Factors That Affect Overall RO Performance

A reverse osmosis system is a highly effective water filtration system. Still, several factors can affect the overall performance. To keep your system operating optimally, you need to be aware of what these factors are and how they can compromise your filter. Here are a few of the major ones to consider.

Pressure – It’s important to remember that as the effective pressure of the feed water increases, there is a decrease in the dissolved solids content of the permeate, while permeate flux itself increases. 

Temperature – If there’s one thing that RO permeate flow is heavily dependent on, it’s the operating temperature. Basically, the warmer the water, the higher the permeate flow. A temperature increase also warrants an increase in permeate flux and salt flow, provided other parameters are recurrent. 

Salt Concentration – A greater salt concentration causes the permeate flow to decrease due to an increase in osmotic pressure, which in turn hampers the net driving pressure (NDP). In addition, a higher salt concentration in the feed will also cause the amount of salt passage through the RO membrane to skyrocket. This then leads to an overall subpar water quality. 

Recovery – Recovery denotes the link between the permeate flow and the feed water flow. A higher recovery rate means that permeate flux will suffer a dip and stagnate. This happens in conjunction to osmotic pressure equaling feed pressure because of salt concentration levels.