Discover Energizing the Search for Pure Water Technology

Let me tell you a quick story...

The present-day quest for new sources of energy revives memories of a search for pure water technology. That search took place in the 1950s, when scientists and engineers looked for a way to remove salt from sea water. In fact, the early efforts at desalination provided society with a new tool, a tool that has become a part of our everyday technology.

At that time, the search for a way to remove salt from sea water led to the introduction of a process called reverse osmosis. During reverse osmosis, water under pressure passed through microscopically small holes. Those who introduced society to reverse osmosis indicated that a limited amount of energy had to be made available to any facility that would perform this "new" type of pure water technology.

Even back then, those who spoke about energy requirements did not think that oil should be the sole source of energy. Back then, those pushing for widespread use of reverse osmosis pointed to the sun, wind and waves as possible sources of such energy.

Those early efforts at desalination demonstrated to the public the importance of even the most basic scientific facts. In college, first semester chemistry classes learn about entropy. The force of nature moves toward the creation of entropy, a phenomenon also known as disorder. Entropy grows when differences in concentration between water in the outer and inner walls of a reverse osmosis chamber diminish. That then causes pressure.

The appearance of that pressure presented an obstacle to those who wanted to remove salt from salt water. The appearance of that pressure created the need for an added source of energy. Farmers hoped that development of such an energy source would provide them with a growing supply of fresh water, water that they could use to irrigate their crops.

While originally seen as pure water technology of use to the farmer, reverse osmosis has now become the prevailing method for water filtration in industrial settings. The convenience of reverse osmosis has also encouraged its use in home water purifiers. How does such a widely used pure water technology work?

During reverse osmosis, water molecules undergo a pressure, a pressure that pushes them through a 0.0001 micron semi-permeable membrane. In a home filtration system, the reverse osmosis membrane contains long membrane sheets, sheets rolled around a hollow tube. As water passes through the rolled membrane, the pure water separates from unwanted substances in that water.

By installing a reverse osmosis water filter in his or her home, a homeowner can better move toward achievement of an important goal-the delivery of pure, clean, great-tasting water to residents of and visitors to that home. As more and more homeowners learn about reverse osmosis, an ever-widening circle of homeowners has chosen to use one particular water filtration system.

Growing numbers of homeowners have chosen to invest in a water filtration system that has activated carbon filters, combined with ion exchange and micron filtration. Such filtration systems deliver the benefits of reverse osmosis, and supplement those benefits with the advantages of alternate filtration and pure water technology.

Investors say "Do not put all your eggs in one basket." By the same token, no wise homeowner should count on a single type of technology when deciding on a water filtration system. For that reason, the filtration system that now enjoys a growing popularity is also the homeowner's safest choice.