Do Ro Units Soften Water?

[Creature Seeker]

As the title says, does an RO Unit soften hard water?

Where I live (UK Cotwolds) we have particularly hard water (so I'm told) and I would really like to soften it. A friend at work is selling an RO Unit and thinks it softens water but wasn't completely sure.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

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[saboy]

as far as I know yes it does, it removes everything, so you will then have to rebuild the water, either with special liquid minaral stuff, or a ratio of RO to tap water

 

[Creature Seeker]

Thanks.

What elements have to be present within the water that the RO Unit would remove?

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[Creature Seeker]

Thanks.

What elements have to be present within the water that the RO Unit would remove?

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Any thoughts?

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[Glimmer]

Thanks.

What elements have to be present within the water that the RO Unit would remove?

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I found this information on a web site.

What impurities will reverse osmosis remove?
Reverse osmosis (RO) has become a common method for the treatment of household drinking water supplies. Effectiveness of RO units depends on initial levels of contamination and water pressure. RO treatment may be used to reduce the levels of:

Naturally occurring substances that cause water supplies to be unhealthy or unappealing (foul tastes, smells or colors).
Substances that have contaminated the water supply resulting in possible adverse health effects or decreased desirability.
RO systems are typically used to reduce the levels of total dissolved solids and suspended matter. The principal uses of reverse osmosis in Minnesota and the Dakotas are for the reduction of high levels of nitrate, sulfate, sodium and total dissolved solids.
RO units with carbon filters may also reduce the level of some SOCs (soluble organic compounds) like pesticides, dioxins and VOCs (volatile organic compounds like chloroform and petrochemicals). An RO unit alone may not be the best solution for these types of contaminants, but installing a properly design-ed RO unit to reduce the levels of other contaminants may provide a reduction in SOCs and VOCs.

Hope this helps

 

[OohFeeshy]

An RO unit churns out what is more or less pure water, so for freshwater use you need to add back in trace elements and similar.

 

[Lateral Line]

A good quality RO unit will take just about everything out of the water, you are left with ultra pure water, which has to be treated to make it safe for aquarium use.

How much they take out depends on the quality of the unit, (often how many stages it has), and the quality of the water going into it. A cheap unit with poor water will produce much better water than it was supplied with, but nothing like pure water.

I used to live in NE Hampshire where the water was so hard from the tap, you didn't pour it, you cut slices off. My first simple tap mounted RO dropped the hardness from 25+ degrees to about 3 degrees which for most people is ideal. My current unit is more sophisticated, and drops the water to practically pure which I need for breeding purposes.

Points to consider, cheap units don't produce much at ordinary water mains pressure, maybe 20 liters a day, some more, others less, a booster pump can help, but again, with cheap units you are limited. Another issue is they waste a lot of water. For every liter of water produced, as much as 10 or more goes down the drain. If you are on a metered supply, and can't arrange to use the bypass water somehow, this can be expensive.

One of the boards sponsors, Osmotics, is a specialist firm dealing with this kind of gear. Click their add in the top right corner when you see it.