How Much Does Water From An RO Drinking Water System Cost?

While pouring a glass of water from my reverse osmosis system the other day, my buddy asked me just how much having reverse osmosis water from my own tap really save me. So I looked into it, and here is what I found out.

How much does water from an RO drinking water system cost? The cost of a gallon of water in an average American city is about .006 cents. And since the standard reverse osmosis system rejects about 4 gallons of unfiltered water to make 1 gallon of filtered reverse osmosis water, the average cost of municipal water to make 1 gallon of reverse osmosis water is about $ 0.03 cents.

Now if you also have to pay for sewage, it may add a penny or two to this figure. But when you think about the amount of water that we waste down the drain on other things, it is really insignificant.

For the convenience of low sodium, crisp-tasting water at your fingertips, reverse osmosis sure sounds like a bargain to me.

Now, of course, if you’re on a private well, the cost of making a gallon of reverse osmosis water is practically $0.00. The only cost that you will incur will be the electricity needed to operate your wells pump and the expense of an occasional filter change.

What does having a reverse osmosis system mean to the average household?

Having a plentiful supply of healthier water for the family means that they will more readily keep themselves better hydrated, which means they will handle the heat of summer better and their skin will be less dry in the winter.

Considering the amount of sodium that is added to the foods that we eat on a daily basis, if I can provide my family with a lower sodium source of good-tasting drinking water compared to regular tap water, I’m all for it.

Having quality water at your disposal right from your home also means no trips to the grocery store to get those huge and super heavy cases of bottled water. Who was the genius that decided that bottled water should come in a 48-pack anyway? Those things weigh a ton!

The family will always have water on the fly. Just before they leave the house, they can make a quick stop at the reverse osmosis faucet and fill up their water bottles for the day instead of having to pay a bundle for questionable quality water from the local convenient store.

How much does this boil down to per year?

Well, since a reverse osmosis drinking water system can last a very long time with minimal if any repairs needed, the only real expense to maintain it would be changing the filters once a year or so.

So let’s just figure that the average reverse osmosis drinking water system costs about $250.00. And let’s assume that it will last 10 years with just annual filter changes, and no repairs needed.

Now the average reverse osmosis drinking water system is recommended to have the filters changed once per year. And the average cost for a set of reverse osmosis filters is around $50.00. Some reverse osmosis systems recommend changing the reverse osmosis membrane every 5 years, and that should only run you about $50.00 each time.

The reverse osmosis membrane is the primary filtering part of the whole system so you may need to change it a little more often than 5 years but on average, 5 years should be fine.

So for a family of four using a municipal water supply that costs about $0.03 cents per gallon of reverse osmosis water produced. And you have a reverse osmosis drinking water system that initially costs $250.00. And let’s say that you are changing the filters once per year as you should and changing the reverse osmosis membrane once every 5 years.

If each person in the household uses 1 gallon of reverse osmosis water each day. The average cost to produce reverse osmosis drinking water for a family of four for ten years is approximately $1282.00. Or in other words about $128.20 per year.

How does it compare to buying bottled water?

Before we discuss the price comparison between having reverse osmosis drinking water in the home, I would like to mention that many bottled water that we buy in stores are not exactly what you might think.

Bottled water companies may claim that they are healthy and filtered, but how filtered are they and what kind of water do they use in the first place?

If they started out with water from a creek that was low in sodium and other minerals, to begin with, then great, it’s probably pretty good water to drink.

But if they started with dirty water from a river with lots of sodium and pesticides in it, how good could it possibly be if it has just been filtered?

I have tested many brands of bottled water, and they certainly are not the same.

Try a few yourself, get some really cheap water from a discount store, and a few medium-priced bottled water brands, and then get a few that clearly state that they are made using reverse osmosis.

I think that the proof will be in the taste. The bottled waters that are made using reverse osmosis usually come out ahead by a long shot. But you be the judge.

Here are some examples of the cost of popular bottled water.

Remember that the average cost of reverse osmosis water that you can make at home is about .000468 cents per fluid ounce or .03 cents per gallon.

These prices are from a well-known large chain of stores in the united states as of when this article was written, but I don’t think that they will be much different for many years to come.

Poland Spring Natural Spring Water: $0.025 per fluid ounce or $3.15 per gallon

Deer Park Natural Spring Water: $0.025 per fluid ounce or $3.15 per gallon

Aquafina Purified Water: $0.043 per fluid ounce or $5.52 per gallon

DASANI Purified Water Bottles $0.049 per fluid ounce or $6.31 per gallon

Evian Natural Spring Water: $0.067 per fluid ounce or $8.60 per gallon

FIJI Natural Artesian Water: $0.083 per fluid ounce or $10.65 per gallon

Of course, there were many more brands to choose from but I picked some of the more well-known brands at different price points. As you can see, none of them even come close to the cost of having your own reverse osmosis system making the water for you.

These are just the actual costs to purchase bottled water, this does not include the price of gas used to go get the bottled water or the fact that you have to lug these cases from the store to your home.

So if you take mid-priced bottled water from the ones mentioned and compare the cost of buying bottled water to the cost of making it at home with a reverse osmosis drinking water system, the difference per gallon is about $5.49.

If your household uses only about 2 gallons of reverse osmosis water per day, your weekly cost of bottled water would be about $76.86.

Where if you were to have a reverse osmosis drinking water system making it for you, your weekly cost would be about $ 0.42. That is a savings of $76.44 per week.

And if you multiply that times 52 weeks in a year, you are looking at a yearly savings of about $3,974.88.

What are the long-term costs, if any?

The only long-term costs are the filter changes and changing the reverse osmosis membrane every few years. If you change your reverse osmosis drinking water system filters yourself, it should only be about $50.00 a year and then $100.00 on the years that you change the membrane and the filters at the same time.

Not sure about how often you should be changing your reverse osmosis filters? Check out my article on “How Often YOU Should Change YOUR Reverse Osmosis Filters“.

So is it really worth getting a reverse osmosis system?

In my opinion, most people do not need a reverse osmosis drinking water system. But many people will benefit from having one. They are not that expensive, and they can greatly reduce the amount of sodium that we consume.

Let’s do the math!

If you are a family of 4, each drinking 2 bottles of a very popular, average-priced, name-brand water that costs $19.99 for a case of 24 will go through 240 bottles (10 cases) of water every 30 days.

This means that every month, your family will consume a total of $199.90 worth of bottled water. That’s $2,398.80 per year!

Considering that a highly rated reverse osmosis system usually costs only a few hundred dollars, and you can install your reverse osmosis system yourself, purchasing one for your family is a wise investment.