Reverse osmosis vs spring water, it is a hot topic when it comes to choosing a water type for drinking purposes. Reverse osmosis water and spring water are forms of water, one is filtered and purified, whereas the other, as the name suggests, is sourced from the nature and filled with minerals.
When talking of filtered water, there are multiple purification systems including a reverse osmosis system. A RO system basically provides you with filtered water from any source, right on your kitchen countertop. It essentially works by passing water (unprocessed water) through multiple layers of filters using a high pressure pump.
This process removes all sorts of impurities, contaminations, pathogen, and disease causing bacteria, thus leaving you with the purest form of water. Now, on the contrary, spring water is simply bottled water with a slight touch of filtration.
The availability of all these options despite being good, is a big nuisance when it comes to choosing a water type for your household.
You want one that is not only pure, but also safe and beneficial for your health. If you’re confused about whether you should go for reverse osmosis (purified water) or spring water, look no further.
There are multiple key differences in spring water and reverse osmosis. Each has its pros and cons, which will help you opt for either of the two. Without any further ado, let’s dive into it.
What is Spring Water?
Spring water, as the name suggests, it comes directly from a natural spring and the bottle itself is labelled with “spring water”. It is bottled via different approaches. In some cases, it is bottled directly at the source of the spring water. Whereas most of the commercially available spring water is sourced from underground aquifers.
Underground aquifers are what essentially feed the spring. After extraction, it is then sent to a treatment facility where the spring water undergoes a certain process and then finally gets bottled.
Spring water is also referred to as artesian water. Generally speaking, it is naturally flowing water that rises to the surface ground of big enough water reservoirs (underground). Such natural sources are found in the following areas:
- In valleys
- On the sides of mountains
- Anywhere around bedrock (limestone based).
Now, the second question is, if spring water comes from the ground, how do we assume that it is pure? To understand this, let’s look at how spring water is made.
How is Spring Water Made?
The earth carries underground aquifers, which are the primary source of spring water. Now, you might assume that spring water must be dirty and filled with contaminants since it comes directly from the ground. But you’re wrong here. This most definitely isn’t the case.
Spring water is filtered naturally. Yes, you read that correct! It passes through a wide range of limestone bedrocks before it reaches the surface of the earth. Now, as the water goes higher up towards the surface, the impurities are filtered out which results in a pure and crystal clear looking water. If it is bottled at the source, it stays free from contaminations.
Unfortunately, at the source, it cannot be bottled in large quantities. Due to this, it has to be transported to water processing facilities. Usually, tanker trucks carry this water. So, to protect it from contaminations, the water is either chlorinated or ozonated before it reaches the facility.
Afterwards, the water is processed and passed through multiple layers of carbon filters that help de-chlorinate or de-ozonate the water. Along with de-chlorination, other contaminations that may have accumulated in the water are also removed while still pertaining the healthy minerals.
Pros And Cons Of Spring Water:
Spring water is significantly beneficial for us. But, just like anything else in the world, it too has certain cons. Here is an insight into this.
Pros:
- It carries a balanced proportion of all of the essential minerals required by the human body
- It is safe for consumption irrespective of the age factor
- It is highly pure in nature
- Spring water has a very rich and refreshing taste
Cons:
- Spring water despite being termed as pure, still contains a high number of contaminations including heavy metals, chlorine, and other impurities
- If consumed without filtering out the impurities, it will lead to both short-term and long-term health complications
What Is Reverse Osmosis (Purified Water)?
Reverse osmosis is also termed as purified water. Other names for reverse osmosis water include, deionized, distilled, and demineralized water.
It is a process of water filtration that removes any form of dissolved particulate media from the water along with the removal of harmful chemicals, disease causing pathogens, minerals, and other unnecessary agents from source water.
Ideally a reverse osmosis system has to meet the condition that the filtered water under no circumstances should contain greater than 10 PPM of total dissolved solids (TDS).
Fortunately, reverse osmosis systems are extremely efficient at purifying water and completely removes any contaminations, impurities, chemicals, or pathogenic bodies your water may have. But, at the same time, it will also remove the minerals which may make your water taste flat and less flavorsome compared to spring water.
How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?
Reverse osmosis is a purification process for contaminated or unprocessed water. It allows you to remove dissolved media including chemicals, soldi contaminations, impurities, pathogens, and other health-altering elements from water.
