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The term " Reverse Osmosis" is derived from "Osmosis", the natural phenomenon that provides water to all animal and vegetable cells to support life. Osmosis occurs when water passes from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated solution through a semi-permeable membrane. The more concentrated solution possesses a greater potential energy. A fundamental scientific principle dictates that dissimilar solutions or liquids will try to reach the same concentration on both sides of the membrane. The only way for that to happen is for pure water to pass through the membrane to the "salt" solution. This attempt to reach equilibrium is called the process of osmosis. The process of Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the finest level of liquid filtration available today. Reverse osmosis works through a technique called membrane separation. Raw water enters a module housing the membrane system. Normal water pressure or boosted pressure forces the water against the semi-permeable membrane and only clean water molecules pass through the pores in the membrane. Impurities are rejected and flushed away. For example, the membrane may be permeable to water molecules but not to molecules of dissolved salt. If the membrane is placed between two compartments in a container with a salt solution in one half of the container and pure water in the other, water passes through the membrane, while the salt cannot.
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