Reverse Osmosis Systems

Yes. RO is one of the few residential technologies proven against PFAS. The EPA puts reverse osmosis at 94 to 99%+ PFAS removal. Our PFAS Reverse Osmosis System (Pentair GRO-575B, $895) goes further: it is certified by IAPMO R&T against NSF/ANSI 53 to reduce Total PFAS by 99.7%, to under 20 ppt, on a test mix including PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHpA, PFBS, and PFDA. If PFAS is on your lab report, that is the system to start with.

Less than the reputation, and the number is on the spec sheet. A conventional RO sends 3 to 4 gallons to drain per gallon made. The Pentair FreshPoint Green membranes we lead with recover 41 to 51% of feed water, roughly 1 to 1.4 gallons to drain per gallon made. The drain only runs while the tank refills, so a typical kitchen sends a few gallons a day to the drain, about one toilet flush.

Yes, and it is what most bottled water actually is. RO removes lead, arsenic, nitrates, PFAS, and 95%+ of dissolved solids. It also removes calcium and magnesium, which is the common concern; most people get those minerals from food, not water. If you want them back for taste, an optional remineralization cartridge is available for the Pure-75 by phone.

Pre and post filters every 6 to 12 months; membranes every 18 months to 3 years. Exact schedules: MAW-50 filter pack ($49) every 6 to 12 months with a $135 membrane every 2 to 3 years; Pure-75 quarter-turn cartridges every 6 months with the membrane every 24 months ($195 kit); FreshPoint cartridges yearly with the membrane every 18 months. FreshPoint systems have integrated check valves, so you change cartridges without shutting off the water.

Yes, the membrane cannot tell good dissolved solids from bad ones. Calcium and magnesium come out along with the lead and PFAS. The honest context: water is a minor mineral source; a glass of milk has more calcium than gallons of tap water. If you prefer mineralized taste, add the remineralization cartridge (Pure-75, phone order) and it dissolves calcium and magnesium back in after the membrane.

Match the technology to the contaminant. Carbon filters excel at chlorine, taste, and odor, and they are cheaper: if bad taste from city chlorine is your only complaint, a carbon system is the honest answer and we will tell you so. But carbon cannot touch dissolved solids: sodium, nitrate, arsenic, fluoride, and TDS pass straight through it.

Reverse osmosis handles both lists: the membrane rejects 95%+ of dissolved solids and its built-in carbon stages cover taste and chlorine at the same tap. If your lab report shows PFAS, lead, arsenic, or nitrates, or you want bottled-water quality at the sink, RO is the right tool.

Yes, and on wells it is often the most important tap in the house, but the membrane needs protection. The manufacturer feed limits are hardness under 10 grains per gallon, iron, manganese, and sulfide each under 0.1 ppm, pH 3 to 11, and microbiologically safe water. Raw well water that violates those numbers fouls a membrane in months instead of years.

The correct order on a well: sediment filtration, then iron or pH treatment if needed, then the softener, then the under-sink RO at the kitchen tap, with UV if bacteria ever shows up. Send us your well test and we will spec the order for free, including telling you if your well water is already membrane-safe as-is.

Tankless wins on space, flow, and waste ratio (typically 2:1 or better), and loses on price (often $850+), proprietary filters, and the fact that every tankless system needs an electrical outlet under the sink for its booster pump. Tank systems like ours run on water pressure alone: nothing to plug in, nothing to fail in a power outage, standard cartridge economics.

Our honest take: for drinking and cooking water, a tank system's 50 to 75 GPD membrane plus a 3.2 to 4.4 gallon pressurized tank serves a family fine, at $275 to $895 instead of $850 to $1,000. If you draw very heavily from one tap (coffee bar, ice machine), add the ROmate-40 storage tank rather than paying the tankless premium.

For most households, either works, because the storage tank does the serving while the membrane refills it in the background. A family drinks and cooks with 2 to 4 gallons a day; even the NSF-tested real-world output of a 75 GPD FreshPoint (21.08 gallons per day) is 5 to 10 times that.

Choose 75 GPD (Pure-75, FreshPoint, or the PFAS RO) if you are 4+ people, run a fridge and ice maker line off the system, cook heavily, or have low water pressure (production drops as pressure drops). Choose the 50 GPD MAW-50 if you want the proven basics at $275.

The certified numbers from the NSF-tested FreshPoint systems: 96.3% of total dissolved solids, 98.6% lead, 88% pentavalent arsenic (at up to 50 ppb), 93.6% fluoride, 96.4% hexavalent chromium, 98.5% copper, 99.1% cadmium, 97.9% selenium, 96.3% barium, 80% radium 226/228, over 99.1% turbidity, and over 99.99% of cysts like Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The 5-stage GRO-575B adds certified 99.7% Total PFAS and 98.8% VOC reduction.

What RO does not handle: dissolved gases like radon and hydrogen sulfide (aeration or carbon treats those), and bacteria on an unsafe well (that is UV's job, upstream or downstream). RO also removes calcium and magnesium; see the minerals question above for the honest trade-off.

RO water gets its own dedicated lead-free faucet because the system makes finished water slowly and stores a few gallons at a time: it is drinking and cooking water, not dishwater. FreshPoint systems use an air-gap faucet, which carries the drain line through the faucet body per plumbing code; a clogged drain shows up as drips at the air gap, by design, instead of backflow into your clean water.

Yes on the fridge: a 1/4 inch line tees off to a refrigerator ice maker or water dispenser. The MAW-50 includes the quick-connect fittings and tubing for it. Clear ice cubes are one of the first things RO owners notice.