Understanding Reverse Osmosis

Do you ever wonder how on earth there is pure, great tasting drinking and bottled water available?  Have you looked at some of the world's muck filled rivers, streams, and lakes and wondered how someone could possibly drink that?  Or better yet, how on earth do we get clean drinking water out of that?  Well if you would like to learn how, please read on to learn about reverse osmosis.

Reverse Osmosis is also known as ultra filtration.  Reverse osmosis was originally developed in the late 1950's by the United States Government.  It was originally used as a method of desalting sea water. Now, reverse osmosis is known to be the most convenient and thorough method to filter water for drinking. It is used by almost all water bottling companies and by other industries that require ultra clean water in manufacturing.

Reverse osmosis is the process in which water molecules are forced through a 0.0001 micron semi permeable membrane by means of water pressure.  (Semi permeable membranes are a membrane that will allow some atoms to pass, but not others).  As it does this, it rejects the contaminants that remain.  Reverse osmosis utilizes a technology known as cross flow.  Cross flow allows the membrane to continually clean itself off.  As fluid passes through the membrane, some of it continues downstream.  This causes the rejected and unwanted particles to be pushed away from the membrane.  

Now we will explain how water filtration systems use reverse osmosis.  First, long sheets semi permeable membranes are sandwiched together.  They are then rolled up around a hollow central tube in a spiral fashion.  This referred to as a spiral wound membrane or module.   The membrane must be in some type of container so pressure can be maintained on its surface.   The pressure supplies the energy to force the water through the membrane.  This then separates it from unwanted substances.  Reverse osmosis water filtration systems is that they automatically divert substances left behind to a waste drain so they don't build up in the system.

Reverse osmosis is not available throughout the world.  This is why third world countries have such unsanitary and unsafe drinking water.  But do not let this make you think that all American drinking water is safe.  Not all tap water was filtered through reverse osmosis.  In fact, did you know that most United States well and tap water is not considered safe?  It has been found to contain many man made unsafe compounds, as well as cancer causing agents.

Hopefully you now understand reverse osmosis.  Reverse osmosis is a slow process, but it provides many Americans with safe and reliable drinking water.  After reading this, you should have a greater appreciation for the tricky concept of reverse osmosis!