Reverse Osmosis: RO Water Purifier Advantages & Disadvantage

Reverse Osmosis or RO is one of the most evolved water purification technologies that is used in most of the best water purifiers in India 2022 . Many countries implement the RO systems to desalinate the seawater to cope up with the water solutions in the primary locations. RO water purifiers include a semipermeable membrane that forces the water to pass through it. The membrane acts as a sort of mosquito net that filters all the larger particles behind.

A French Physicist named Jean Antoine Nollet had first demonstrated the use of semipermeable membranes in 1748. The technique of RO purification was first developed in 1950 with the funding of the US government with the sole purpose of desalinating the ocean water. A RO system removes chlorine and sediment from the water through a pre-filter before entering into the semipermeable chamber to eliminate the dissolved solids. The membrane consists of small capillaries of 0.0001 microns along with other filters to get rid of the harmful microorganisms and toxic chemicals.

 

Here is Our Article On Why RO Water is Better than Boiled water!

 

Method of Operation of a RO Water Purifier

The process of RO sieves out particles greater than 0.1 micrometres in size like bacteria, sediments, fluoride, and lead particles. The system is dependent on the high-pressure pumps and not on the thermal energy to execute the entire procedure. RO water systems can terminate almost 99% of the dissolved molecules, ion, TDS, bacteria, TDS, pyrogens, and bacteria. It does not allow any contaminants that have a molecular weight higher than 200. It implements a multi-stage filtration process where each filter gets rid of various impurities to make the supplied water safe for drinking. Below are the different types of filters which are present in a RO water purifier.

• Sediment filter
• Activated carbon membrane
• RO filter
• UF membrane
• TDS controller
• UV lamp

 

What type of Impurities does a RO Water Purifier Remove?

If you are having water supply from the municipality, then it is already microbiologically safe. RO terminates the bacteria, but it could stimulate its growth on the RO membrane and could thus contaminate your drinking water again. The best filtration system to terminate the viruses and bacteria is a UV filter. The contaminants listed below are some of the most common impurities treated by a RO system.

• Dissolved salts
• Chlorine
• VOCs
• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Fluoride
• Sediment
• Arsenic

 

Is RO water purifiers ideal for the Environment?

Reverse Osmosis water purifiers have made waste treatment effective. The water drained from the machine is free of harmful chemicals by passing through the carbon filter. The leftover water contains only a little high percentage of the inorganics dissolved in the water. They speed up the water recycling process for a better and sustainable environment as no chemical is present in the water drained by the RO devices.

 

Advantages of RO Water Purifier

Now let us quickly take a detailed look into the pros of installing a RO water purifier in your home.

Deliver Outstanding Water Quality:

The machines with RO purification technology can remove 99 to 95 % TDS, chlorine, foul smell, and taste. It stands out from the other purification method as it is one of the most effective methods certified by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to remove all the microorganisms and hazardous chemicals.

 

Also Read “4 Ways to Reduce TDS of Water”

 

Get enhanced odour and taste of the water:

RO purification machines greatly enhance the taste of the water by removing all the impurities present in it. Particularly the presence of Chlorine and Fluoride in the water can have a bad taste and smell. But RO water purifiers turn the water into drinkable form after removing all the contaminants from them.

 

Fully Automated System:

All the RO water filtration devices are completely automated and do not require too much maintenance. Only you have to change the semipermeable membrane and filter cartridges from time to time.

 

Cost-Efficient:

Reverse Osmosis water purifiers might be a little expensive at first. But if you calculate the price per gallon of the water and the future maintenance cost, then it will be one of the most cost-efficient systems you can have.

 

Other Qualities:

The RO water filtration system not only eliminates the microorganisms but also gets rid of their dead bodies from your drinking water. UV purifier kills the microorganisms, but their remainings are not removed from the filter. An RO machine with Mineralizer or TDS controller can retail all the natural minerals and nutrients in the water.

 

Disadvantages of RO Water Purifier

After seeing all the outstanding advantages of the RO water purifier, now it is time to check out its drawbacks also. They are discussed in detail as follows.

 

Clogging:

The small pores of the RO system can become clogged if the system is roughly maintained. Even longer deposition of chlorine might damage the machine. Thus a pre-filter should be present in the purifying system to save the RO filter from clogging.

 

Much More Water is Wasted:

During RO, the system almost used up three times as much water amount as they can treat. Some models of RO water purifier recover only 15 to 25% of the water amount that they treat.

 

Time Consuming Process:

Reverse Osmosis water filtration system implies hydrostatic pressure to push the water through the semipermeable membrane. Thus this whole process is time-consuming. High pressure is absolutely necessary to extract the contaminated water from the machine.

 

Conclusion:

At the end of this write, you can see that the advantages of the RO water purification device outweigh the downsides of the system. Reverse Osmosis is an excellent water filtration process to ensure that your family is always consuming tasty and clean drinking water.