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📘 How does reverse osmosis purify water?

See how pressure drives water through a dense membrane while many solutes remain behind.

lessons

~20 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

The membrane
Osmotic pressure
Pretreatment
Pressure vessel
Rejection
Concentrate
Fouling and scaling
Energy and recovery
After the membrane
The complete path

Questions this course answers

What supplies the driving force in reverse osmosis?

RO uses applied pressure to reverse the natural osmotic tendency.

What is permeate?

Permeate is the product stream that passes through the membrane.

Why is pretreatment important?

Pretreatment protects membrane performance by removing or controlling fouling agents.

What happens to many rejected solutes?

Rejected material is carried away in a more concentrated reject stream.

Why does higher recovery increase scaling risk?

Removing more water leaves dissolved minerals at higher concentration in the reject.

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