Some Uses for Reverse Osmosis you May Not Have Known About

Pure water means pure ice.

Most people who are familiar with reverse osmosis know it from drinking water and aquarium water purification. Whether produced using home reverse osmosis systems, or large-scale desalinization plants, reverse osmosis water filtration is one of the most effective and scalable methods of water purification, removing harmful contaminants and producing fresh drinking water worldwide, as well as keeping aquarium life alive.

However, because reverse osmosis water is so pure, and consistently so, it can also be used in other ways.

Reverse osmosis water is often used to mix paint, especially in automotive applications, where its purity and consistency give automotive painters the exact high-quality paint they require, every time.

It’s also used in metal finishing, both during the process, and also afterwards, to recover minerals such as nickel. It’s an integral part of painting aluminum posts. It’s even been used to recycle engine coolant.

When employed as a part of the concrete mixing process, reverse osmosis water helps developers better control concrete quality through its realiability and consistency, and also removes harmful chemicals, such as chlorides, that can cause persistent dampness in concrete. Since reverse osmosis has virtually no dissolved solids, it also dissolves concrete admixtures, such as concrete waterproofing admixtures, more readily, and is very compatible with crystalline waterproofing systems.

Finally, reverse osmosis water can be found in large amounts at many hockey arenas, where it’s depended upon to demineralize the water used to make the ice, which substantially improves ice quality, allows ice rinks to be kept at slightly higher temperatures, permits thinner ice, and ultimately, saves significant money on operating costs!

For more information about reverse osmosis, please check out our reverse osmosis page! You also might be interested in our home reverse osmosis systems or aquarium reverse osmosis systems to enjoy R.O. water in its more conventional applications.

Sodium Fluoride and our drinking water

What is Sodium Fluoride and where does it come from?

Sodium Fluoride which is found in toothpastes and 72% of America’s water supply. It is a toxic waste byproduct of many types of heavy industry such as aluminum, steel, fertilizer, glass, fossil fuel, cement and other industries. This toxic waste byproduct must be disposed of somewhere… If it were not for Fluoride being used as an additive in the water supply to hundreds of millions (if not billions) of people world wide, these manufacturers would have to pay many millions of dollars per month to dispose of it properly. As the industries that are producing this toxic by product are some of the most prominent and powerful industries in the world, the political pressures are great to keep fluoride listed as a “healthy additive” and not as a environmental toxin. The negative effects on the general population are both diverse and widespread.

One of the excuses for the Fluoridation of the water supply is to fight tooth decay in children. In America, the fluoridation of drinking water agenda stated in the 1940’s when “initial studies” were carried out to demonstrate its use as an anti-cavity fighting compound. The studies were conducted in Newburgh, NY in 1945, Grand Rapids, MI in 1945, in Brantford, Ontario in 1945 and finally concluding the study in Evanston, IL in 1947. The study is now being called into question by many doctors as its findings are far from proving anything of benefit. According to Dr. Philip Sutton, author of “The Greatest Fraud: Fluoridation” *A Factual Book, Lorne, Australia, 1996), these studies are actually of dubious scientific quality.

It is notable that the quality of childrens teeth has improved between 1950’s to the present day, however this improvement very much appears to be unrelated to the fluoridation of the country’s drinking water supply. Rather, diet and dental awareness are more likely sources of this marked improvement. There has yet to be a study which addresses whether the fluoridation of water and toothpaste effects the quality of teeth, while accounting for and controlling other factors which are known to play a part in dental health.

A study headed by Dr. John Yiamouyiannis, took the raw data from a very large study conducted by the National Institute for Dental Research (NIDR) in an attempt to verify the effectiveness of the fluoridation of drinking water in connection to dental health. His conclusions found there to be no decay preventing success and also found there to be very little difference in the DMFT values (the mean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth) in approximately 40,000 children. His findings conclude that it does not matter if children grow up in fluoridated, non-fluoridated or partially fluoridated communities when it comes to the health of their teeth. (Yiamouyiannis, J.A. “Water Fluoridation and Tooth Decay: Results from the 1986-87 National Survey of U.S. Schoolchildren”, Fluoride, 23, 55-67, 1990).

The conclusions of Dr. John Yiamouyiannis are greatly supported by a much larger study which has taken place in New Zealand. The study was conducted by the New Zealand National Health Service plan. This study examined virtually every child in certain age groups. The finding concluded to children in cities with non-fluoridated water had slightly better teeth then those children in fluoridated cities. (Colquhoun, J. “Child Dental Health Differences in New Zealand”, Community Healthy Services, XI 85-90, 1987).