Reverse osmosis systems are an easy solution to filter out these impurities from your water, right from your home. It can either be installed on your kitchen countertop or under the sink, wherever you feel like installing it. All you need to do is connect it to a dedicated faucet and a source water line.
RO systems have multiple filters including sediment filters, carbon filters, and RO membrane to filter out all of the harmful contaminations and impurities.
It completely removes the minerals as well, thus providing you with the purest form of water. However, along this, the healthy minerals also get removed thus giving your water a flat taste, which makes it unpleasant.
But, to cope with this, RO systems feature a special filter which helps re-mineralize the water and introduces the healthy minerals back into the water. This is essentially the last stage in an RO system and after that, the re-mineralized water flows directly to the faucet.
Pros And Cons Of Reverse Osmosis Purified Water:
Similar to spring water, reverse osmosis water also has its own set of pros and cons. Here’s an insight into this.
Pros:
- Little to no exposure to harsh chemicals, contaminations, toxic elements, bacteria and other disease causing pathogens that are a serious risk to your health
- Over 90% of the bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms are removed from your water right at the source
- Heavy metals, organic matter, and chemical treatment processes (chlorination) are also removed that are the primary cause of the unpleasant taste in your water
- Any type of water can be purified in an RO system, be it your tap water or water from a drain, well, or bore
- The remineralization process in an RO system can introduce healthy minerals back into the water, even if they weren’t present in the water first
Cons:
- Unless your RO system has a remineralization filter, it will taste flat and not be as refreshing as spring water
- Might be a little costly purchase but the pros outweigh the cons
Reverse Osmosis Vs Spring Water: Which One Is Good For You?
Both reverse osmosis purified water and spring water are safe for drinking purposes. However, both of them have certain tradeoffs that may make one appear better for you than the other.
Summing up spring water:
Most of the people prefer spring water, primarily due to the good and refreshing taste.
Besides the taste, spring water also carries a wide range of healthy nutrients that are significantly beneficial for our bodies. But unfortunately, spring water may also be filled with contaminations since it is not filtered through proper channels.
Spring water usually has high concentrations of heavy metals, chlorides, nitrates, and total dissolved solids. Spring water, despite carrying the essential nutrients can be very harmful to your body if it carries all of the contaminations mentioned above.
These contaminations do not necessarily come from the ground. Most of them have entered the spring water when it is being transported or processed. If your spring water bottle claims that it is packaged at source, it might have a smaller concentration of these contaminations.
Summing up reverse osmosis purified water:
On the contrary to spring water, many people prefer purified water. This is because all of the impurities, contaminations, chemicals (introduced from chlorination and its byproducts), disease causing viruses, bacteria, and pathogens are removed from it completely.
Over 90% of these contaminations are removed using a reverse osmosis system -thus greatly making reverse osmosis water safe for you and lowering the chances of you suffering from any waterborne diseases.
Besides, many people usually assume that reverse osmosis water lacks any healthy minerals. Fortunately, that is certainly not the case. There are post filters in RO systems that add the essential minerals back to the filtered water, thus invalidating the assumption.
So, which one should you opt for? Reverse osmosis or spring water?
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your preference. But, if you had to opt for one, our recommendation would be to opt for Reverse Osmosis water: Wondering why? Here are a few reasons to help you make up your mind:
- Reverse osmosis allows you to filter water from any source including tap water, groundwater, and well water
- It is readily available, and you do not have to go to your local store just to get some spring water
- Reverse osmosis system features a post-filter that provides you with a balanced amount of all of the healthy minerals and nutrients your water must have
- Reverse osmosis water is free from harmful contaminations like heavy metals that can damage your pipelines and also take a toll on your health
- It has a comparatively high degree of safety due to the removal of disease causing viruses, bacteria and pathogens
Is Spring Water Reverse Osmosis?
No, spring water isn’t reverse osmosis. Spring water is simply water extracted from natural springs. It is either bottled at the source of the spring or moved to water facilities via trucks to be packaged and processed commercially.
Whereas reverse osmosis is a filtration system that purifies water from any source. So, both spring water and reverse osmosis are separate things.
Which Bottled Water Is Made By Reverse Osmosis?
There are many multi-national brands that provide you with water filtered through commercial grade reverse osmosis system. Here are some of the most popular brands that you might have already come across:
- Aquafina®
- Dasani®
- Nestle Pure Life®
- Smart Water®
- Penta Ultra-Purified Water
- Propel Water
- Essentia
- Lifewtr