Essay
RO (Reverse Osmosis) is a clean and sustainable water filtration system that removes the largest amount of contaminants as compared to other water filtration systems. RO was created in World War II to supply clean water to submarines. Available today to be installed underneath your kitchen sink, RO is an easy way to clean the water that is going through your tap, immediately being available to your family.
Well water, which can be highly contaminated, can be deeply cleaned with RO to be used for bathing, drinking, cooking and cleaning (Kitty, 2023). Being that RO is the strongest water filtration system for contaminants, a few examples of contaminants are offered. There have been studies that have found painkillers, birth control hormones and CEC’s. CEC’s are contaminants of emergency concern which include; “any synthetic or naturally occurring chemical or any microorganism that is not commonly monitored in the environment but has the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects (Raghav, 2013).” In an article titled Arroyo 2013 Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Water that was listed by the University of Arizona, Figure 2 shows that over 50% of detected compounds in water include steroids and detergent metabolites, see below (Raghav, 2013). For a family, proper filtration will emanate these contaminants that are polluting our drinking water. Serious water pollution is a huge factor why RO is needed to be more common in today's world).
Also to note, the recycling of seawater desalination and sewage treatment will help limit waste water and drought in areas where this is an ongoing issue (Liu, 2023). Another reason RO is something all homeowners should have installed is the reality that standard purification does not eliminate all pharmaceutical organic compounds or easier known as PhACs (Matin, 2023). An article by Journal of Environmental Management states; that “RO membranes showed near-complete removal of all PhACs with rejection rates >99% (Matin, 2023).” This is important to note because without proper removal of these compounds, the water can still be harmful to families who drink or use it.
A large issue that can be recognized within RO is of what materials are used in the pipelines that deliver this water. Although the water has been cleaned, there is still an opportunity that the water is later infected upon being transferred to your home. Research has been made that a PE pipe is the hardest for microorganisms to cling to and grow in, recommending that this is a good material to use for water pipelines (Cai, 2023). Predicted to have ⅔ of the world's population living in severely water-scarce environments, RO is an important technology to begin mass installation immediately (Cai, 2023).
RO is a technology that has evolved and became more popular as further research has been conducted on water quality. Using proper filtration will keep families healthy allowing them to live longer, be stronger and in a more sustainable living environment. Compounds such as steroids, PhACs, detergent metabolites and other harmful chemicals are found in reused water which is a growing necessity in the world as water scarcity becomes more prominent. Reverse osmosis will help remove these contaminants but proper distribution is also necessary as pipe materials can recontaminate water after filtration. RO is a technology that will help save millions of lives in the near future.
References
Cai, M., Zhao, Z., Sun, W., Yin, W., Zhang, Y., & He, S. (2023). Impact of pipeline materials on water quality stability of desalinated seawater in the pipeline network. Desalination, 556, N.PAG. https://doi-org.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/10.1016/j.desal.2023.116558
Kitty. (2023, March 9). The 10 Common Types of Water Filtration System at Home 2020. BrizFeel. https://brizfeel.com/water-purification-system/
Liu, J., Qin, X., Feng, X., Li, F., Liang, J., & Hu, D. (2023). Additive-optimized micro-structure in cellulose acetate butyrate-based reverse osmosis membrane for desalination. Chemosphere, 327, N.PAG. https://doi-org.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138512
Matin, A., Jillani, S. M. S., Baig, U., Ihsanullah, I., & Alhooshani, K. (2023). Removal of pharmaceutically active compounds from water sources using nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes: Comparison of removal efficiencies and in-depth analysis of rejection mechanisms. Journal of Environmental Management, 338, N.PAG. https://doi-org.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117682
Raghav, M., Eden, S., Mitchell, K., & Witte, B. (2013). Arroyo 2013 Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Water | Water Resources Research Center | The University of Arizona. Wrrc.arizona.edu. https://wrrc.arizona.edu/publication/arroyo-2013-contaminants-emerging-concern-water
Supporting Videos
Curator's Statement
These videos were chosen for this project because they help explain visually how the reverse osmosis technology works. With this publication, to thoroughly explain the concept to a larger audience, understanding of visual and reader learners. These videos helped me further understand the topic with both its benefits and negative outlooks, which gives a more broad and less biased understanding. There were also historical facts included in the videos that help relate the idea of reverse osmosis to real world problems. An effort was made not to use the same source as well to reduce biased opinions being promoted on this site. Methods to explain how RO works are offered in two different visual layouts with animated and lecture styles of explanation. The third video is titled, “Is Reverse Osmosis Safe to Drink?” and it describes the confusion on how RO can be harmful but clarifies why misconceptions are made further giving more context of how RO works. I found this to be very important because it directly addresses questions that could arise while reading this article. The visual theme that I chose for this website is to use different learning aspects related to; visual, written, animated, lecture and quantitative reasoning. I found this to be important for not only reaching larger audiences but also for easier understanding of the topic being demonstrated.
Reading List
Author's Biography
At time of publication, Gabriel Gutierrez is a University of Arizona undergraduate student studying Sustainable Built Environments (SBE) in Landscape Development. After graduation, Gabriel Gutierrez plans on studying SBE in Real Estate Development with intentions to build green infrastructure and incorporate sustainable practices in the architecture of properties being sold in both the residential and commercial real estate market. Intentions of creating a better world, Gabriel Gutierrez understands the environmental threats that are in the near future if proper action is not taken. He believes that in order to solve any issue, not only is a step by step basis important but also is the constant replacement of negative factors with positive ones. This has been and will be demonstrated in future projects with intent to influence others to follow with a similar approach.