Commercial RO Treatment Options

What Makes Up a Complete Reverse Osmosis System?

A typical reverse osmosis system is much more than just to “RO Component.” A complete Reverse Osmosis System generally includes several other components, such as:

  • Pre-Treatment – this includes carbon filters to remove chlorine, iron, manganese and sulfur filters, water softeners or ant-scalant systems.
  • Storage and Distribution – RO systems make water slowly, so a tank is required. There are two (2) types of tanks – atmospheric and bladder types. Atmospheric types are typically bigger and since there is no bladder to supply back-pressure, the water quality is higher in an atmospheric tank verses a bladder tank. Smaller systems (generally under 1, 000 gpd often use bladder tanks from 14 to 80 gallons, while larger volume systems use atmospheric tanks from 75 gallons to 2, 000 gallons. When using an atmospheric tank a booster pump must be utilized to re-pressure the water and distribute it.
  • Post-Treatment – this includes ultraviolet disinfection (UV) or ozonation to kill bacteria, pH adjustment to raise the pH or add some hardness back to the water and/or deionization to totally demineralize the water.
  • Instrumentation – monitoring the end water quality is often desirable, so a number of instruments and analyzers are available to facilitate that.