Water Purification Solutions: Reverse Osmosis
Water purification is a challenging industry. There are many technologies available to purify a given feed water source and among these technologies, and one of the most versatile, is Reverse Osmosis.
What is Reverse Osmosis?
Osmosis is the movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane. The water travels from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. In nature, osmosis allows living systems to diffuse solutes such as nutrients and chemicals to areas where they’re lacking.
As the name suggests, Reverse Osmosis (RO) reverses this process by applying external pressure on the side of the higher concentration, removing common contaminants and harmful solutes from water supplies. RO is one of the efficient, practical, sustainable and economical ways to purify water. It’s a mainstay in many industries and is vital in the water purification pretreatment and production process.
Reverse Osmosis Theory
In Reverse Osmosis, hydraulic pressure forces water through a pressurized chamber containing a semi-permeable membrane. This RO membrane is capable of filtering out contaminants as small as 0.0001 microns in diameter. Hazardous microbes and pollutants are flushed out of the RO system in a wastewater stream called the RO concentrate.
Why Reverse Osmosis?
The first and most compelling advantage of Reverse Osmosis is its ability to remove a large number of contaminants and appreciably improve water quality. The Reverse Osmosis process, with the appropriate pretreatment, provides a reliable clean water source regardless of the quality and conditions of your water source or the specific contaminants present.
Reverse Osmosis is a cost-effective means of purifying water. The RO process is sustainable due to its energy efficiency, and because it operates based on pressure gradients. Additionally, its reject water yields are low.
Real World Uses of Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis systems are utilized around the world in multiple industries. You’ll find RO systems aboard navy fighter ships desalinating seawater to provide fresh water for our Armed Forces. In pharmaceutical drug manufacturing, Reverse Osmosis systems are used to purify raw water sources for pretreatment purposes as well as produce USP/EP/JP Purified Water (PW).
Bottled water companies, breweries and food manufacturing companies utilize RO systems to produce some of the world’s beer, bottled water, sodas and sports drinks. Industrial complexes, power generation plants and mining facilities utilize potable water through reverse osmosis for facility operations. Potable water is used in the offshore oil and gas industry on platforms for turbine injections and to desalinate seawater for freshwater use for cooking, drinking and bathing.
50+ Year History of Reverse Osmosis Systems at MECO
MECO has a long history of designing and manufacturing Reverse Osmosis systems. Our first commercial Reverse Osmosis plant was built in 1965, and MECO began production of Reverse Osmosis systems for seawater desalination 10 years later in 1975. With over 90 years of experience in water purification solutions, and over 40 years of experience in crafting, manufacturing, and servicing RO systems, you can rely on MECO for your water purification needs.
Rely on MECO for Reverse Osmosis Systems
MECO is a world leader in the manufacturing and design of engineered products for water purification serving multiple industries. A broad product line of technology and extensive experience enables us to put forward valuable and sustainable solutions for our clients.
MECO Reverse Osmosis units incorporate all of the components and instrumentation required for operation, as well as the versatility to adapt to specific customer requirements. Technical parameters such as cross flow rates and RO membrane flux are among the most conservative in the industry. Our RO systems are available individually or as part of a total water treatment solution. The superior design of MECO’s RO units offer maximum flexibility and lowers maintenance costs, and the modular design of the units allows multiple stacks to be configured to provide a variety of outputs.
Contact MECO today for questions about innovative and efficient water purification solutions.