Filtering water by the process of reverse osmosis (R.O.) effectively eliminates dangerous contaminants and delivers fresh, pure drinking water. So what is reverse osmosis? This discussion should begin with a definition of osmosis itself.
Osmosis is the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in the direction that tends to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides. Wikipedia
Osmosis is a form of passive transport, meaning it does not require energy to be applied. In the alternative, applying an external pressure to reverse the natural flow of a solution is reverse osmosis.
In contrast to standard filtration where contaminants are trapped within the filter media, reverse osmosis employs cross filtration, where the solution passes through, or crosses a filtering membrane. Utilized in lieu of a conventional filter, this membrane is semi-permeable, meaning only certain substances are allowed to pass through and others are not. Specifically, this membrane is designed with sub-micrometer sized pores small enough to allow only water to pass through, thereby rejecting large molecules, impurities and minerals. When pressure is applied, the untreated water is pressed against the membrane. The water pure enough to pass through the membrane, called permeate water, is collected and the rejected, contaminated solution, called concentrate water, is washed to the drain.
By adding serviceable pre and post filters upstream and downstream of the R.O. unit, your water is further refined for taste and odor improvement.
