Membrane system: Water purification tech you need to know



According to DownToEarth around 163 million people in India don’t have access to clean water. That is 19% total of the world’s population that don’t have access to clean water. A simple answer to this would be water purification. If we implemented water purification techniques, we won't have this problem anymore. 

So, what are the water purification systems that we can implement? This blog provides information about membrane filtration and types of membrane filtrations. For more information continue reading.

Membrane system

A membrane is a semi-permeable material with thin layers that allows specific elements to pass through it while blocking others. This system is used for removing particulates, bacteria and micro-organisms. The membrane processes discussed in this blog are Ultrafiltration (UF), Nanofiltration (NF), Reverse Osmosis (RO), and microfiltration (MF). Let's look at each of these.

Ultrafiltration (UF)

Ultrafiltration is used to remove suspended solids, oil and grease. It consists of several membrane modules. A wide range of microscopic particles, viruses and bacteria can be removed by using these modules. A few of the advantages of Ultrafiltration are that it needs minimal automation. It doesn't need any chemicals.  It can provide a consistent quality of treated water. 

Nanofiltration (NF)

This system has tiny membrane pores. The size of the pores is approximately 0.001microns. This system can remove all bacteria, virus and humic materials. The nanofiltration membranes are sometimes called softening membranes. This is because they remove hardness from water.  Nanofiltration membranes also remove alkalinity. This may lead the water to be corrosive. To reduce corrosivity measures such as adding alkalinity or blending raw water might be needed. It is inexpensive compared to Reverse Osmosis. This is because of lower operating pressure and high flow rates. It can be used as an independent system to treat water.

Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Reverse Osmosis is a process of physical separation. It separates dissolved solids and mineral present in water. In this technology, high pressure is applied through a semi-permeable membrane to reduce the mineral concentration of water. Some of the advantages of this technique are it removes nearly all contaminants. It has no break-in period, and it operates immediately. Several bacteria and virus are also removed.

Microfiltration (MF)

Micro-filtration uses membranes with a pore size of approximately 0.03 to 10 microns. It can be defined as a membrane separation process. It does not get rid of all the bacteria and viruses. It can be used as a pretreatment to Reverse Osmosis and Nano-filtration. 

The problem of limited access to pure water can be curbed with water purifications systems. A country like India can certainly implement it for the welfare of its people.

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