What are the negative effects & health Concerns Associated with the Fluoridation of the water supply?

Among the most recognizable impacts caused by the ingestion of Fluoride is Dental Fluorosis. The effects of this range but are most commonly characterized by surface pitting, brittleness of teeth, opaque – chalky blotching and “rust” colored stains, all of which are found on the surface of teeth, which aside from the more serious and sinister consequences, these effects are very much cosmetically displeasing.

According to some researchers, far more serious and sinister impacts are directly attributed to the ingestion of fluoride. Based on the research of Dr. Phyllis Mullenix, fluoride is found to act in a way that lowers the I.Q. of children (“Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride in Rats”, Mullenix, P. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 17 (2), 1995).

A study funded by the National Toxicology Program intended to determine the toxicology effects of Fluoride was carried out by Battelle. Dr. Williams Marcus found that the increases in bone cancer, particularly in male rats, is dose – related. The more Fluoride given the more the incidence and onset of bone cancer. Perhaps just as disturbing are the findings that Dr. Marcus later questioned the removal of the other cancers the rats developed by his peer reviewers from the final published peer reviewed published studies. Also notable of this study are the levels of fluoride that caused the cancers in the rats are lower then the average amount humans statistically ingest on a daily basis. Dr. Marcus formerly held the position of chief toxicologist for the EPA’s Office of Drinking Water, until his position was terminated in 1991 after his insistence for an unbiased evaluation of fluoride’s cancer causing potential at the current 1ppm (part per million) standard in the drinking water supply. Dr. Marcus rigorously fought his dismissal in the court of law. He won his benchmark case after being able to prove to the courts that his dismissal was politically motivated. His position was then reinstated with the EPA, however there appears to be no record of the study Dr. Marcus so adamantly requested ever having been carried our by the EPA.

How can Sodium Fluoride be avoided?
The best way to avoid Sodium Fluoride is to stop drinking unfiltered tap water. A good home reverse osmosis system will remove sodium fluoride along with other harmful chemicals that can be found in many water supplies. Aquasafe reverse osmosis systems produce laboratory-grade water that is 100% pure – though we still recommend testing your water frequently with a TDS meter.

How to get the Purest Water with Reverse Osmosis

The industrial age has resulted in exponential growth. This explosion in technology has resulted in much unchecked regard to the environment to which we are only now starting to realize the negative implications on a very personal level. Amongst all of the negative environmental impacts resulting from the industrial age, water contamination is one of the most sever of its implications. Aquifers globally (base water tables) are turning up reactive and toxic contaminants in alarming concentrations. Many of these contaminants do not break down for eons.

In North America, independent testing of various water sources has created enough buzz to have the Associate press pick up the trail. Their findings are alarming to say the least. The findings of the Associated Press resulted in findings of industrial contaminants that shatter the EPA’s guidelines for safety. Perhaps the most alarming result from their study are levels of pharmaceutical Drugs in the tap water of every major city tested without exception. Never before have pharmaceuticals been present in water tables. The results of over 15 years of heavy medication of society at large has resulted in said findings.

In addition Municipalities apply both Chlorine and fluoride to its drinking water. These contaminants are both carcinogenic and reactive. One example of chlorine’s reactivity is with ammonia when showering. The combination when put into steam form creates mustard gas. Both Chlorine and Ammonia are found in many city’s across North America. Fluoride was originally used as a rat poison and is also a powerful neurotoxin.

A powerful water filtration process designed to deal with this onslaught of chemical exposure to our bodies is needed. The most effective form of filtration of all chemical, pharmaceutical and inorganic contaminants is a water filtration process that employs both Pre Reverse Osmosis Filters and Post Reverse Osmosis Filters, in addition to the reverse osmosis membrane.

While it’s among the most effective methods of water purification, a Reverse Osmosis Membrane alone is not 100% effective in removing chlorine, volatile inorganic compounds (V.O.C), pesticides, nitrates, herbicides and disinfection bi-products such as (chloramine, THM, TCE) ETC. However when Pre. Reverse Osmosis filtration is employed such as sedimentary followed by Granular Activated Carbon combined with Block Carbon before the Reverse Osmosis Membrane, the results are impeccable. This combination results in a 95-99% reduction in all contaminants leaving the possessor of such a water filtration system with the purest of water.