Anyone here know much about reverse osmosis?

[Shadow_Storm56]

Just trying to figure out if reverse osmosis can remove sulfur/iron easier or tannins,color and dirt easier. Not sure if anyone here has much experience with it. 

[For Science!]

Easier than?

[Kid.Lazer]

You might want to contact your local water equipment specialist.

[Shadow_Storm56]

8 hours ago, For Science! said:

Easier than?

Sulfur and iron or dirt, color...taste ect. 

[For Science!]

15 hours ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

Sulfur and iron or dirt, color...taste ect. 

Sulfur and iron or dirt, color...taste ect. are not methods of water purification, so yeah, reverse osmosis will be a better method than no method. However RO is generally a last polishing step for already clean water, so if you have dirty water, it is not so practical to use RO to clean it up, think of other pre-purification steps such as resin affinity, or distillation.

[Needfuldoer]

You might want to start with a plain old particulate filter first.

[Shadow_Storm56]

9 hours ago, For Science! said:

Sulfur and iron or dirt, color...taste ect. are not methods of water purification, so yeah, reverse osmosis will be a better method than no method. However RO is generally a last polishing step for already clean water, so if you have dirty water, it is not so practical to use RO to clean it up, think of other pre-purification steps such as resin affinity, or distillation.

I meant which of thoes is hardest to remove..... anywayss the reason is I have a building with 2 water sources and one is stream water which is clean other than dirt, color and the expected stuff. I also have a drilled well loaded with iron and with so much sulfur that it'll burn a cut or dry/cracked hand.... I can make the stream water drinkable and pretty decent with filters and UV but it will always have some dirt that may mess up the reverse osmosis. The other well has no dirt, no bacteria and is clean except tons of iron and sulfur...

 

I figure it would be easier to clean up the stream water even if the membrane dosen't last as long. I assume getting that sulfur and iron out of the drilled well water would take alot of steps and be much more expensive than maybe having membranes last less time.

[Lurking]

You probably should have a local professional test the water. Then develop a treatment plan to meet local codes and other standards. A licensed plumber may be your first contact 

 

I assume this is potable water. People can die or get seriously ill. For all we know the water could be full of feces and nitrate. 

 

RO may or may not be part of the solution. No one here will know what you need. For all we know this could be water leaking from a nuclear reactor or an oil well.

 

So determine what you have (A), and what it should be (C), then determine how to get there (B).

[thrasher_565]

a rock filter should get rid of most of the dirt. could sent it throw some charcoal, then uv, then boil it.

 

this is for getting water from a gutter but seem preitty good its old thow has it ins video parts

 

 

https://www.slowsandfilter.org/index.html

Edited January 19, 2023 by thrasher_565

[For Science!]

9 hours ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

I meant which of thoes is hardest to remove..... anywayss the reason is I have a building with 2 water sources and one is stream water which is clean other than dirt, color and the expected stuff. I also have a drilled well loaded with iron and with so much sulfur that it'll burn a cut or dry/cracked hand.... I can make the stream water drinkable and pretty decent with filters and UV but it will always have some dirt that may mess up the reverse osmosis. The other well has no dirt, no bacteria and is clean except tons of iron and sulfur...

 

I figure it would be easier to clean up the stream water even if the membrane dosen't last as long. I assume getting that sulfur and iron out of the drilled well water would take alot of steps and be much more expensive than maybe having membranes last less time.

I think you're over simplifying the matter, and I would also recommend you to get professional help. Making drinking water is no joke task.

But to answer your question, in terms of ease of removal

Insoluble solids (dirt) --> Insoluble liquids (oils) --> Soluble charged compounds (Ions) --> Soluble partially charged organics would be order of ease of removal.

[Shadow_Storm56]

8 hours ago, Lurking said:

You probably should have a local professional test the water. Then develop a treatment plan to meet local codes and other standards. A licensed plumber may be your first contact 

 

I assume this is potable water. People can die or get seriously ill. For all we know the water could be full of feces and nitrate. 

 

RO may or may not be part of the solution. No one here will know what you need. For all we know this could be water leaking from a nuclear reactor or an oil well.

 

So determine what you have (A), and what it should be (C), then determine how to get there (B).

Note to everyone the water has been tested, UV has no trouble removing the dangerous stuff. The stream water I'm talking about is used by many many people and the lake it flows into as well. All they need to make it drinkable is UV and filters but it still is bad color and taste.

[Lurking]

11 minutes ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

Note to everyone the water has been tested, UV has no trouble removing the dangerous stuff. The stream water I'm talking about is used by many many people and the lake it flows into as well. All they need to make it drinkable is UV and filters but it still is bad color and taste.

Do you already have filtration? You can test with a home filter if that helps, before installing a whole system. A water utility would have LOT of treatment for surface water. Also note, UV is imperfect and has no residual disinfection, like Chlorine has. UV needs maybe 30 seconds exposure to reliably kill most everything. Is the water at full flow that long in the device? Also depends how polluted the surface water is to begin with. 

 

Other people doing the same thing isn't a guarantee that it is safe. Maybe they only drink bottled water or have a stronger immune system. Water should be safe to drink for everyone inc. children, old, and sick people.

 

[For Science!]

Also, tasty water is not pure water, removing all the ions is not going to achieve good tasting water. If the water is safe to drink, have you considered just passing it over a britta filter (for example) to see whether ion exchange is sufficient

[Shadow_Storm56]

2 hours ago, Lurking said:

Do you already have filtration? You can test with a home filter if that helps, before installing a whole system. A water utility would have LOT of treatment for surface water. Also note, UV is imperfect and has no residual disinfection, like Chlorine has. UV needs maybe 30 seconds exposure to reliably kill most everything. Is the water at full flow that long in the device? Also depends how polluted the surface water is to begin with. 

 

Other people doing the same thing isn't a guarantee that it is safe. Maybe they only drink bottled water or have a stronger immune system. Water should be safe to drink for everyone inc. children, old, and sick people.

 

When I say tested I don't mean like a home kit, I mean like tested as safe by sending it to a professional testing site and the surface water is very clean in that sense. 

[Shadow_Storm56]

1 hour ago, For Science! said:

Also, tasty water is not pure water, removing all the ions is not going to achieve good tasting water. If the water is safe to drink, have you considered just passing it over a britta filter (for example) to see whether ion exchange is sufficient

Usually it's just the after taste that is variable but can be good or not good. Tastes like leaves a bit when it's not great. A brita will not take the color away but it will further improve the taste.

[dalekphalm]

@Shadow_Storm56

Reverse Osmosis is not normally used on it's own. It's usually used as part of a larger system.

 

Ideally you'd want a particulate filter (or more than one), perhaps a charcoal filter, UV sanitizer (and as noted, the system has to be able to sanitize the water long enough to kill everything), and lastly an RO filter.

 

If the water is still "dirty" after running through your existing filter system, you need more particulate filtering most likely.

 

Have you spoken to a water filtration expert about this? We can certainly give you suggestions, but you really need to speak to an expert to get good advice tailored to your specific water.