What Does Reverse Osmosis Do to Purify Water?

The question: what does reverse osmosis do is not a simple one to answer. Neither, is the question; what is reverse osmosis? But, I'll make an effort to explain.

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Basically, it is a separation process. It can be used for many different purposes. It is the opposite of "osmosis" or diffusion, which is a process that occurs throughout nature and is related to cellular or molecular activity. Reverse osmosis or RO is a man-made process.

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What is reverse osmosis used for?

It can be used to remove salt from seawater and to de-mineralize waters for industrial applications. It is used in the maple syrup industry, at car washes, in the food industry and in kidney dialysis machines. It is used by wastewater treatment facilities and is often included as a step for drinking water treatment.

What does reverse osmosis do to maple syrup?

I thought you might find that interesting. When producers process sap to make syrup, they boil it down to reduce the liquid content and thicken it. The high temperatures need for thickening often resulted in ruined batches due to burning. This of course affected the taste.

In the 1970s, they learned that they could use RO to remove 75-80% of the water from the sap, so less boiling was needed and they were able to increase production. As with other applications, the semi-porous membranes must be closely monitored for bacterial contamination and damage.

What is reverse osmosis used for in other food industries?

Primarily, the process is used to concentrate beverages. For example, frozen concentrated orange juice manufacturers often use RO to reduce the liquid content of the juice. When you get it home, you add the amount of water that was removed by the process.

In the dairy industry, it is used to create concentrated milk and in the production of powdered milk. Although it cannot completely dehydrate a substance, it can typically reduce the liquid content by 70-80% making further steps less time consuming and extensive.

What does reverse osmosis do for car washes and other industries?

By removing the naturally occurring minerals present in surface and groundwater, cars dry without spots and manufacturing equipment is subject to less corrosion.

What is reverse osmosis used for in the home?

Some home purifiers make use of the step, but since the process removes all naturally occurring minerals, but not traces of chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, it is not a preferred system.

What does reverse osmosis do to drinking water?

It removes lead and other metals, which can be done with ion exchange. It removes minerals, which is not a desirable step; unless you have hard water and ion exchange can be used for softening. It removes cysts, which can be done with a micron filter. It's basically an expensive and unnecessary system for home purification.

I doubt if that completely answers the question of; what is reverse osmosis, as the whole thing is difficult to explain. But, for those of you who wondered what does reverse osmosis do, because you were looking for a home purification device, now you know there are better options.

What Does Reverse Osmosis Do to Purify Water?

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