History of
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis,
also known in some places as hyper filtration was first developed over 40
years ago with the success synthesis of semi-permeable membrane.
The
semi-permeable
membrane can selectively extract water "molecules" from the water while keeping
the contaminants away from the permeate side (i.e. the clean side of the
membrane). Originally the purpose for this kind of system was in seawater
desalination applications as an alternative technology to distillation which is
very energy demanding. With the progress of space race, NASA also
invested heavily into the technology as the solution for providing drinkable
portable water for space flight. Today, aboard the space shuttle, Reverse
Osmosis forms a critical component to recycle waste water including human fluid discharge. In many places and cities (such as New
York and London, etc) also, the local water authorities invested heavily
into this technology for municipal water recycle programs due to
increasingly stressful natural water sources. The technology has proven
itself to be both mature and reliable.
In early 70s, the
first commercial low pressure semi-permeable membrane was developed and is
capable of producing 1 to 5 gallons per day of clean, safe drinking water
for small households which is enough for consumption by most small 4 persons
family. Today, with the technology advancements, the capacity of such low
pressure system can provide up to 100 gallons per day, more than enough to
satisfy all the drinking and cooking needs of a family.
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