Reverse Osmosis? What is it? What does it do? Do i need one? Questions, questions, questions?
What is a Reverse Osmosis System and how does it work? A reverse osmosis system is a type of water filtration/treatment product. It carries out a purification process by passing water at high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane and separating the treated water from any unwanted impurities and any undesired contaminants (salts, minerals and bacteria). The concentrated water is flushed away down through the waste and the finished product is clean purified water. Nearly all domestic reverse osmosis systems have some form of pre-filtration to protect the membrane and also post-filtration to polish the pure water which is stored within an air pressurised cylinder. The treated water is finally dispensed from a 3 way tap or a small dedicated tap normally located at the corner of the sink. Purified water improves the taste of drinking water and other beverages such as tea or coffee but is also used in a wide variety of applications including pharmaceuticals, food & beverage services and even certain manufacturing industries to name but a few.
What does a Reverse Osmosis System remove?
With a rejection rate of up to 99% here is a small list of common contaminants which are removed in the reverse osmosis process.
Aluminium, Ammonium, Nitrate, Arsenic, Phosphate, Bacteria, Bicarbonate, Calcium, Chloride, Silica, Silver, Copper, Sodium, Sulphate, Fluoride, Zinc, Iron, Lead, Insecticides, Magnesium, Detergents, Herbicides, Mercury, TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), Hardness.
Do Reverse Osmosis Systems require any maintenance?
We would recommend that filter cartridges within the system are replaced at intervals of either 6 or 12 months (depending on system). This ensures the system is still performing correctly and also protects the main component, the membrane. Other procedures worth periodically testing include the TDS (total dissolved solids) level which denotes purity and quality and also the air pressure within the storage cylinder. The Phoenix Water engineers can do this for you.
Which Reverse Osmosis System?
The Kinetico K5 pure is currently one of our favourite reverse osmosis systems to use for domestic applications. It's a neat compact versatile system with the option of adding additional filter cartridges to further tailor the water to the customer requirements. The longer filter cartridge replacement intervals of 12 months also saves time and money.
At AllSalts we specialise in small compact water purification systems and drinking water filter systems designed to be installed underneath the kitchen sink. If you are interested in a reverse osmosis system and live within our work areas of Essex, East London, North Kent and South Herts please feel free to get in touch. Hopefully this article has helped you gain a little understanding into one sector of the water filtration process and whether a reverse osmosis system is the right type of product for you.