Contaminants In Water

Contaminants in water will vary depending on the water source and the type of membranes used to remove them. Reverse osmosis membranes remove or reject numerous contaminants, and impurities from a wide variety of water sources. The chart below lists some of the major impurities that are removed by various membrane technologies:

However, unlike some other technologies, membranes do not remove 100% of many dissolved impurities. The list below gives you some of the normal rejection rates by most undersink home reverse osmosis membranes. Note that most are in the 95 98% range, but some are significantly lower. Click on the highlighted impurities to see more specific information about each one. Impurities Aluminum Ammonium Arsenic +3 Arsenic +5 Bacteria Barium Bicarbonate Boron Bromide Cadmium Calcium Chloride Rejection Impurities Rejection 96 - 98% 96 - 98% 96 - 98% 97 - 99% 93 - 96% 99% + 90 - 95% 99% + 95 - 98% 97% 97%

97 - 98% Magnesium 85 - 95% Manganese 60 - 80% Mercury 94 - 98% Nickel 99%+ Nitrate 93 - 98% Phosphate 50 - 70% Potassium 93 - 96% Pyrogens 96 - 98% Radioactivity 96 - 98% Radium 94 - 96% Selenium

95 - 96% Polyphosphate 98 - 99%

Chromium Copper Cryptosporidium Cyanide Fluoride Giardia Iron Lead TDS Detergents Virus

96 - 98% Silica 97 - 99% Silicate 99% + Silver 90 - 95% Sodium 94 - 96% Sulfate 99% + Sulfite 98 - 99% Zinc 96 - 98% Hardness 95 - 99% Particles 97% 99% + Insecticides Herbicides

85 - 90% 95 - 97% 95 - 97% 92 - 98% 93 - 98% 96 - 98% 98 - 99% 93 - 97% 99% + 97% 97%