Do you know the core component of the water purifier - RO membrane?

When buying a water purifier, I believe everyone has heard of "RO membrane filter" or "reverse osmosis membrane filter", but some friends don't quite understand what it means.
We also call the pure water machine reverse osmosis RO water purifier. From this name, we know the significance of RO membrane to the pure water machine. Its existence makes the pure water machine worthy of its name and can filter out pure water for direct drinking.

So do you know what RO membrane is? Next, Susan will take you to explore it together.

I. How did RO membrane come from? ----Source

The source of RO membrane has a lot to do with seagulls.
In 1950, American scientist DR.S.Sourirajan accidentally discovered that seagulls sip a large mouthful of seawater from the sea surface when flying over the sea, and after a few seconds, they spit out a small mouthful of seawater, which raised questions.

As an animal that breathes with lungs on land, seagulls are absolutely unable to drink high-salinity seawater, so why do they drink seawater?
After the dissection, a thin film was found in the seagull's body. The film is very delicate. The seawater is inhaled into the seagull and then pressurized. The water molecules are then permeated through the film and converted into fresh water by the pressure. The seawater containing impurities and highly concentrated salt is spit out of the mouth. This layer of mucous membrane tissue in the seagull's throat is the prototype of the reverse osmosis membrane.
The small mouthful of seawater spit out by the seagull is actually the "wastewater" produced after the pure water machine works.

II. What is RO membrane?

RO is the abbreviation of Reverse Osmosis in English. The Chinese meaning is reverse osmosis, which can also be called reverse osmosis. So "RO membrane" means reverse osmosis membrane, sometimes also called "RO reverse osmosis membrane".
RO is a membrane separation technology that relies on pressure difference to apply pressure on one side of the high-concentration solution to make it flow to the side of the low-concentration solution, and separate the solution and the solute.

When applied to the field of water purification, it is to further refine the water that has been initially filtered to remove impurities such as heavy metals in the water.
The advantage of doing so is that it can fully ensure the purity and safety of the water. RO membrane filtration is actually a membrane separation and filtration technology that uses osmotic pressure difference as a driving force.
In addition, since the pore size of the RO membrane is 0.0001 microns, which is one millionth of a hair, the filtration effect of the RO membrane is very good, and it can filter out impurities, colloids, heavy metal ions, organic matter, bacteria and viruses in the water.


III. What are the differences between RO reverse osmosis membrane and ultrafiltration membrane?

1. The two membranes have different uses for water supply

RO reverse osmosis membrane is mainly used for household drinking water. With the continuous improvement of reverse osmosis technology, reverse osmosis water supply can meet the water volume of the entire kitchen.
The ultrafiltration membrane water supply is only suitable for household and washing use.

2. The standards of the two membranes are different

RO reverse osmosis membrane standards are higher.
The qualified standard for ultrafiltration membrane is 100 colonies per milliliter of water, while the qualified standard for RO reverse osmosis membrane is 20 colonies per milliliter of water.
It can be said that the RO reverse osmosis membrane standard is four times higher than that of ultrafiltration membrane.

3. The pore sizes of the two membranes are quite different

The pore size of RO reverse osmosis membrane is only 1/100 of that of ultrafiltration membrane, so reverse osmosis membrane can remove extremely small organic molecular pollution in water, such as chemical organic matter, organic pesticide pollution, etc.
Ultrafiltration membrane cannot.
RO reverse osmosis membrane also has the function of softening water quality, turning hard water into soft water.

IV. Application of RO membrane

The application of RO membrane is currently very extensive. From the initial use in the aerospace field to solve the water problem of astronauts, to the gradual conversion to civilian use, it has played its role in domestic and foreign medicine, military, food, scientific research, seawater desalination and other fields.

As RO membrane technology becomes more mature, it has begun to be used in the water purifier industry. Nowadays, RO reverse osmosis water purifiers that can provide direct drinking water have become standard for many families. It has changed the traditional way of drinking water in the past, not only ensuring the health of residents' drinking water, but also greatly improving people's quality of life.

V. Maintenance of RO membrane

Generally speaking, the RO membrane filter element will be in the fourth or fifth layer of filtration of the pure water machine, and its service life is also longer than other filter elements.
A pure water machine is basically composed of filter elements such as PP cotton, activated carbon, and RO membrane. The filtration of large particle impurities by the first few filter elements greatly reduces the filtration pressure of the RO membrane and prolongs the service life of RO.

However, users should also develop the habit of replacing the filter element in time, because after the water purifier has been used for a long time, impurities may enter the RO membrane, block the pores of the RO membrane, shorten its life, or even stop producing water.
It should be noted that although the RO membrane filter element has strong purification ability, it needs to be replaced and maintained during daily use. Under normal circumstances, the service life of the RO membrane is 24 months.
Despite its long life, daily maintenance must not be forgotten.
The RO membrane has a small filtration aperture, and impurities are more likely to adhere to the filter element, so it is necessary to rinse the filter element regularly.

Therefore, timely replacement of filter elements at all levels of the pure water machine can not only ensure the health of water quality, but also prolong the service life of the RO membrane, saving the cost of replacing the core overall.

Susan hopes the above content can provide more valuable reference information for you to know more about the RO . If you want to know other related knowledge about water purifier, you can contact me, we are happy to answer you.