Which of these two water is better for cosmetic use? Unfiltered or reverse osmosis waste water

AbdullahAbdullah Member
edited April 9 in Advanced Questions
The water we use in our products come from 100m water well. We filter the water with reverse osmosis filter that are for home use. This system has three more filters before reverse osmosis. Because of these filters i think waste water from reverse osmosis may be cleaner and better suited for cosmetic use compared to unfiltered water.
Recently as our sales has increased we sometimes face shortage of filtered water. 

So in such times if i have to use one of these two waters, which one is better to use in cosmetic products?

Unfiltered water that has come from 100m water well not more than 24 hours ago
Or
Waste water from reverse osmosis filter? 
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Comments

  • PhilGeisPhilGeis Member, Professional formulator
    Waste water from RO will have concentrated ions and and particulates that passed  filters from the entire volume of water treated. 
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    PhilGeis said:
    Waste water from RO will have concentrated ions and and particulates that passed  filters from the entire volume of water treated. 
    Thanks

    What about impurities other than metal ions like bacteria and other undesirable things compared to unfiltered water?
  • PhilGeisPhilGeis Member, Professional formulator
    edited April 9
    "3 more filters" - don't know their construction or exclusion but figure they'd remove bacteria - water would still not be sterile.  How are they maintained?  If left wet - bacteria will populate.
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    PhilGeis said:
    "3 more filters" - don't know their construction or exclusion but figure they'd remove bacteria - water would still not be sterile.  How are they maintained?  If left wet - bacteria will populate.
    Other three filters are sediment and carbon block filter.

    They are filtering nonstop. 
  • RafacastiRafacasti Member
    Could you explain what exactly you mean by "waste water" from reverse osmosis? I don't know if I understood.

    Anyway. I think the well should not be an option, as this type of water can naturally contain heavy metals and pollutants, among other things. I've read many case studies about tap water from homes (from well sources) making people sick and turning pipes green. Of course, the exposure time in this case is so much longer than the application of cosmetics, but it can make your formulas more unstable even with the use of chelating agents.

    Does your company's tap water come from the same source (the well)? As tap water is treated to be usable on a daily basis (but not exactly consumable), I think it would be a better option (although perhaps not as suitable).
  • PhilGeisPhilGeis Member, Professional formulator
    edited April 11
    Reverse osmosis uses pressure to push water through a membrane - leaving ions, impurities and fine particulates on the "waste water" side.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis

    Well water is ok but requires appropriate treatment as does tap water, and treated water form both requires some degree of microbiological control.   
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    Rafacasti said:
    Could you explain what exactly you mean by "waste water" from reverse osmosis? I don't know if I understood.

    Anyway. I think the well should not be an option, as this type of water can naturally contain heavy metals and pollutants, among other things. I've read many case studies about tap water from homes (from well sources) making people sick and turning pipes green. Of course, the exposure time in this case is so much longer than the application of cosmetics, but it can make your formulas more unstable even with the use of chelating agents.

    Does your company's tap water come from the same source (the well)? As tap water is treated to be usable on a daily basis (but not exactly consumable), I think it would be a better option (although perhaps not as suitable).
    Have use used reverse osmosis filter?
    When It filters the water it wastes a lot of water. I don't know how to explain that 😁.

    TDS of our well water is around 700ppm. 
    Filtered water is around 50-55ppm.
    And that of waste water from RO is around 1200ppm.
  • amitvedakaramitvedakar Member
    Ro plant give you 30% output. So other 70% have higher than normal levels of contaminants. It also depends on your source water & your RO system what your waste water contains. may also have bacterial load. because membrane filter also remove some bacteria.  
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    amitvedakar said:
    Ro plant give you 30% output. So other 70% have higher than normal levels of contaminants. It also depends on your source water & your RO system what your waste water contains. may also have bacterial load. because membrane filter also remove some bacteria.  
    Thanks
  • mikethairmikethair Member
    We have a RO unit. But we test regularly in our lab to maintain quality.
    Dr. Mike Thair
    Cofounder & Chief Formulator
    Indochine Natural
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    mikethair said:
    We have a RO unit. But we test regularly in our lab to maintain quality.
    mikethair said:
    We have a RO unit. But we test regularly in our lab to maintain quality.
    Sorry, you test what? Filtered water or something else?
    I couldn't get it 🙂
  • PhilGeisPhilGeis Member, Professional formulator
    You need to qualify your systems.  Water is the one ingredient whose quality is  known only after the product is made.
  • AbdullahAbdullah Member
    PhilGeis said:
    You need to qualify your systems.  Water is the one ingredient whose quality is  known only after the product is made.
    Got it
    Thanks
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