What Does Reverse Osmosis Really Mean And How Come You See This Mentioned On Bottled Water?

Jun 21
02:22

2013

V K Rajagopalan

V K Rajagopalan

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

If you usually consume bottled water, you'll certainly have come across mention of "reverse osmosis", but what does reverse osmosis mean for the ordinary consumer. Personally I think many people understand it has something to do with filtration, but they don't honestly know how it works.

mediaimage

Exactly what does reverse osmosis mean? We observe this mentioned on numerous different brands of bottled water,What Does Reverse Osmosis Really Mean And How Come You See This Mentioned On Bottled Water? Articles and usually it's quite obvious that it must be some type of filtering process, but how does it really work?

In summary, reverse osmosis is a type of filtering technology that uses special purpose specific membranes. These types of membranes are primarily just filters, nonetheless in the case of reverse osmosis, the fluid which is to be purified is forced through the membranes by applying pressure to the fluid.

This technology is widely used in the bottled water market, and can additionally be used to convert sea water into safe drinking water. The water, no matter whether fresh or from the sea, is forced through the membranes under pressure. The membranes are able to prevent large molecules, such as salt for instance, from passing through. They are also able to trap ions, which in turn means the water that passes through the membranes is for the most part untainted.

Contrary to what many people often believe, reverse osmosis was first identified inside a laboratory in 1748, but for some unknown reason, the concept was limited to laboratory use for around 200 years. It wasn't until 1949 that researchers at the University of California began experimenting to check if the idea could be used for removing salt from ocean water.

By the mid 1950's they had succeeded in converting sea water into safe drinking water, nonetheless it turned out to be an awfully lengthy operation, and under no circumstances a practical option from a commercial perspective. Quite some time later, two researchers had found out how to make asymmetric membranes, and this effectually allowed reverse osmosis to become a commercially plausible option for the desalination of ocean water.

A lot of residential water purification systems involve a reverse osmosis system. In most cases, tap water will go through a filter that traps any kind of sediment that might be found in the water. After passing through the sediment filtering, it will be forced through an activated carbon filter so as to deal with chlorine and any organic chemicals from the water. The filtered water then undergoes reverse osmosis.

In many systems, the water may also pass through one more activated carbon filter so as to catch chemicals which may have made it through the reverse osmosis stage. More advanced units can also often incorporate an ultraviolet light that is used to sterilize the water by destroying any unwanted microbes.

So, what does reverse osmosis imply, and can an individual actually rely on this sort of treatment with regards to having healthy drinking water? In short, yes we can rely on it, but as with many things in life, you will have to focus on quality. Cheap systems will use cheap purification screens, and these are generally not able to get rid of all kinds of contaminants.