Last Updated on December 29, 2021 by TODD FRANZEN
The Most Effective Ways of Purification
There is a lot of information about water purification methods. Most of it is complicated and even a bit hard to read. I wanted to try to simplify these different types of methods and help you understand what purification means.
Water is one of the most important things to have access to. It’s a resource that we need for survival and water purification methods are essential in order to maintain healthy consumable water. In this blog post, we will be discussing different water purification methods. There are many different water purifications but these 10 should cover all bases!
#1 Reverse Osmosis
This method uses pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane, trapping any impurities on the other side. The water on this side remains clean, while all contaminants stay trapped on the other side of the filter or “reverse osmosis wall.” This process can take water from a saltier state to a pure water state.
Reverse osmosis is mostly used for treating water that is high in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) or salts. It’s also effective at removing particles as small as 0.001 microns in size, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Reverse osmosis water purifiers can be a bit pricey. They are also slow, which makes them difficult to use for large volumes of water like an emergency water supply or even everyday drinking water (unless you had it hooked up to your home filtration system).
As of right now, this is one of the best water purification methods. Its process is pushing pressurized water through a membrane that removes all contaminants down to that 0.001 Micron size. This removes virtually everything in the water. 99.9999% purity. I can remove all organic molecules and viruses. It is so effective it can even remove most minerals.
The reverse osmosis process is extremely important in many industry sectors. From automotive and aerospace to pharmaceutical, food and beverage, agriculture, and industrial. All because they need ultra-pure water for a lot of their manufacturing processes.
Click Here for a more in-depth article about RO systems.
#2 Distillation
Distillation is the physical separation of different components within a liquid mixture by selective boiling and condensation.
Distillation water purifiers use the water cycle to clean water. At sea level, water evaporates and rises into clouds where it cools down again and forms raindrops that fall back onto the earth’s surface.
Since this process of evaporation and condensation is natural, scientists can mimic this for water purification purposes. When water is boiled, the water vapor rises and condenses into clean water once it hits a cooling surface.
The distillation water purification process can be extremely slow unless you’re willing to spend a lot of money on very high-power equipment that increases the water’s boiling point. The fast way is by using an energy-intensive multi-step distillation process that not only boils the water but also dries it and cools it quickly.
Distillation is a way to make water pure. People have been doing it for hundreds of years. It is one of the most simple methods to understand. A person can do it in their home with very basic materials. The equipment needed is also relatively cheap.
Fun Fact: Distillation is the process to make spirits like vodka and whiskey. As well as converting crude oil into the many different types of fuels we use on a daily basis.
#3 Deionization
Deionized water is by far the most complicated process of purification.
Deionization is the process of removing ions from water. It’s a water purification method that uses an ion exchange resin to remove dissolved minerals from water.
The water is passed through a bed of resin beads, which attract and hold the charged ions (positive or negative). The deionized water that comes out is then free of any dissolved minerals.
This type of water purification is often used in laboratories and for water that needs to be extremely pure. It’s also a popular choice for home water filtration systems because it can remove dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can cause water hardness.
Deionization resin is not expensive, but the replacement resin beads do need to be replaced on a regular basis.
Deionization Water purification is a very effective water purification method that removes all dissolved minerals from water. It’s also a relatively inexpensive option of the three water purification methods we’ve mentioned so far, but it can be difficult to find resin beads for home use and they do need to be replaced regularly.
If you have ever seen water spots on your vehicle paint after a rain, then you have experienced water hardness firsthand.
There are many water purification methods available but water distillation is among one of the best because it’s a natural process that can be done at home with basic equipment and supplies. Water vapor turns back into clean water once hits a cooling surface, while removing all contaminants in size including bacteria, viruses, and chemicals.
#4 UV Treatment
UV or UltraViolet Light is a system that simply kills living most forms of microbes and small organisms like viruses and bacteria. But depending on the power of the UV system, some microorganisms like Cryptosporidium and Giardia can survive.
For example, if the water being treated is Turbid(The water term for Cloudiness), the UV light will not have the penetration to kill all pathogens. Kind of like when a cloud passes overhead and you get the shadow of the cloud. This is the same principle with UV water treatment. UV purification systems are a great water purifier because they have no moving parts and can last for years without needing replacement.
UV water treatment is a good way to purify your water. This will kill any bad germs in the water, but it must be done right. You’ll need the right system that treats your water up to 99%.
And UV treatment is relatively easy to incorporate in both commercial and residential filtration projects. You can hook a UV system up to an existing water source under pressure!
But wait! Filtration should be done after UV treatment. This will collect the microorganisms’ dead carcasses called endotoxins.
#5 Chemical
Citys and towns use a process called chlorination. Chlorine is added to kill bacteria and viruses. Chlorine also reacts with other organic matter in water to form trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), which are both carcinogens.
The water can also have a chlorine smell and taste. Chlorine does not remove common water contaminants like nitrates, arsenic, or lead that are found in private wells.
Another problem with water purification using chemicals like Chlorine is its not selective in what it kills. It will kill all bacteria and viruses, including the beneficial kind that your water might need to remain healthy.
Chlorination of water supplies is one of the most common ways to purify it, but some argue that this isn’t a very effective way. It is however by far the cheapest way to treat water for specific regulated clean water standards.
#6 Ultrasound
Ultrasound is relatively new and disinfecting. And there are many areas and applications to use it within water and wastewater.
We’re going to focus on Ultrasonic Disintegration or the disruption of biological cells.
As clean water is becoming more and more vital, other technologies are starting to come forward with non-chemical ways to treat water. Ultrasonic water purification is one of those technologies.
Ultrasound water purifiers use sound waves to create bubbles that implode and release energy. This energy creates tiny micro-jets that pierce the cell walls of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. The force of the impact destroys the cells leaving no chance for them to reproduce.
It is equally effective at dissolving and dispersing particles and powders into water.
I’ll be honest, I went down the rabbit hole on this one. I find this extremely fascinating as it could be a way similar to ultraviolet light to disinfect water without chemicals. In the future, it is expected that ultrasonic water purification will be more widely accepted and used as a way to keep your water clean.
#7 Filtration
After the destruction of pathogens found in our water supply, the final and most important element is filtration. There are so many different ways to filter water. From the micron size to the LOG standard which most municipalities used to filter their water. Being able to kill microorganisms that can make us sick and filter out the Bio-waste as a byproduct is incredibly important.
The different types of water purification methods all have their pros and cons. Some may be more effective than others, but they’re still not perfect for killing everything in sight! The water purifier you choose should depend on your own personal needs and the type of water source you have available.
To wrap it up…
Chemical-based treatment is effective but costly in terms of replacing chemicals or equipment over time, RO Filtration systems will take everything out, but wastewater. Filtering helps make sure that any toxins left behind from water purifiers are removed and do not end up in drinking water.
Do some research before figuring out which method would work best for your household’s specific needs!
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