Drinking Water Filters Based on Reverse Osmosis

If you are concerned about the quality of water your drink it’s worth learning more about the technologies used in drinking water purification. It will help you to choose the right drinking water filter.

One of the most popular water purification systems is a reverse osmosis water filter. During the water purification process based on reverse osmosis water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane. The size of holes in the membrane is usually about 1 Angstrohm. Membrane is designed in the way that only molecules of size less than 1 Angstrohm (0.0001 microns) can pass through it.

Water molecules are small enough to go through holes of the membrane. Most of other substances have molecules of a larger size and they are trapped at the membrane. The dirty water stays at one part of the membrane while the purified water is collected in a special water filter container. The ratio of dirty water to purified water is about 3 to 1.

Two main types or reverse osmosis water filter exists. One is with Thin Film Composite and the other one is with Chlorine Tolerant Acetate. The first one has a longer life expectancy. But only the second one can trap chlorine molecules. If the Thin Film Composite is chosen it’s usually combined with carbon water filters that remove chlorine.

Reverse osmosis water purification can take several stages. The best effect can be reached with the combination of reverse osmosis water filter, carbon water filter and mechanical water filter. Mechanical water filters successfully remove rusts and sediments that can spoil the membrane of the reverse osmosis water filter. Then the reverse osmosis water filter begins to act. After that carbon water filters eliminates the harmful substances that managed to pass through the membrane.
But it needs to be noticed that Reverse Osmosis Water Filters use a lot of water. About 70% of water goes away with the contaminants and only 30% of original water becomes purified.

Mechanical water filter is efficient when you need to remove dirt, sand, sediments, rusts. If these big particles are filtered by the reverse osmosis water filter the membrane goes out of order in a very short period.
Carbon water filter helps to reduce chlorine, prevent changes in odor and taste.

To use water more efficiently Reverse Osmosis water purification systems are often equipped with shut-off valve that acts automatically. When the pure water container is full the valve senses it and stops the process of filtration. Thus water is not wasted in vain.