When RO purifies water, the impurity in drinking water flows away as wastewater. For 1-litre pure water, the RO filter wastes 3-litre of water. And you know that water is essential to us in every aspect. Also, one must not waste even a drop of it.
Therefore, why not make use of the wastewater? As the impure water from RO contains a high number of dissolved solids, where can you use it?
To learn more about it, read the whole article. The article will cover the daily uses of RO wastewater so that you can make good use of it and save each drop of water.
11 RO Wastewater Uses
The water wasted during the purification process from RO has a high content of TDS level, which is not healthy for drinking. But, you can use it in other ways in your daily household works.
Mostly, people put the wastewater releasing pipe in a bucket or leave it to flow through the sewage. You can connect the RO wastewater pipe to a big tank at the wash area and leave it to fill all day long to save water. And reuse the impure water for purposes other than drinking.
What are the other purposes of making good use out of water having a high TDS level? Read on to know all of the uses in detail!
1. Wash your car
Do you want to wash your car regularly but feel like you will waste a lot of water? So why not use the RO filter of your house to wash the car? Just store the wastewater flowing through the RO waste pipe in a container and wash your car without wasting the pure water flowing from your pipe.
At least 100 liters to 150 liters of water is wasted in a car wash. Instead of wasting, store around 150 litres of water from the RO waste pipe and use it. Even water with a TDS level of more than 1000 ppm will suit your car. And if the TDS level is more than 1500 ppm, you can dilute it with tap water to lower the level.
2. Clean your toilet
The toilet flush drains out around 5 liters to 7 liters of water. You can use RO wastewater instead of potable water to flush your toilets. And you can even use the RO waste water to clean the washroom floor or toilet seat.
Remember not to use this water for bathing or washing your hair—the hard water hair wash results in hair fall. And bathing with hard water will result in dry skin and irritation. Bathing with RO wastewater may cause diseases like psoriasis or eczema for people with sensitive skin.
3. Water your garden
You can use the RO wastewater to water your garden or in irrigation. But, dilute the impure water with clean tap water to not harm the plants with very high TDS levels. And if the TDS level is not more than 1000-1100 ppm, you can use it as it is. Otherwise, the high TDS level of impure water of RO may reduce the fertility of the soil.
If you doubt whether the RO wastewater will suit your plants or not, first give it a try on a few plants and observe the change for at least 15-20 days.
4. Clean the sewage pipes
You can use RO wastewater for cleaning kitchen or bathroom sewage pipes. You need not dilute tap water to RO wastewater to clean the sewage if the wastewater has a very high TDS level.
5. Wash your utensils
The saline nature of Reverse osmosis waste water is better to wash the dishes to remove all remaining stains and oiliness of food. You can use tap water after using this water of high level of dissolved solubles.
Keep a bucket or tank to let it fill with RO wastewater through the RO waste pipe and store it to use the next time you wash utensils.
6. Bathe your pets
The very high TDS level impure water is not healthy for your pet. If you want to use the impure RO water to wash your pet, add the same amount of clean water. And dry the hair and skin of the pet after bathing it.
7. Use for laundry
The process of filling up the bucket of the washing machine and the machine’s cleaning wastes a lot of water. And there is no harm in washing your clothes with hard water. But, the delicate fabrics may ruin because of a very high TDS level of wastewater you use. Therefore, you can fill your washing machine bucket with RO wastewater to utilize it.
8. Boil the eggs
Anything that doesn’t come in contact with the edible portion if put in water, you can use it to heat in RO wastewater. For example, you can boil the eggs in RO wastewater because the water doesn’t get into the shell and affect the egg white and the yolk. And the same way, you can heat any of the shelly fruits or veggies in this water.
9. Wash the iron objects
Use RO wastewater to clean the iron materials present at your home. But if the wastewater has a very high level of dissolved solubles, it may react with the iron and start rusting. Therefore, dilute the wastewater with tap water to balance the TDS level.
10. Mopping the floors
What do you do with the water you used for mopping? You throw it away. Right? So, why not use the RO wastewater you are already letting waste off? Why not waste the wastewater after making good use of it?
So, use the RO waste water to clean the front side and backyard and mop your house’s floor and walls with it. But if the TDS level is very high, add some clean water to avoid corrosion of the floor tiles and to let the tiles’ shininess stay longer. Also, if you use high TDS level water to mop the floor, it may not mix with the liquid soap or detergent you usually add to the water for mopping.
11. Fill the room cooler
You can use the RO wastewater to refill your room cooler by adding a little clean tap water to dilute the wastewater. You inhale the air coming out of the room cooler, and to inhale such hard water with high dissolved solubles is not good.
A reverse osmosis water purifier removes almost 90% of total dissolved solids from the water and makes it potable to drink with a sweet taste. The wasted water contains inorganic salts and organic matter with insoluble quality. So, you can imagine the level of impurity in the water wasted through the RO semi-permeable membrane into the bucket or tank where you store it. Therefore, do not drink or pour the wastewater on skin or hair and keep away from children’s contact. And even for other uses, add clean water of the same amount if you find the TDS level higher than 1500 ppm to 2000 ppm.
You May Also Like To Read:
How to Buy the Right Water Purifier
RO vs UV vs UF Water Purifiers
Which Water Purifier Is Best For Health?
Bottom line
RO wastes at least 3 liters of water during the purification process to give out 1 liter of pure water. Instead of letting the impure water waste off, you can use it in many ways other than drinking.
You can wash your cars, bathe your pets, and water your plants, or you can clean the sewage pipelines of the kitchen and bathroom. You can also fill the room coolers and clean the laundry using RO wastewater. Also, boil eggs as it won’t affect the edible parts of the shelly food, fruits, or vegetables when heated. And the best use of RO wastewater is for all the household chores like mopping and washing utensils.
Remember to dilute the wastewater with tap water if the TDS level is very high. We hope you learned something new through this article. Do share your experience of reading this article in the comment section below.
