Reverse Osmosis Basics

Reverse osmosis (RO) forces water through a semi-permeable membrane that blocks dissolved minerals, chlorine/chloramine, and other contaminants, producing near-pure water. Because pure water alone tastes flat and is corrosive to equipment, commercial systems reintroduce a controlled, small amount of minerals (remineralization) to hit a target hardness and alkalinity for brewing.

Sizing matters: a system built for a single home brewer isn't rated for the volume and duty cycle of a café pulling hundreds of shots a day. Living Water systems are sized by daily volume, number of connected machines (espresso, batch brewers, ice machines), and local source-water hardness.