RO Water Systems: How They Work and What They Offer

RO Water Systems

Some of the Everpure water filter systems here at efilters are RO water systems. This stands for “reverse osmosis” water filter system; but what is it, and why does it matter?

And, more importantly, how are RO water systems fundamentally different from mechanical filtration systems? Do these differences warrant the steep costs associated with reverse osmosis filtration?

Let’s take a closer look in this short guide.

What Is Osmosis?

To understand reverse osmosis, we just first understand osmosis. Osmosis is a natural, critical process, in which solutions of varying concentrations tend to come to an equilibrium when separated by a selectively permeable membrane.

Specifically, osmosis refers to the process by which two aqueous saline solutions, separated by a semipermeable membrane, allow migration of the salt ions from the solution or higher concentration to the one of lower concentration.

In layman’s terms, if you separate two samples of water with a certain membrane, and the concentration of salt is higher in one than the other, the salt concentration in the less saline solution will rise whereas the other will fall.

This has remarkable implications for water filtration systems that use the opposite of this process - reverse osmosis, or RO.

Putting It in Reverse

Putting It in Reverse

Reverse osmosis is the exact opposite of this process; applying force (pressure) to a solution of water, against a semipermeable membrane. This forces the water molecules through, while leaving everything else (the contaminants) behind.

In RO water systems, the primary contaminants may be salt (such as in RO water systems that are used to treat seawater to remove salinity so as to render it fresh for human consumption) but they may take the form of many other contaminants and pathogens as well.

Because reverse osmosis is the opposite of the natural process, supplementary pressure must be applied to the input water stream in order to force it across the membrane. How much pressure must be applied depends on the permeability of the membrane and the concentration of contaminants in the input water stream.

In an RO water system, there are two types of water “generated,” being the permeate (clean water) and concentrate (rejected water with a high concentration of contaminants).

Most RO water systems are graded based on their permeate flow ratings in gallons per minute, or GPM. A higher GPM rating indicates that the system in question is able to produce a larger volume of clean water more quickly.

What RO Water Systems Remove

While this illustration shows that reverse osmosis water filtration systems can remove salt from concentration in water, the process is also effective at removing a far wider range of dissolved contaminants from a water stream.

RO water systems are typically effective at removing ions (such as salts), as well as dissolved metals, including colloids and particles. Many RO systems can remove toxic heavy metals like lead, barium, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and copper from a water supply. RO systems can also typically remove other dissolved contaminants, like fluoride, selenium, and even radium from the water.

Moreover, reverse osmosis systems are effective, just like mechanical filtration, at removing other larger contaminants from the water supply. This includes biological contaminants, such as parasitic cysts, bacteria, and much smaller virions from the water. In fact, RO is so effective at removing contaminants of low molecular weight, that many systems can remove cytokines and pyrogens from the water supply, too.

This makes RO water systems, such as the ROMIV, EZ-RO, and Conserv RO Everpure water filter systems some of the highest performing in our entire catalog. They are preferable in locations in which there is concern about concentration of dissolved contaminants that mechanical filtration alone would not be effective at removing.

In addition to what has already been mentioned here, our RO water treatment systems are also effective at removing other dissolved solids, turbidity, and even chlorine taste and odor from drinking water supplies.

These systems are compact, efficient, and boast high water recovery rates. Moreover, they are designed to make it easy to replace the sanitary cartridges.

Putting It in Reverse

Learn More Here

Because of their ability to outperform some mechanical filtration systems (and due to the fact that some of our RO systems contain pre and post-filtration capabilities) reverse osmosis is often preferred.

We carry a wide range of RO Everpure water filter systems here, along with replacement cartridge kits, so you can keep your system filtering like new for many years to come. In our catalog there are Everpure water filter systems suitable for both residential and commercial installation.

Whether you’re looking to improve the quality of filtered water for your business or just for your home, we are here to help. Take a look through our collection of RO water systems and get in touch with us at info@efilters.net. Cleaner, purer, better-tasting water is within reach!