Reverse osmosis for Las Vegas drinking water
Valley water is mineral-heavy, and reverse osmosis is the usual way to take those minerals out of drinking water. Here's what it does and doesn't do in a Las Vegas home.
What’s there to remove
The Las Vegas Valley Water District’s summary lists 591 ppm of total dissolved solids, including 89 ppm of sodium, 75 of calcium and 24 of magnesium. Softening swaps the calcium and magnesium for more sodium. Reverse osmosis removes most of all of them, which is why the two are often installed together.
Where it goes
An RO system sits under the kitchen sink with a small storage tank and its own faucet. Water passes through a sediment filter and a carbon filter, then the membrane, and often a final carbon filter. It is too slow for the whole house; it’s for drinking and cooking.
RO with a softener
- The softener protects the RO membrane from hardness scale.
- RO removes the sodium the softener adds, so drinking water stays low in sodium.
- Ice makers and coffee machines fed from the RO line scale up far less.
Before you buy
- Is the exact model certified to NSF/ANSI 58?
- Does it carry the WaterSense label?
- How often do the filters and membrane need changing, and what do they cost?
- Does the quote include the faucet, tank and installation?
Questions we get asked
- Is reverse osmosis worth it in Las Vegas?
- If you dislike the taste of the minerals or want to remove the sodium a softener adds, yes. For safety alone it isn't needed: the water district reports meeting all drinking water standards.
- How much does a reverse osmosis system remove?
- It depends on the system. The U.S. EPA's WaterSense specification requires at least a 75 percent cut in total dissolved solids under the NSF/ANSI 58 test.
- Does reverse osmosis waste water?
- Yes, some water goes to the drain while the membrane cleans itself. WaterSense-labelled systems limit how much.