Reverse osmosis and under-sink drinking water in the northern suburbs

Plenty of families in Joondalup, Yanchep and Two Rocks don’t drink their tap water. They buy bottled water, keep a jug filter in the fridge, or just put up with the taste. If drinking water is the thing that bugs you most, a reverse osmosis or under-sink system at the kitchen tap is worth a look.

Here’s what these systems do, where they fit alongside whole-house filtration, and what to expect from the install.

Why people up here want better drinking water

Two things come up again and again in the northern suburbs.

Chlorine taste. Water Corporation keeps chlorine at around 0.4 to 1.0 mg/L across Perth’s network so the water stays safe on its long trip through the pipes. That’s well within the guidelines, but many people notice the taste from about 0.7 mg/L. It’s that “swimming pool” note in a glass of tap water or a cup of tea.

Hard water. Perth’s water carries a lot of calcium and magnesium, typically 180 to 220 mg/L, and more than 200 mg/L in areas like Neerabup, Two Rocks and Yanchep. It doesn’t make the water unsafe, but you see it in the kettle and taste it in the glass.

Jug filters help a bit, but they’re small, need constant refilling and cost far more per litre than a plumbed-in system.

What a reverse osmosis system is

A reverse osmosis (RO) system is a compact drinking water filter that lives in the cupboard under your kitchen sink. Water is pushed through a set of filters and a very fine membrane, then held in a small storage tank, ready for the kitchen tap.

An under-sink filter is the simpler cousin: a plumbed-in filter for drinking water at one tap, without the RO stage. Which suits you depends on what you want out of your drinking water, and we’ll talk you through it honestly.

Either way, it’s out of sight. You open the cupboard and there it is, tucked beside the pipes. The photos below are from RO systems we’ve fitted, one with an upright tank and one with the tank lying flat to fit the space. We’ve also fitted under-sink filters in outdoor kitchens.

One tap, or the whole house?

This is the honest bit. A reverse osmosis or under-sink system looks after one tap: the water you drink and cook with at the kitchen sink. It doesn’t touch the shower, the bath, the washing machine, the dishwasher or the hot water system. Those are still on chlorinated, hard water.

If you also want filtered water everywhere, a whole-house system treats all the water as it enters the house, at three stages of 1 micron filtration. It’s what we recommend for most Perth homes.

The two work well together. Plenty of families put in a whole-house system for the showers, laundry and appliances, and add RO at the kitchen sink for their drinking water. If you’re weighing up both, ask us to quote them in the same visit.

What the install looks like

A plumber connects the system to the cold water line under your sink and fits it neatly in the cupboard, leaving room for whatever else lives under there. We’ll talk through where the unit and tank will sit and how your filtered water will come out at the sink before we start.

We install these indoors in the kitchen, and outdoors in alfresco and outdoor kitchens too. As licensed plumbers, we make sure everything is connected properly and checked for leaks before we pack up.

Looking after it

Like any filter, an RO or under-sink system needs its filters changed from time to time to keep working well. How often depends on the system and how much water you use, so we’ll tell you what your unit needs when we install it. Our customers get automated reminders when filters are due, so there’s nothing to keep track of.

If your system was fitted by someone else and you’re not sure when it was last serviced, give us a call and we’ll take a look.

Book a free quote

We fit reverse osmosis and under-sink systems across Joondalup, Neerabup, Yanchep, Two Rocks, Moore River and the northern suburbs in between. Read more about reverse osmosis systems, see our work, or get a free quote. Tell us about your kitchen and what you’d like filtered, and we’ll give you honest advice.