Reverse osmosis systems are available for both home and industrial use, but there are disadvantages of reverse osmosis in either category. Like the fact that for every one gallon of clean water that is produced 5 gallons of contaminated waste water is made. What with only about 1% of the world's water being drinkable, that's an awful waste of such a precious commodity.

While from an environmental standpoint this waste water is costly, there are other resources being used at a high rate also. If you chose to install one of the systems in your home your electricity bill will take a big jump. So, from a financial view, that's another one of the disadvantages of reverse osmosis usage.

The way the system works is by running highly pressurized water through a porous filter which is designed to only trap minerals and seeable particles, but which lets everything else pass through freely. What that means is that all of the microscopic organisms and chemicals that were in the water before being run through the filter are still present in the water after being run through the filter.

That's not to say that the system doesn't have some good points.  It's perfectly designed for desalination, and can help to prevent mineral build up in boiler water. It is also useful in removing raw sewage from waste water before it goes back through the system.  Those are all good things, but even with all of the things that it does do well, does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink?The answer once again is no.

Despite what the systems manufacturers would lead you to believe, reverse osmosis is only a step in the process of making drinking water safe. Further filtration is necessary in order to remove chlorine and a host of other contaminants which lurk within our water systems. The lack of a proper extended filtering is yet another one of the glaring disadvantages of reverse osmosis. You're still going to have to purchase more filters.

The deciding factor for many people is the price of the system. Starting at around ten thousand dollars, they are roughly 10 times more costly than other more effective whole house systems. Then factor in the cost of the constant required maintenance of the membrane filters and their frequent replacement. You really have to ask yourself at some point if all of this extraneous expense is worth it.  Since we already know the answer to does reverse osmosis make water safe to drink, you would almost have to say no.

There are far more effective and practical systems available, and the disadvantages of reverse osmosis far outweigh the benefits.