Last Updated on March 1, 2024
Water is an essential element of life on the planet earth. However, the quality of drinking water isn’t the same everywhere. The concerns are on the higher side, especially in the areas where water is of low quality and impure.
That is not only the problem of under-developed countries but most well-recognized countries are also fighting this issue. According to the Scientific Research surveys conducted in the US, millions of people have suffered from gastrointestinal diseases each year caused just because of bad water.
However, despite the odds, it doesn’t mean that there is no solution to this grave challenge. The best solution for the bad water is the Reverse Osmosis system.
What’s Reverse Osmosis?
Reverse Osmosis is the process of purifying water by circulating the solvent through a semipermeable membrane with the use of pressure. This semipermeable membrane works as the agent of separating some ions and molecules that are not important in water. The reverse osmosis process kicks out the unnecessary salts and minerals through the use of heavy pressure that is stronger than the normal osmosis, resulting in producing a healthy, crystal clear water.
Reverse Osmosis percentage of favorable outcomes is around 95%, making it the best water purification process right now. That is because of the semipermeable membrane and the pressure that separates 99% of unnecessary molecules and salts from sample water.
Meanwhile, if it is to talk about the industrial installation, reverse osmosis is the best tool to purify the water. Reverse Osmosis applies best to the ground, salty river water along with a little natural flow, which is used under different pharmaceutical, beverages and food industries. Industrial Reverse Osmosis requires somethings to get started, and these are as follows.
Getting Started
The first thing on getting started with the industrial reverse osmosis is to identify the quality attributes of your water. This process involves studying the water to identify the impurities as well as the essential elements that are necessary for retaining the quality of your water. Because the next step would require you to choose the type of semipermeable membranes so that it does not separate the essential elements along with the impurities and ions.
Identifying the Right Temperature
The quality of the purified water is also dependent on the temperature of the water allowed to the system. It is an important step during the installation of an industrial reverse osmosis system. Most municipalities provide the water with a common temperature of around 25°C.
With the right temperature, the right pressure is also important. With the 25°C solvent, 60 psi pressure is the standard pressure value recommended by the system. Meanwhile, most systems use 40 psi pressure value dependent on the temperature.
Because of the lower temperature, more pressure will be required to pass the water through semipermeable membranes.
Installation of Components
The next step involves the joining of the components according to the user manual provided with the system. These components must include:
- Power Switch
- Pre-filters
- Solenoid Valve for inlet
- Solenoid Valve for flush
- Pressure Management valve
- Electronic Management Panel
- Inlet Pressure Gauge
- Waste Pressure Gauge
- Recycle Line Flow Meter
- Product Water Flow Meter
- Membrane Housing
- Required Semipermeable Membranes
- Starter Box
- Low-Pressure Switch
- Power Cord
- Water Tank
- Tube Connectors
Installation
The installation of components is purely dependent on the type of water you want to purify. Here only the standard installation components are discussed in detail that helps to kick off your industrial reverse osmosis.
Location of System
It is highly advised to choose a perfect location to install the system. The most advised location is the shady place that protects the system from severe sun radiations, wind, and rain.
The purpose to choose an ideal location is to increase the life of the system, which is extremely important. Determining the right place for your system helps to ensure the long-running of the system.
Plumbing
The next step is to install the pumps with inlets to provide a proper water stream into the membranes. Along with these, the recommended pressure for the membranes is between 20 psi to 40 psi. Although this pressure limit is dependent on your model of the system.
Choosing Right Membranes
The semipermeable membranes work under the principle of streaming ions and molecules through a thin polymeric membrane through diffusion. It is important to choose the right membrane during the installation of your industrial reverse osmosis.
The first factor to consider before choosing the membrane is to identify chlorine in the water. Most water sources are chlorinated by the industries. Meanwhile, the membranes that are used in the reverse osmosis are polyamide that works to limit the passage of chlorine in water, but also deteriorate with time.
To overcome this problem, the market has cellulose acetate membranes that limits the chlorine molecules. But that is not a good practice either. The chlorine from water can be removed before the osmosis process by using specific chemicals.
The most common one is by using carbon filtration that separates the chlorine from the water making the easy passage for membranes.
Water Stream Pipes
The next step is to install water stream pipes for the inlet to membranes. The one thing that is advised to consider is to use copper or plastic pipes rather than iron or steel.
The reason for that is the water stream makes a compound with ions of iron, which affects the membranes during extreme pressure. Small damage in the membranes adversely affects the performance of the system.
Product Water Line
The purified water stream comes through this product water line that is connected to the backside of the system. The product water line is directly connected to the storage tank and doesn’t need any valve.
The need for the valve is purely your choice if you want to monitor the pressure. The valve must be connected with a pressure relief valve with the value set to 5 psi.
Waste Line
The waste or concentrated line is also connected to the backside of the system. This line should have the direct passage of waste to the open. It is possible by making a space between the waste line and the drain system.
This process gives an extra passage for waste to be expelled freely. If not done properly, it will cause the waste to push pressure backward thus damaging the sensitive units inside the system.
Electric Supply
Last but not least is the electric supply component that will be running the system. The electric supply unit comes with respective to your system’s model and it is highly advised not to use any other component that doesn’t match the model number of your system.
The Final Word
The availability of pure water is becoming one of the major challenges to governments across the world. The time is now to make a concerted effort to ensure the provision of pure and clean water to the masses. The industrial reverse osmosis system can go a long way in helping the global governments in dealing with the problem.