Ever since reverse osmosis filtered water bursts onto the market as a viable alternative to distilled water, folks have been asking which type of water is actually better. There are actually different ways to define what better means. Is it better quality water or better efficiency or cost savings et al. In this article, we will take a look at all these dimensions and see which type of water comes out on top.

How do both process works

Unlike reverse osmosis process, which essentially uses water to clean water, distillation requires the use of the heat to boil the water and then to condense it down while leaving the unwanted minerals behind. However, this process requires a lot of energy to process and is something that I don’t personally fancy.

Reverse osmosis, on the other, uses a series of filters to help remove the unwanted objects in the water. In other words, the water itself is used to clean out the mineral, which means less energy is needed.

Main differences

Here is I will break down the different dimensions of how distilled and reverse osmosis water is different.

•  TDS level – Due to the fact that some minerals require a lower boiling point than water, some of them will not be removed through the distillation process. As such, RO water will have much less TDS than distilled water.

• Energy consumption: As explained, the process of boiling and condensing the water in the distillation require much more energy than a reverse osmosis process. In terms of energy consumption, the former is definitely much higher than the latter.

• Taste: Due to the amount of TDS being removed, I personally feel the taste of RO water is much better than distilled water. This difference is particularly striking when you use it to make beverages such as iced tea or hot coffees.

• Home based solution: Currently, I am not aware of any economical home based distillation solution that can easily installed. For RO, there are already home filtration systems you can buy today. If you need help, check out 2015 best reverse osmosis water system.

As you can see, I lean more towards reverse osmosis water rather than distill as I feel the purification is better with less energy needed. What is your opinion on this? Distilled or reverse osmosis?