Reverse Osmosis in UAE

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis is a process which involves the passing of a solvent through a porous or semipermeable membrane in the opposite direction of the natural process of osmosis. Reverse osmosis, commonly known as RO, is one of the most effective water treatment or purification methods, removing ions, molecules, and other pollutants and large particles. Applied pressure is used in the procedure to overcome osmotic pressure, driven by the solvent’s chemical potential differences, or thermodynamic parameter. Reverse osmosis removes various dissolved and suspended species from the water like bacteria and is utilized for various applications from industrial water treatment to the treatment of potable drinking water.

Ever since Reverse Osmosis was introduced for domestic usage, as a home water purification system, in the 1970’s, its popularity has grown steadily. In simple terms, the process of reverse osmosis in water treatment involves water being forced through a semipermeable membrane or selectively permeable membrane, which filters various contaminants, thus purifying the water. If the contaminants are larger than the molecules of water, they will be filtered, however, particles smaller than water molecules would remain.

Some advantages of RO-treated water over tap water include more hygienic water, which is more beneficial to your health. Some of the contaminants removed include arsenic, sodium, lead, nitrates, copper, organic chemicals, water additives, and microorganisms like bacteria. On the other hand, the process of reverse osmosis also removes several healthy minerals like sodium, calcium, iron and magnesium. RO water is usually more acidic than normal water due to the removal of minerals, and most of the microcontaminants are not completely removed.

Reverse osmosis systems for homes come in several variations, which differ in capacity, expected life term, effectiveness, size and other properties. They usually have low energy requirements, are compact and do not require much space. Their modular designs allow for easy maintenance and servicing, and also makes upgrading your system easy. A few type of RO systems are: Under the sink RO systems, RO systems with tanks, RO systems without tanks and a range of other systems with special characteristics that fall under these three classifications.

The various applications of Reverse Osmosis in the UAE range from home water purification to industrial and dairy applications. Dairies use special RO systems to extract or retain whey protein particles from milk, to produce consumable whey protein powder, mainly used in bodybuilding. To meet the varying demands of several market sectors, mainly home consumers, there are several importers, manufacturers, and suppliers of Reverse Osmosis systems all across the UAE. A few of these business establishments are situated at the RAK Tech Park, Industrial City in Sharjah, and Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi.