3 Reliable Alternatives to Reverse Osmosis

For a healthier living, drinking clean water is not only a better option, it is indeed the only best option. Don’t merely just try, but you must always have clean water for consumption. This means that you should always prefer clean hygienic water for drinking above any other types of water, and must avoid every other forms of unhygienic water.

Why Should You Prefer Reverse Osmosis Purified Water, Anyway?

The water from streams, lakes or rivers contain many forms of harmful microorganisms like germs and bacteria. Even the crystal clear water you see contains numerous invisible germs if not purified properly.  The untreated water may look safe to drink, but actually is not and it can severely affect your health. Drinking purified water can help you prevent many health issues and harmful diseases.

For drinking purified water, the first think that mostly all household prefer is installing a reverse osmosis. We cannot deny that more or less this is the most preferred solution. However, there are many other alternative methods of obtaining purified water.

Among those, I have mentioned 3 of them below.

Best Reverse Osmosis Alternatives

Boiling Water

One of the safer and effective ways of ensuring purified water is by boiling it. Boiling has always been one of the most common and traditional methods used in every household since ages. It was introduced way before reverse osmosis water purifier filtration system had been invented.

For boiling, initially check first if the water seems cloudy or not. If not, then pour the water in a pot and place it on an electric or gas stove. Heat the water at high heat until it has been properly boiled. If the water appears cloudy, this means it may contain dirt. Hence, filter the water with a clean cloth or paper towel before you prepare to boil it.

Filter as many times needed to ensure proper filtering. Cover the lid for faster boiling in lesser time as the lid helps to trap heat inside.  Give the water a rolling boil to ensure accurate boiling. Let the water steam and churn for a couple of minutes.

Let the water cool down before drinking.

Did you know you can also boil water in a microwave oven? Pour the water in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in the oven until it is steamy and properly boiled.

However, the chemical contamination present in water is not completely eliminated by boiling. Furthermore, boiling may not always be possible anytime in any situation due to lack of heat source or shortage of fuel or electricity.

Purifying Through Chlorination

To purify water, a type of chemical purification is used by putting Plain Chlorine Bleach or Chlorine Tablets in water. If the water seems cloudy, then filter/ strain it with a fresh cloth or kitchen towel to remove the dirt. So, check the clarity of the water before putting in the chlorine.

Water chlorination helps to kill many pollutants and harmful germs. Pour four drops of liquid bleach in one liter of water; 8 drops in per half gallon; and 16 drops in per gallon of water.  Let it rest for at least half an hour to make the water drinkable.

The minimum temperature of the untreated water should not be less than 16 degrees Celsius for effective water chlorination. The water might taste a bit different but the good news is, it is now safe to drink.

Although chlorine is economical and easily available, keep in mind that excessive chlorine can be dangerous to health and you must maintain some caution.

Also, with chlorine, you cannot ensure complete elimination of various complex microorganism’s existent in clear water.

Iodine Water Purification

Another effective and portable chemical purification alternative is using iodine to cleanse water. The iodine helps to kill many kinds of contaminants and microorganisms present in water. Iodine is known to effectively destroy Giardia cysts present in water.

In hot or room temperature water, pour 5 drops of iodine in per liter of clean water. Add some extra few drops if the water is cloudy. Let it rest for at least half an hour before it is suitable to drink. Iodine is more effective if the water temperature is more than 21 degrees Celsius.

As this method is portable, this is optimal in traveling in places where purified filtered water is far from outreach such as, while you are camping in the jungle and you need pure drinkable water.

However, iodine does not kill all 100% of the pathogens present in water.

Also, iodine may add some bitterness to the taste of water. If you do not like its taste, then try adding lesser than ten drops of iodine in the water.

People who are allergic to iodine cannot use this method for water purification.

Conclusion

While all of these methods provide decent cleaning, a water purifier is the only reliable option. The most common household water purifiers are Reverse Osmosis based, Gravity Based, UV and UF. The RO, UV and UF water purifiers effectively and efficiently kill the germs and bacteria present in water, where both RO and UF also remove the microorganisms that they have killed. UV and UF cannot remove the Dissolved salts in water, but reverse osmosis successfully eliminates such Dissolved salts.