Article Courtesy : The Water Treatments
Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment process involves water being forced under pressure (osmotic pressure) through a semipermeable RO water treatments membrane. In this reverse osmosis water treatment process temporary and permanent hardness, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), microorganisms and other bio germs in water are captured while the water is passed with high pressure through the reverse osmosis water treatment membrane.
Flow diagram of a Reverse Osmosis system
The reverse osmosis water treatment process is generally used for desalination of sea water treatment and brackish water treatment for its conversion into potable water. On the whole, reverse osmosis process usage in industrial water treatment and domestic water treatment is huge.
In Reverse Osmosis water treatments, feed water is pumped at high pressure through permeable membranes, separating salts from the water. It is called Desalination of Reverse Osmosis (RO). The feed water is pretreated to remove particles that would clog the membranes.
The quality of the water produced depends on the pressure, the concentration of salts in the feed water, and the salt permeation constant of the membranes. Product water (permeate) quality can be improved by adding a second pass of membranes, whereby product water from the first pass is fed to the second pass.