Reverse osmosis eliminates contaminants from feed water or unfiltered water when
pressure forces it through a semipermeable membrane. Water flows from the more
concentrated side (more contaminants) of the RO membrane to the less concentrated
side (fewer contaminants) to provide clean drinking water. RO and nanofiltration
membranes are usually used as a filtration method to eliminate numerous types of
dissolved solids (large molecules and ions) from solutions by smearing pressure to
the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. RO membranes are
generally positioned as crossflow filters, where the high velocity of the wastewater
along the filter retains the flow turbulence, which helps control the thickness of the
solids on the filter and decreases plugging of the filter.