Reverse osmosis (RO) is fast becoming the filtration method of choice for a wide range of businesses. It’s capable of pre-treating feed water while improving the life expectancy of your downstream systems. It eliminates sodium and lead at an impressively reduced energy cost and is remarkably easy to maintain. It can be used to pre-treat water before deionisation, making it ideal for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and microchip manufacturing.
Not all industrial RO systems optimise performance equally. Quality and durability varies according to flow rates, membrane choices, and other components. However, the best commercial RO systems have a few qualities in common.
Efficiency
A standard RO system wastes 20 gallons of water to produce just one gallon of feed water. The best permeate recovery must operate at a reliable 70% efficiency in order to provide good value for money.
Low Energy Membranes
Low energy RO membrane elements can run at a reduced psi without a loss of efficiency. This cuts a significant chunk from your operating costs while still maintaining the strict water recovery and throughput requirements of a premium system.
Pre-Treatment Equipment
An RO system’s efficiency is limited by the volume of impurities and organics left behind in the reject. To prevent the system getting clogged up, filtration should remove sodium and other suspended particles during the pre-treatment stage. This way, water softeners aren’t required and return on investment is improved. A quality pre-treatment plant uses carbon filters to remove minerals and chlorine so that they aren’t left to damage the sensitive RO membranes. This also prevents organic contaminants from leaching into your feed water.
Micron Rating
5 micron rated depth filters have smaller openings than standard filters, so they can remove more sediment than inferior alternatives. This rating removes 99.9% of particles of 5 microns and larger. Absolute micron ratings can reject almost all particles of the stated size, so they’re most popular in industries where purity really matters such as food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing and microelectronics. Depth filters pass water through a thick membrane to achieve higher purity.
Find Out More
At Wychwood Water our advanced commercial RO systems fulfil all these requirements, so they’re ideal for use in highly-regulated sectors. Our machines are celebrated as some of the best in the industry, with high reclaim levels and low operating costs. To find out more, pick up the phone to one of our engineers, or download a free copy of our Guide To Industrial Reverse Osmosis Systems.
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