A RO water filter makes use of Reverse Osmosis method, wherein the liquid is forcibly pushed through a semi-permeable membrane to remove heavy metals – such as arsenic, fluorides, mercury, nitrates and dissolved impure salts. Such purifiers are commonly used in houses and companies.
Pros
- Water with high TDS value, ranging from 500 to 2000 ppm;
- The source is hard or borewell water;
- The price varies, depending on technology membranes and storage capacity.
Cons
- These purifiers need electricity to work;
- There is a lot of water wasted throughout the purification process;
- RO purifiers cannot kill germs and several other bacteria;
- They are expensive to maintain.
UV Purifier
These purifiers make use of ultraviolet purification technology in the process. They use UV radiations for killing bacteria, germs and viruses. UV water purifiers work by letting the water pass through UV Radiations that get rid of germs, clearing it from diseases caused by viruses such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera. In addition, they do not take away dissolved salts – beneficial for the body – and they do not make water naturally acidic, unlike a RO purifier.
Pros
- Rids water of bacteria;
- There is no water wasted such as in RO purifiers;
- Does not make use of chemicals, so there is no change in taste;
- Cost efficient and economical due to low maintenance.
Cons
- Electricity is needed to clean the water;
- Does not take away dissolved impurities, such as arsenic, fluoride, lead and nitrates.
UF Water Purifer
These water purifiers make use of an Ultrafiltration membrane in purifying water. The pores of the UF purifier membrane are quite larger than that of a RO membrane. UF Water Purifiers clean water that has bacteria, dirt, germs though other salts pass through UF membranes.
Pros
- They do not need electricity to purify water;
- They remove all types of germs and impurities from muddy water;
- They last for a long time and are low in maintenance. They can be manually cleaned by flushing down blocked dirt and germs. For this reason, such purifiers last longer without maintenance.
Cons
- They are not as effective as RO water purifiers because of their slightly larger pores that cannot block dissolved salts and solids from water. These are only effective for water with low TDS level without dissolved toxic impurities, such as heavy metals.
- If your water supply has high TDS level, you should opt for RO water purifiers.