures contaminants as water passes through it. These filters are a very effective way to remove larger contaminants from water, but they do have their limitations. A high quality particulate filter can remove extremely small particles from water. Typically this includes contaminants as small as half a micron in size. That is roughly 100 times smaller than the width of a strand of hair.
This makes carbon filters effective for removing a wide range of contaminants. This includes biological contaminants like bacteria and cysts as well as particles of heavy metals like lead that can be hazardous in high concentrations. Another advantage of these filters is their high flow rate. Carbon filters can produce drinking water fast enough to fill a glass with ease or even deliver the same flow rate as a kitchen faucet. This makes them a great choice for homeowners.
Home RO Filtration
So if carbon media filters already work, why would you need an RO filter? Your average carbon media filter can remove contaminants as small as 0.5 microns, but reverse osmosis filters are far more effective. A reverse osmosis filter can effectively remove contaminants as small as 0.0001 microns in size! That is 5000 times smaller than what your average filter can achieve.
The best reverse osmosis water filters will combine an RO membrane with conventional filtration to achieve the best results. The membranes used inside RO systems are delicate and designed with microscopic pores. Certain chemicals in water, like chlorine compounds, can damage these delicate membranes. When the pores of the membrane are damaged by chlorine, they will let large particles through the membrane and lower the effectiveness of the system as a whole.
The tiny holes in an RO membrane are also easy to clog. Preventing clogs is essential when it comes to extending the lifespan of your RO filter cartridge. Using a carbon particulate filter before the RO filter is a great way to remove both the chlorine compounds and large contaminants that could damage your filter. This combination will maximize the lifespan of your RO membrane while also
What's the Catch?
So if RO filtration is so effective, you might be wondering why people even bother with carbon media filtration systems. While RO filters are some of the most effective home filtration systems when it comes to offering incredibly clean water, they are a little more complicated than your average water filtration systems. This means that if you want to add an RO system to your home, you are going to need to have more room under your sink to dedicate to your filtration needs.
Most RO systems will require multiple stages of filtration including a prefilter cartridge to remove chlorine and large particles, an RO filter to perform the actual reverse osmosis filtration, and in some cases and additional carbon block post filtration cartridge to help remove anything that might have gotten passed the RO filter membrane. This means that the actual filter cartridges can take up three times the amount of room as a conventional filter system.
Reverse osmosis filtration is also a slower process than carbon media filtration. Carbon filters can deliver anywhere from half a gallon per minute to 2.2 gallons per minute, the same rate as home faucets. Home reverse osmosis filters have water production rates under a gallon per hour, which means that they cannot produce drinking water on demand. Instead additional room has to be allocated to fit a storage tank. This tank will hold several gallons of reverse osmosis filtered water so homeowners will always have a supply of incredibly clean drinking water that is ready to consume.
So when it all comes down to it, even the best reverse osmosis water filters will require a little more room than your average water filtration system, but that is a small price to pay when it comes to the higher water quality that homeowners with RO systems enjoy. As far as maintenance goes, you should always change your water filter cartridges annually, regardless of the type of filtration system that you need. This means that RO filters require the same basic yearly maintenance as other home filtration systems, which is already incredibly simple when you use our Everpure filtration systems.
A Look at the ROM IV
Now that we've gone over all of the basics of RO filtrations, it's time to take a look at the ROM IV and what makes it our best reverse osmosis water filter for homeowners. These water filters use three stages of filtration to provide homeowners with incredibly clean and crisp drinking water. This includes a prefilter cartridge for removing sediment and chlorine, a reverse osmosis membrane filter cartridge, and a carbon post filter cartridge for removing volatile organic compounds that might make it through the RO membrane. The final stage of filtration occurs between the storage tank and the faucet, which means that even water that has been sitting in storage will be freshly filtered before consumption.
The ROM IV can filter 14 gallons of water per day. For most households, this is more than enough water to get through several days. The ROM IV has a 4.5 gallon storage tank that will keep water ready for use and will start to refill once you've used some water. The tank can totally refill from being drained in less than 8 hours, so even if you use all of the water in storage during the day, the tank will be full again by morning.
In addition to producing more than enough water for the average household, the ROM IV is also designed to minimize the production of wastewater. The RO process removes freshwater from water with dissolved solids, but it has to leave some water on the input side to carry those dissolved solids away. The ROM IV system is designed to produce an extremely small amount of waste water which is drained from the cartridge and into your sink's drain pipe. By minimizing this waste, the ROM IV is one of the best reverse osmosis water filters when it comes to efficiency and turning as much water into fresh drinking water as possible.
In order to dispense its water, the ROM IV requires the installation of a dedicated filtered water faucet. Small air gap faucets are great for this purpose and are available in a wide range of styles. You will find several options here on our website to choose from. If you cannot find one that will match your kitchen, then they are easy to find from stores that sell kitchen hardware.
As far as yearly upkeep, the ROM IV is incredibly easy to maintain. The pre and post filter cartridges need to be changed annually and are sold in a convenient two pack. The process of changing the filter cartridges is quick and easy. All you need to do is flip a shut off valve on the filter head and then unscrew and replace the filter cartridges. The actual reverse osmosis membrane cartridge has a longer lifespan and only needs to be replaced once every two years.
If you are interested in adding the best reverse osmosis water filter to your home, then our ROM IV is truly the perfect option. These filters are the latest from the Everpure ROM line and we are excited to offer our customers the amazing drinking water quality that comes with using one of these filters. If you have any questions about the ROM IV or any of the other home Everpure filters on our site, feel free to reach out to a member of our team. Our filtration experts are always happy to help our customers get the amazing water quality they deserve.