Today, we will discuss the usefulness of this device that can be found almost everywhere, and which uses the technology of reverse osmosis.
Basic osmosis without remineralization
Recurring costs of a water osmosis plant
In the current market of products sold to improve water quality, we consistently find proposals with recurring revenues.
Water filters, water softeners, osmosis machines and many others, make us buy consumables on a regular basis.
The same applies to mineral water manufacturers, who are always making recurring purchases.
To further illustrate this, let’s detail a basic offer, which can be found for about 250€ on the market. Know that a machine costs more than 1500€, it is therefore a “first price”.
So, let’s detail: a pre-filter type sediment filter, a reverse osmosis membrane guaranteed to last 24 months at 70€ the replacement, a post-filter type activated carbon, a 6l tank, and a low flow faucet.
If you can install it by yourself, so much the better, if not, double the price of the device to include the installation, that is to say more than 500€ installed.
The manufacturer claims that its membrane lasts 2 years, yet in the comments read on a major distribution site, a customer mentions that the actual duration is divided by two, or one year.
To summarize, you have to change the filters every six months, that is to say 100€ per year, and 70€ of membrane, that gives over three years: 500+300+210= 1010€and you will continue to pay 170€ annuallyIf your water is not too “hard”, the manufacturer recommends adding a water softener before the osmosis unit.
Above a water hardness of 15°f, it is strongly recommended to install a water softener in order to extend the life of the system and to protect it from limescale.
Ok, we get it, it’s expensive, and temperamental, and basically, it does the job of a carafe filter with a 6L tank, but then, what’s the benefit?
The alternative solution to water osmosis: LaVie!
LaVie® UV-A water purifiers operate without filters or maintenance and allow you to purify your tap water in 15 minutes.
They use an innovative, patented technology exclusive to LaVie®: the photolysis of chlorine by UV-A radiation.
This treatment allows the removal of chlorine and its by-products, chemical compounds such as certain pesticides or traces of medication, tastes and odors that can be found in tap water.
The result, very qualitative, allows to draw a definitive line on the consumption of plastic bottled water.
The carbon footprint associated with the manufacture of the UV water purifier’s aluminum tube is neutralized in a few days of use compared to the equivalent consumption of water in plastic bottles.
What is the health benefit of water osmosis systems?
None if your water is drinkable, the only benefit is to remove the salt that the softener would have added. An osmosis plant is a product for space stations or ships, because it allows to recycle water loaded with salt, or urine, for example. But since salt is regulated in drinking water, there is no need to osmose tap water.
Basically, it allows the production of ultra-processed water, “dead” in the sense of minerals and dissolved oxygen, and unfit for consumption, therefore undrinkable. Drinking water must contain at least calcium and magnesium in regulated quantities, of which this device will have extracted 80 to 90% through its membrane.
Drinking water (WHO) should be around a neutral pH, between 7 and 8, ideally 7.5, but your osmosis unit will produce acidic, corrosive water around a pH value of 6, just like a carafe filter.
Drinking water contains little or no bacteria, but the 6l tank, as well as the tap, devoid of the chlorine that protected the water from contamination, will quickly become a nest for these little creatures (as with filtering carafes, especially since the storage in the case of the osmosis system is at 20°C, or even 30°C in summer, a temperature that is very favourable to bacterial development).
And don’t think that the osmosis membrane removes chlorine, because it doesn’t, it’s the pre-filter that does this job, to avoid “burning out” the membrane too quickly.
Of course, some more expensive models include mineralization cartridges (calcium and magnesium), another excellent method to catch a few more bacteria, and why would you want to put back into the water artificially what was naturally in it?
We can push the envelope further, and this is what is practiced in the big machines of big French companies with the “bio” label (hey yes they sell you ultra processed water on the spot, in plastic bottles, but you must not throw them in the wrong garbage can…), and put back the lost dissolved oxygen with the help of a vortex, but are you really sure you still want to drink this water?
We are very far from a natural water, definitely the opposite.
In these very expensive machines, there is also a UV-C flash at the exit, not to kill bacteria, but only to prevent them from reproducing in your stomach, and many other pre or post filters that I will not detail here, because they will not be found in a domestic machine.
The environmental impact of osmosis systems
Now let’s detail the environmental impact: Four filters and a non-recyclable membrane per year, and more than 60% of the input water goes into the environment as concentrated soup. You will of course pay for this wasted water in your bill.
You still want to buy a reverse osmosis system? Test our LaVie system beforehand, we work miracles on water with a high mineral content, and you can return the product if it doesn’t suit you. There is no installation, no filter to change, no bacterial pollution to worry about, no trace of chlorine or bad taste.
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