RO uses water to clean your water.  (But not much.) 

• Because the membrane pore size is so minute (.0005 Micron) it needs to be cleaned continuously when the system is producing water to keep the surface of the membrane free of contaminants, and to give you the quality of water that only RO can give you.   If we were to force water and impurities against the membrane without flushing it, the impurities left behind would eventually build up on its surface and plug it up.  We can get rid of the impurities that collect on the membrane surface by flushing water across it and discarding a portion of the feed water which carries away impurities.  At the same time pressure is applied to speed up the passage of water molecules through the membrane. AND as soon as your tank is full, the water flow stops, until your tank needs replenishing again. 
• For every gallon of water purified, RO needs about a gallon to clean the membrane. (i.e. 1:1 ratio)
• Unfortunately, a technology does not exist for purifying water without using water.  To keep water usage in perspective, when we eat salad for example, we use water to wash the lettuce. We don't think twice about washing our hands in water or about washing our produce in water. And while it is important to conserve water, it is quite minimal, and really quite efficient and effective to wash our water using water. 

• Just for a little perspective, the list below shows approximately how much water is needed to produce foods that we take for granted: 

1. Lettuce-1 head  3 Gallons   
2. Whole Wheat Bread, 1 slice -  7 Gallons
   
3. One Tomato  8 Gallons  
4. One Orange  14 Gallons 
   
5. 8 oz. Milk  48 Gallons  
6. 1 Egg  63 Gallons
   
7. Bath or Shower  9-12 Gallons  
8. One Load of Laundry  35-50 Gallons
   
9. Toilet Flush  3-7 Gallons
   
10. A 3-Gallon Tank of FRESH Purified Water ? only about 3-5 gallons. 

The Membrane Needs to Be Constantly Cleaned

oThe run off water amounts to very little in relation to other household functions.  Flushing the toilet once uses 1-6 gallons, showers can be 20-100 gallons.  To produce a gallon of purified water, the system uses about 2-3 gallons of water.  We can easily save you as much water as the system is using, with our conservation products for the shower, toilet and faucets!