Reverse osmosis membranes act as very effective filters. Therefore any suspended solids, colloids or heavy metals entrained within the water run the risk of fouling the membrane surface. An effective pre-treatment system to remove these impurities before the water gets to the membranes is essential. The pre-treatment system will be designed to take into account the feed water and water quality needs.This level of filtration removes course particles in the 20-25 micron range. It is suitable for a variety of intake waters. These filters use multi-layers of different media including various coarseness of sands, pumice, anthrice or garnet as filters.Microfiltration is designed to remove particles in the 0.1 - 1 micron range. The microfiltration process removes contaminants through a micro porous membrane. These membranes affectively remove pathogens and large bacteria.Ultra filtration is another membrane filtration process not fundamentally different from microfiltration except in terms of the size of molecules it retains. The pores of ultra filtration membranes can remove particles of 0.001 - 0.01microns from fluids. This removes most viruses, bacteria, colloids and silts (SDI) from the intake water.

Desalination is the removal of dissolved salts from a solution. This can be achieved in a number of ways, with the most common forms falling into three main categories - membrane, chemical or thermal processes.Reverse Osmosis (RO)is a process that uses a pump and a semi-permeable membrane to cause the separation of dissolved salts from a liquid. The pump provides the driving force to the membrane that is greater than the osmotic pressure of the liquid. The semi-permeable membrane allows water and some ions to pass, but retains most of the dissolved salts.The reverse osmosis membrane also removes more than 98% of residual biological and colloidal matter from the feed water, resulting in a highly purified product stream.Osmosis is the natural process which occurs when water spontaneously flows from a purer solution, through a semi-permeable membrane into a more concentrated solution. Osmotic pressure is the pressure associated with osmosis.Reverse Osmosis is used for desalting sea water (SWRO) and brackish water (BWRO).High recovery designs allow for 90% or more of the intake water to be utilized, minimizing disposal of the RO concentrate. To achieve high water recovery pre-treatment is designed to enhance membrane recovery, supported by two-pass RO process. Feed water temperature also effect the efficiency of membranes.

Reverse osmosis permeate can be corrosive, so Osmoflo has a number of technologies to improve its characteristicssuch ascalcite filters to improve alkalinity and pH correction using degassing towers.Osmoflo also design, build and operate demineralization plants for boiler feed for industry and power generation using ion exchange resin systems and electro-deionization processes.Electro-deionization of EDI, uses semi permeable membranes and Direct Current to purify water. The positively charged ions in the solution are drawn through the membranes towards the negative electric charge, and vice versa, leaving behind a purified water system.One application for EDI is 'polishing' treated water to produce ultra high purity water, suitable for use in the semi-conductor industry.Chemical processes such as ion exchange, where the water passes through high pressure vessels which use resins to absorb the dissolved salts, leaving behind purified water.Ion exchange is used to treat relatively clean brackish water to produce high purity water for applications such as boiler feed in power stations, required to maintain heat transfer efficiency.After water has gone through the RO process, it is generally free of bacteria and other contaminants. If the water is for potable use it is generally stored in tanks before being used, making it susceptible to contamination. Chlorine Dosing and Ultra Violet sterilization provide a reliable method to keep stored drinking water safe.