Water is inevitable for life on this planet. The ecosystem of this planet would have collapsed without water. Therefore, humans have realized importance of clean water in very beginning years of their lives on earth.
Filtration of water is a much older process than we expect it to be. It is believed that in 500BC a Greek scientist invented the very first water filter in the form of a cloth bag. But as humans have evolved, more efficient techniques of water filtration were developed.
Distillation of water is also one of the oldest water filtration techniques when it comes to filtering water for masses. Distillation is a process in which water is first heated to its boiling point, this produces the steam, this steam is than cooled down to be back in form of water again through condensation. However, RO systems took preceding in water filtration systems, As soon as scientists realized that water also contains some very useful minerals and nutrients for human body, which are deceased when we distill or boil the water. Besides this Distillation is can be energy intensive thus making the process less preferable when it comes to sustainable choices.
Various water filtration techniques:
RO systems use a semipermeable membrane, through which water molecules are passed using pressure and contaminants are removed. A typical RO filtration system has a pre filter, RO membrane, post filters and storage tank. RO systems are the most widely used water filtration systems. But one cannot really prefer any water filtering technique without considering other factors like, geographic location, source of water, water quality, or specific needs of filtration.
Water filtration systems are customized for different water resources and different pollutants. For example, rainwater is preferably distilled through mechanical filters like sediment filter or RO filters. For river waters there is different technique. Water that has chemical contamination giving bad odor or taste is purified through GAC filters.
However, RO systems are one of the most vastly used filtration systems. Be it tap water, sea water, water from well or even rainwater RO systems can be conveniently used to filter water from all these resources. Initially RO systems used to be massive in size and were installed in big units to filter water and provide water in bottles to consumers. Nevertheless, recently RO systems have been invented in sizes that are very convenient and efficient for domestic use.
Latest innovation:
Beside the RO filtration systems, RO water dispensers are one of the latest innovations in domain of water purification. RO water dispensers are just like any other dispensers, which have built in Reverse osmosis filtration system. RO water dispensers are very sleek and aesthetically appealing as they don’t need any vessels. These can be easily installed with any tap or even under the sink.
Until now, RO systems are most preferred filtration technique for getting clean water through well water and even sea water. But as technologies are evolving, newer versions of RO systems would be developed more convenience and efficiency.