The world has entered a time where sanitization is now as important as it has ever been. With the Coronavirus spreading throughout the world, people want to know how they can protect themselves.
To be clear, there are no reports that COVID-19 can be transferred through the water supply. However, there are many viruses and bacteria that can be.
A filter membrane has a pore size of about 0.0001 microns. For illustration purposes, bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella are about 0.2 to 4 microns in size, which means that they are way too large to fit through the pores.
According to a report published by the CDC reverse osmosis systems have very high effectiveness in:
- Removing protozoa (e.g. Cryptosporidium, Giardia)
- Removing bacteria (e.g. Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli)
- Removing viruses (e.g. Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus).
So to get back to the question: Does reverse osmosis remove bacteria and viruses? Yes, it does and it does so very effectively for many water transferred viruses and bacteria.
Above that, millions of Americans own a reverse osmosis filtration system themselves and have it installed in their homes.
Businesses have also found that RO systems are highly effective in providing safe drinking water for employees and clean water for manufacturing.
Are There Other Filters That Work?
Yes, UV systems are highly effective in killing nearly all know types of water-born and transferred viruses and bacteria.
UV systems are an effective means of water disinfection for residential and commercial point of entry use to help disinfect the entire building. UV systems are highly recommended to home and business owners who may suspect any E.coli, cryptosporidium, giardia or any other types of bacteria and viruses in the water.
It is not advised to use chlorine or other chemicals to disinfect water like private well owners, because of the toxic by-products they create. It is important to avoid drinking any water that is potentially contaminated from bacteria to protect yourself from any water-borne bacterial diseases.
Ultraviolet Purification Advantages
- Chemical Free: UV purification does not use any chemicals like chlorine or leave any harmful by-products.
- Taste & Odor-Free: UV does not add any chemical taste or odor to the water.
- Extremely Effective: One of the most effective ways to kill disease-causing microbes by destroying 99.99%.
- Requires very little energy: Uses about the same energy as it would to run a 60 watt light bulb.
- Low Maintenance: Set and forget type of system, just change UV bulb annually.
