Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water in Central Florida (2026)

Reverse osmosis is a pressure-driven membrane separation process. Tap water at line pressure (typically 50 to 80 psi in Central Florida municipal supply) is pushed against a semi-permeable membrane with pores around 0.0001 microns. Water molecules pass through; dissolved solids, ions, and organic molecules above that size are rejected to a waste line. NSF/ANSI Standard 58 is the certification that covers RO systems for point-of-use treatment. A certified Standard 58 system reduces TDS by 95 to 99%, including lead, arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, sodium, sulfate, chloramines, and many pesticide and pharmaceutical residues. The EPA's April 2024 PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation set enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA and PFOS at 4 ppt (parts per trillion). NSF International testing has confirmed RO membranes achieve over 90% PFAS reduction. RO is the only point-of-use technology that consistently handles PFAS at NSF/ANSI 58 levels.

OUC and Toho Water Authority both chloraminate the finished water. Chloramine is more stable in the distribution loop than free chlorine, which is a benefit for the utility but a problem for taste and for the home reverse-osmosis stage. Standard granular activated carbon (GAC) is slow at reducing chloramines; catalytic carbon is the right media. A four- or five-stage RO system pairs a sediment pre-filter, two carbon stages (one catalytic, one polishing GAC), the RO membrane, and a final polishing carbon post-filter. The result at the dedicated tap is water with a TDS reading typically between 5 and 25 ppm, compared to municipal-supply TDS of 200 to 500 ppm in much of Central Florida. RO water has neither the chloramine taste of municipal supply nor the mineral grit of well water. For ice, it makes crystal-clear cubes. For coffee and tea, it changes the cup noticeably. For households that have been buying bottled water, it ends the habit.

RO removes calcium and magnesium along with everything else. The World Health Organization noted in a 2005 review (Health Risks from Drinking Demineralised Water) that long-term consumption of fully demineralized water is not ideal because it lacks the trace minerals found in mineral-rich source water. The same review noted that the minerals removed by RO are easily obtained from food, and that re-mineralization is straightforward where it matters. Most modern RO systems can be specified with a re-mineralization post-filter that adds a small amount of calcium and magnesium back at the polishing stage. The output TDS rises slightly (typically to the 30 to 60 ppm range), the taste is rounder, and the nutritional argument goes away. We offer re-mineralization as an option on every RO install; for households that prefer the cleaner taste of pure RO output, we leave it off.

RO has a reputation for wasting water. Older systems sent four to six gallons of reject water to drain per gallon of permeate produced. Modern systems we install run closer to one to one through a permeate-pump design, or as low as half-to-one through a tankless RO with an internal booster pump. Over a year of typical kitchen use (a family of four uses roughly 15 to 25 gallons of permeate per week for drinking, cooking, and ice), the reject volume on a modern system is comparable to one or two extra dishwasher cycles. The reject line ties into the same drain as the dishwasher with a code-compliant air gap. The waste is not zero, and there is no honest argument that it is, but the volume on a modern system is small enough that the bottled-water replacement math comes out heavily in favor of the RO.

Most under-sink RO systems are rated by membrane production at standard test conditions (50 psi, 77 F, 500 ppm TDS feed). A 50 GPD membrane is the most common residential size; a 75 GPD membrane is better for larger households or where the fridge ice maker pulls heavily. Storage tank size matters too: a 3-gallon tank holds enough permeate for routine kitchen use; for households that fill water bottles or run the ice maker hard, a 4-gallon tank is more comfortable. Installation is under the kitchen sink, plumbed into the cold-water line with a saddle valve or angle-stop tee. The reject line ties into the disposal or the drain tailpiece above the trap. A dedicated faucet is drilled into the sink deck (or fitted to an existing air-gap hole if the sink has one). The fridge line is teed off the storage tank with a 1/4-inch line. A typical install runs 90 minutes to two hours.

Sediment and carbon pre-filters change every six to twelve months. The pre-filter schedule is what protects the membrane; running pre-filters past their life lets chlorine or chloramine reach the membrane and damage it. The RO membrane itself typically lasts two to five years on Central Florida feed water, longer when a softener is installed upstream and feeds the RO with already-softened water. A post-filter (polishing GAC) changes every 12 months. The storage tank bladder pressure should be checked annually and re-charged if it has dropped (typical fill pressure is 7 psi when the tank is empty). The dedicated faucet does not need maintenance. Whole annual service typically runs $80 to $150 for filters and labor; membrane replacement runs $80 to $150 every two to five years. Pure Agua offers an annual service plan that schedules the filter changes and includes a TDS reading at every visit.

The most common RO mistake is installing on raw well water without a softener upstream. RO membranes foul fast when the feed water is hard, iron-bearing, or sulfide-bearing. On a well, soften first and remove iron and sulfur first; the RO is the polish, not the workhorse. The second most common mistake is sizing too small a storage tank for the kitchen's actual demand. If the ice maker fills the storage tank faster than the membrane can refill it, the household gets stuck waiting for water. The third is letting pre-filters run past their replacement date. Pre-filters cost $20 to $40; replacement membranes cost $80 to $150 and a fouled membrane can fail in months instead of years. The fourth is buying an "alkaline" or "hydrogen" RO unit at a 3x markup over a standard NSF 58-certified system. The water-quality literature does not support alkaline drinking water claims; a re-mineralization post-filter on a standard RO gives you the taste benefit without the markup.

If you are in Central Florida and you have a bottled-water habit, an RO at the kitchen tap pays for itself inside 12 to 24 months on bottled-water savings alone. We test the feed water, scope the install, and quote in writing. For deeper background, our hard water guide covers the upstream softening question, and our well water guide covers the well-stack sequencing. The PFAS article covers the 2024 EPA rule in detail. We install in Kissimmee, Orlando, and 18 other Central Florida cities.