Frequently Asked Questions
Many of our readers send us their questions via email or use our contact form or live chat app on our website. Some of these questions get asked over and over again, which is why we decided to dedicate one blog post at a time to answer each and every one of them (at least the ones that we think make sense). Naturally, we are going to address the most frequently asked questions first. And today we are going to answer: ‘How does a reverse osmosis system work?’
Let’s get Scientific (not)
‘Reverse Osmosis’ (short: R.O. or simply RO) is a technology that utilizes the natural movement of molecules in a liquid (or gas) called ‘osmosis’ to remove dissolved substances from water that could cause damage to human organs and therefore make it drinkable.
Although ro isn’t the most complicated process, we know that many people are allergic to anything that has to do with chemistry and biology, so we are going to try to describe and explain the process in the easiest way possible. Our goal with this blog post is NOT to create another wall of text that can only be understood by scientists.
Let’s imagine we have two solutions of water with the same volume. Both solutions contain a specific amount of dissolved table salt. Solution 1 contains twice as much salt as solution 2. Both solutions are separated by a special membrane. What makes this membrane special is the fact that only water molecules, but no salt molecules can pass through it to the other side.
If we would let these solutions sit for a couple of hours, water molecules would pass through the membrane from solution 2 to solution 1. Or in other words, water molecules would move from the solution with lower salt concentration to the solution with higher salt concentration. This naturally occurring phenomenon is what scientists call osmosis.
A ro water purification system reverses the osmotic movement of molecules (in our case water molecules) by applying pressure. And due to the fact that at the heart of every ro system also lies a special membrane, water molecules pass through it from the solution with the higher concentration of dissolved solids (dirty, unfiltered water) to the solution with the lower concentration of dissolved solids (purified, filtered water). So in a sense the water is leaving the dirt behind.
Reverse Osmosis Applications
Due to the fact that reverse osmosis works so well and needs only a small amount of energy (the pressure in the plumbing system of your home is already enough), it gets applied in various industries apart from residential water filtration, such as:
- Dairy Industry: RO is used for the production of skim milk.
- Wine Industry: The technology is applied for alcohol reduction and must concentration.
- Bottled Water Industry: Bottled water companies utilize reverse osmosis technology to clean feed water an make it drinkable.