Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology where larger particles is removed from drinking water through the semipermeable membrane with opposite-facing pressure overcoming osmotic pressure. As a result, the larger particles is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane, but the smaller particles is allowed to pass to the other side of the membrane. Reverse osmosis can remove many types of molecules and ions from solutions, including bacteria.
Initially the reverse osmosis technology was used by sailors to get drinking water from seawater as well as for industrial needs, since the method was very expensive. Nowadays, thanks to modern technology, clean water is available to anyone.
Operating principle
RO-5 includes five purification levels:
1. level: polypropylene filter cleans water from mechanical impurities larger than 5 microns.
2. level: activated charcoal filter cleans water from chlorine, pesticides and various organic compounds.
3. level: polypropylene filter cleans water from mechanical impurities larger than1 micron.
4. level: membrane is a molecular sieve constructed in the form of a film from two or more layered materials, each eye of which is the size of water molecule, thereby allowing through it only clean water, as well as lesser size oxygen and hydrogen molecules (salts, viruses, bacteria have big molecules, therefore they can not pass the membrane and goes down the drain).
5. level: post-filter (active carbon in granular form) additionally purifies the water before its' taking for use (post-filter especially important in cases when the system is not used for longer time).
Purified water storage tank
Clean and tasty water extraction process is quite slow, so purified water accumulates in a special tank for purified water reserve.