Water is one of the fundamental necessities of humankind. With increasing water pollution, ensuring that the water is pure and safe for consumption has become inevitable. Untreated water may contain heavy metals, chemicals like lead, mercury, iron, chlorine, fluorine, arsenic, and micro-organisms, making it unfit for consumption.

So, the water is passed through a process of Reverse Osmosis to make it safe and consumable. The place where this process takes place is a mineral water plant.

What is Reverse Osmosis?

The osmosis process occurs naturally where a solvent passes from low solute concentration to high solute concentration. The method used in treating impure water is the reverse of the osmosis process.

In reverse osmosis, untreated water is passed through a membrane, from a region of high solute concentration to a region of low solute concentration by applying osmotic pressure. The semipermeable membrane allows the solvent (water) to pass but stops the solute there itself.

RO Water Treatment Plant

Seeing the current water quality, it has become essential to set up a mineral water treatment plant. RO water treatment plant is a manufacturing plant where reverse osmosis is used to purify water. It is used in several industries such as dairy, pharma, chemicals, textile, hospitals, hotels, paper, food, beverages, etc. The unfiltered water is flushed out of the plant, and the filtered water is left for use in the industries.

The industrial cost of installing a water treatment plant is up to 15 lakhs. Among these, RO plant cost is 25%, automatic bottling machine cost is 40%, and the rest 35% is for other equipment and machinery.

RO Membrane

The membrane used in water treatment plants include materials such as Thin Film Composites (TFC), Cellulose Triacetate (CTA), and Cellulose Acetate (CA), where the membrane material is spirally bound around the tube or the hollow fibers are bound together. Hollow fiber membranes have more surface area and have better capacity than spirally bound tube membranes. But hollow fiber membranes are more easily blocked than spiral-bound tube membranes.

The efficiency of the RO membrane is rated based on its ability to reject compounds from polluted water. A percentage rejection rate is calculated for each contaminant and for reduction of TDS (Total dissolved solids). TFC membranes have higher durability, strength, and rejection rates than CA and CTA membranes. TFC membranes are more resistant to high TDS, high pH, and high microbial attacks, while CA and CTA membranes have better potential to tolerate chlorine chemicals.

RO Water Treatment Plant Maintenance tips

RO water treatment plants must be adequately maintained to keep up with maximum efficiency and longer-lasting operation. A few of the maintenance tips are mentioned below:

• RO filters should be changed regularly – RO filters and membranes are supposed to be changed after a particular time period to ensure proper filtering. The impurities from contaminated water get trapped on the surface of the filters. In the long run, it may block the water from passing, and the water filtering capacity of the plant and the quality of water obtained by it is affected. An easy way to determine when it is time to change the filters is by keeping track of the time taken to fill the storage tank. When the plant starts taking too long to fill the tank, it is time to change the filters.
• Sanitization at periodic intervals – It is necessary to keep the RO plant clean and sanitized to obtain good quality water. The pipes which connect the filters and transfer water from one filter to another have to be cleaned along with the filters to avoid the risk of contamination. When the water is stored for a long time, microbial contamination risk arises. Its first indication is the foul smell and sour taste of water. So, it is necessary to empty the storage tank, clean it regularly, and fill it with fresh water.
• Installation of a softener to increase efficiency – The presence of calcium and magnesium content makes the water hard, and hard water is not suitable for the skin. So, it is recommended to use a softener to make the water potable.
• Examine if any leakages are found – Leakages can be due to improper fitting of pipes or broken parts in the plant. It is necessary to ensure that the treatment plant doesn’t have any leakages as it may lead to wastage of water.
• Keeping the exteriors clean – The storage tank where the purified water is saved, the faucet used as an outlet of distilled water, or the area around the plant may contaminate the purified water. So, it is necessary to keep the surroundings of the RO plant clean to decrease the possibility of contamination.

Conclusion

It has become necessary to purify water before consumption, and water treatment plants have proved to be a beneficial option. Bottling India is one such ISO-certified company in the business of providing filtered and safe packaged drinking water to its consumers.

Get in touch with us for more information on Mineral Water Plant Installation guidelines.