Better drinking water from the kitchen tap in Los Ranchos

Why Los Ranchos households ask about RO

The question tends to arrive in one of two ways. Families on ABCWUA water usually want drinking water that tastes cleaner, with fewer dissolved minerals and no hint of chlorine. Owners of older valley wells often come to us after a lab result, or a real estate inspection, raised a question about nitrate or arsenic and they want a sensible way to address it at the sink.

Reverse osmosis serves both. It pushes water through a very fine membrane that holds back most dissolved solids, and it is the standard point-of-use method for reducing arsenic, nitrate, fluoride and lead. How well it performs depends on which contaminant is involved and on the rest of the water chemistry, which is why we confirm with testing rather than promising a result up front.

Wells near pasture and ditch water

Valley groundwater is shallow in many spots, and a well that shares a lot with horse corrals, irrigated fields or an aging septic system deserves regular lab testing. Private wells aren't regulated the way a utility is, so that testing falls to the owner. We help arrange certified lab work for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic and more. If bacteria shows up, that calls for disinfection, which is outside what we install, and we'll tell you so plainly.

What our free visit measures

At the sink we read TDS, hardness, pH, chlorine, iron and manganese, and sulfur. TDS is the number RO changes most visibly, so we can show you the before-and-after reading right on the faucet once the system is in. Hardness and iron matter too: very hard or iron-bearing water wears out RO membranes faster, and a softener ahead of the RO often protects it.