Reverse Osmosis, combined with carbon block filtration, is the most popular,
high quality water treatment.
How Reverse Osmosis Works
RO produces the purest and freshest water available because it cleans water molecule by molecule. Reverse Osmosis actually purifies your drinking water, whereas filters strain or filter water. The RO membrane has 2 functions.
First, Reverse Osmosis creates a molecular charge that causes contaminants to be repelled away from the membrane surface, while pure water molecules and oxygen are actually drawn through the membrane. Even those contaminants that are smaller than the H2O molecules themselves are diverted and washed away down the drain. As a result of this process, dissolved solids (contaminants that are in liquid form and can not be “strained” out), minerals and metals (which have a very miniscule molecular size), are reduced, usually by about 95-99%. Because the membrane allows only H2O and oxygen to pass through, RO oxygenates the water, which gives it a fresh vital taste.
Second, reverse osmosis provides a function known as ultra filtration, or mechanical filtration, wherein contaminants (particulate matter, microorganisms and organic molecules) down to a size of .0005 microns (that’s smaller than can be seen with the best optical microscopes) are strained or sieved out of the water. Only very small organic and gas molecules pass through the pores.
The RO ultrafilter strains out virtually all particulate matter, turbidity, bacteria, microorganisms, asbestos-even single molecules of the heavier organics. To appreciate the fineness of this super high tech filter, its pores are on the order of .0005 microns or .0000002 (two ten-millionths) of an inch! That’s smaller than can be seen by the best optical microscopes.
When RO is combined with carbon filtration, the entire spectrum of contaminants (minerals, metals as well as the very small organics and gas molecules that would otherwise by missed by RO) is eliminated.
What Does RO Remove?
Reverse Osmosis membrane is able to remove and reject a wide spectrum of impurities from water and do it with very minimal energy usage. In fact, it just requires water pressure. Except for distillation, RO is the only known process which can effectively remove the following types of impurities:
• Particulate matter, turbidity, sediment
• Colloidal Matter
• Total Dissolved Solids
• Toxic Metals
• Radioactive elements
• Microorganisms
• Fluoride/fluorine
• Asbestos
• Pesticides and Herbicides
• Heavier organic molecules (MW>300)
Reverse Osmosis systems are available from USPW in a variety of configurations. See the Catalog and Solutions sections of the website for more information.
