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What Is Reverse Osmosis in Bottled Water?

The process of reverse osmosis treatment has been around for over forty years. It was originally used to remove sodium from sea water, but it's been adopted by bottled water companies to remove impurities. Reverse osmosis machines have been used by the public since the 1970s when homeowners installed them in their kitchens. This method of purification is also more cost efficient for industrial bottled water companies, and it's a more viable method than distillation procedures.

  1. The Process

    • The process of reverse osmosis involves a semi-permeable membrane through which water is forced. It differs from normal osmosis in that water is pushed through the membrane removing impurities rather than natural diffusion where water moves through the membrane to form an equilibrium. Because soluble particles like salt are larger than water molecules, the membrane blocks the impurities and only clean, fresh water is collected on the other side.

    Advantages

    • The advantages of reverse osmosis are cost efficiency and the removal of minerals and chemicals present in regular tap water. In addition to salt, reverse osmosis also removes lead, manganese, iron, and calcium. Reverse osmosis also removes fluoride, which has been linked to chronic kidney disease by the American Dental Association.

    Disadvantages

    • Although reverse osmosis removes many impurities in city water, it does not remove some of the dangerous chemicals. The process of reverse osmosis only removes chemicals and particles that are larger than water molecules. Chemicals such as chlorine and volatile organic chemicals are actually smaller than water molecules, so reverse osmosis is unable to filter them from drinking water. Additionally, reverse osmosis can create acidic water, which is dangerous for public health.

    FDA Regulations

    • Bottled water purification including reverse osmosis is regulated by the FDA. The FDA requires bottled water companies to adhere to strict regulations in reverse osmosis processes. Bottled water is tested and required to stay within a maximum level of contaminants including chemicals, microbial and radiation products.

    Bottled Water Companies

    • While reverse osmosis is an efficient way to rid impurities from water, only some bottled water companies use this technique for filtration. Aquafina (PepsiCo) uses reverse osmosis as well as several other methods of filtration. Dasani, manufactured by Coca-Cola, uses reverse osmosis, but the company uses a reprocessing method that reintroduces some of the removed minerals.

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