Purchasing A Whole House Well Water Reverse Osmosis System -  A Quick Guide

A Whole House Reverse Osmosis (RO) system is a highly effective and popular technology used by many homeowners to purify well water. There are a wide variety of RO systems on the market so it can be overwhelming when trying to find one that meets your household's exact requirements. If you are currently looking for a whole house RO system and want to know how you can benefit from using a reverse osmosis, what to look for in a RO system and what questions you should be asking, then this quick reference guide is for you.

​If, after reading our information, you still have some unanswered questions our team at RainDance Water Systems are happy to help. We can be contacted at Support@RainDanceWaterSystems.com or call 1-877-788-8387.

How much does a whole house reverse osmosis system cost?

A whole house reverse osmosis system will cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000+ depending on your water chemistry, how much water you need to make, storage tank size, pretreatment needed and overall design of the RO unit.

What is Reverse Osmosis?
To understand what Reverse Osmosis is you first need to understand osmosis. In simple terms, osmosis is the movement of a solvent, for example, water through a semi-permeable membrane from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration to achieve balance on both sides of the membrane. This movement occurs naturally without any energy being applied. To stop this natural process from occurring you need to apply pressure to the higher concentration side of the membrane. The osmotic pressure is the pressure difference needed to stop this natural flow of the solvent across the semi-permeable membrane.

For reverse osmosis to occur, you apply a pressure that is higher than the osmotic pressure. This forces the solvent through the semi-permeable membrane in the opposite direction to that which occurs naturally with osmosis, leaving any impurities behind. The water passing through the membrane is referred to as the “permeate” (or product water) the remainder is referred to as “concentrate” (or reject/drain water). As the RO membrane only allows a minute amount of salts in the feed water to pass through, the conductivity of the permeate is very low, whereas the concentrate is very high in dissolved salts.

Do I need a whole house RO system?
​Reverse osmosis technology produces purified water, so it may be suitable for any household that needs high quality water for any reason.
There are many reasons why some homeowners choose an RO system over other technologies. For example, water purified using an RO system may be used to remove high total dissolved solids (TDS) from well water. For other applications the RO system may be used to reduce arsenic, chromium, sulfates, nitrates, chloride, sodium and other contaminants. 
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Basically, if you need your water to be of a higher quality than your private well water, then an RO system might work for you.  As there are many different RO water filters to choose from, it is worth having your water analyzed. Before you purchase any whole house reverse osmosis water filter for your well we recommend that you obtain a water quality test report for your well water supply, which will help identify any issues that are essential to deal with and those you may wish to improve. If you have a water report please email us at Support@RainDanceWaterSystems.com Attn: Home RO System - Or contact us about our FREE well water testing.

We specialize in high recovery & high rejection home reverse osmosis systems for TDS (salty water) removal from brackish well water. Our most recent whole house RO projects include: Nebraska Well Water TDS 14,714ppm, after our RO System 188ppm - Montana Well Water TDS 5,866ppm, after our RO system 79ppm - California Well Water TDS 10,200ppm, after our RO system 175ppm - Wyoming Well Water TDS 6,304ppm, after our RO system 149ppm - Nevada Well Water TDS 2,200ppm, after our RO system 52ppm - Texas Well Water TDS 8,485ppm, after our RO system 122ppm - New Mexico Well Water TDS 3,600ppm (mostly Sulfate at 2,100ppm), after our RO system 36ppm - Maine Well Water TDS 3,500ppm, after our whole house RO system 95ppm - Colorado Well Water TDS 6700ppm (mostly Sulfate 4090ppm & Sodium 1550ppm), after our RO system 83ppm.

How much water does a whole house reverse osmosis system waste?

All whole house RO systems waste water and require a drain source. However, the RainDance whole house reverse osmosis systems incorporate a recirculation valve which conserves water and allows for less water going down the drain. *Typical recovery for these systems are 50% (1 gallon of pure water to 1 gallon of waste water) up to 70% (2 gallons of pure water to 1 gallon of waste water). Most of our competitors advertise higher waste water and a lower recover of only 33%  *The amount of waste water can be determined by your water chemistry. If you have a water report please email us at Support@RainDanceWaterSystems.com Attn: Whole House RO For Well Water - All of our whole house reverse osmosis systems are manufactured to be water efficient using the latest up to date membrane solutions software. 

 In some cases the waste water from a whole house reverse osmosis system can be re-used for other purposes such landscaping, irrigation, wash down water and more. With some planning you can waste very little water - ask us how 

What size whole house reverse osmosis system do I need?
​The usual sizing formula for a Whole House RO System is 100gpd per person plus miscellaneous uses. You'll then double this number to find the appropriately-sized RO system. For example, if the usage needs 400gpd then an 800gpd RO system would be appropriate. This allows the accommodation of continuous use plus some extra capacity in case the usage increases in the future.

Keep in mind that an RO's rated capacity (gallons per day, or GPD) means what the system can produce in a full 24 hour period. For example, an 800gpd RO system can produce 800 gallons in 24 hours, or approximately 0.5 gallons per minute (GPM). This is why a separate RO product water storage tank and repressurization pump are needed to deliver high flow, pressurized purified water to multiple taps.

How Does A RainDance Whole House Reverse Osmosis System Work:

Pressurized water from your well water source first enters the built-in prefilter cartridge system for extra membrane protection from sediment, debris, rust, and more. Then this “pre-filtered” water enters the RO purification membrane. Through the process of reverse osmosis, water is pushed through a semi-permeable membrane at high pressures to separate contaminants from the water. Contaminants are flushed to the drain, but before this water is wasted, the drain runs back through the RO membrane to "reclaim" water for less waste. This reclaimed water turns into purified water, which then enters the remineralizer to protect the home's plumbing and appliances from corrosive RO water by adding a small amount of minerals back to the water. Pure, remineralized water then begins to fill the near-by storage tank, and the RO water will continue to fill the storage tank until the tank float switch closes and shuts off the entire system. When there is a demand for water the re-pressure delivery pump is activated and draws RO water from the storage tank and sends it to your taps. If enough product water is used to the point where the float switch is reopened, the RO system is automatically reactivated and begins to replace the purified water that has been depleted. A detailed whole house reverse osmosis system plumbing diagram can be provided upon request.

Where are your whole house reverse osmosis systems made?

RainDance Water Systems is a US based company. All whole house RO systems are made and assembled in the USA (California)