Reverse osmosis

Water desalination
Methods

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distributions. RO can remove dissolved or suspended chemical species as well as biological substances (principally bacteria), and is used in industrial processes and the production of potable water. RO retains the solute on the pressurized side of the membrane and the purified solvent passes to the other side. The relative sizes of the various molecules determines what passes through. "Selective" membranes reject large molecules, while accepting smaller molecules (such as solvent molecules, e.g., water).[1]

RO is most commonly known for its use in drinking water purification from seawater, removing the salt and other effluent materials from the water molecules.[2]

As of 2013 the world's largest RO desalination plant was in Sorek, Israel, outputting 624 thousand cubic metres per day (165 million US gallons per day).[3]

  1. ^ Warsinger, David M.; Tow, Emily W.; Nayar, Kishor G.; Maswadeh, Laith A.; Lienhard V, John H. (2016). "Energy efficiency of batch and semi-batch (CCRO) reverse osmosis desalination". Water Research. 106: 272–282. Bibcode:2016WatRe.106..272W. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.09.029. hdl:1721.1/105441. PMID 27728821.
  2. ^ Panagopoulos, Argyris; Haralambous, Katherine-Joanne; Loizidou, Maria (25 November 2019). "Desalination brine disposal methods and treatment technologies – A review". Science of the Total Environment. 693: 133545. Bibcode:2019ScTEn.69333545P. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.351. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 31374511. S2CID 199387639.
  3. ^ Wang, Brian (19 February 2015). "Next Big Future: Israel scales up Reverse Osmosis Desalination to slash costs with a fourth of the piping". nextbigfuture.com.