‘Reverse Osmosis’ commonly known as ‘RO’ is a water purification technology that works by forcing water through a very fine membrane to remove various impurities present in it that are not be visible to the naked eye.

Reverse Osmosis water purifiers consist of a series of filters primarily divided into pre-RO filtration stage and post-RO filtration stage.

The Pre-RO filtration stage typically consists of a Sediment Filter and a Carbon Filter

Sediment Filter (SF) - Sediment Filter purifiers suspended particles like dirt, dust, sand and rust from your source of water. It removes fine and coarse particulate impurities and improves the life of the Carbon Filter.

Carbon Filter – Dissolved chlorine, oil, color and odor are removed by carbon filter which makes the second stage of filtration process. The filter also removes organic impurities such as harmful pesticides. It also absorbs bad taste and odor-causing organic compounds from water.

To give an added layer of purification before the water is passed on to the RO membrane, Waterpacket water purifiers also include a Mesh Filter. This filtration further ensures the removal of any remaining particulate impurities.

The core of a RO water purifier is its RO membrane.

RO Membrane – After the above stages of pre-filtration, water is pumped to pass through an RO membrane. RO membrane is a semi-permeable, thin membrane with very small pores. The small size of the RO membrane ensures only purified water passes through it while rejecting all impurities.

The pump pressurizes water, to create the required pressure level, to get it filtered through an RO membrane. Due to this high water pressure, only purified water is pushed through the membrane, leaving behind the dissolved salts, heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides and microbial contaminants on the membrane surface.

An RO water purifier is especially recommended for households with high TDS (more than 300ppm) as it removes the hardness of water, making it sweet for consumption. It is the most effective water purification technology to remove heavy metals and chemicals like lead, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, fluoride etc. It also removes microbial contaminants like bacteria, virus, protozoa, and cysts to give you safe drinking water. Learn more about its benefits here.

The Post-RO filtration stage consists of a UV filter (in case of RO+UV water purifier) and a Post-RO carbon filter.

UV Filter - An Ultraviolet filter provides an additional layer of purification after filtered water is passed through an RO membrane. UV filtration inactivates remaining microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that may have remained post RO filtration.

Post RO Carbon Filter - This is usually the last level of purification. It acts as a final filter, polisher and further enhances the taste of purified water.

Waterpacket water purifiers also contain a Micro Filtration Membrane which is a post-RO and UV stage, ensuring that water is purified not once but thrice.

These stages combined together constitute Waterpacket’s Advanced 7 stage RO+UV+MF purification that ensures your drinking water is 100% safe without any form of impurities.

To add to this, our water purifiers also fortify RO purified water with essentials minerals like Calcium and Magnesium.

We hope this article gave you an understanding of how a RO water purifier works. This should help you make an informed choice while choosing the best RO water purifier for your house.