Membrane Processes and Reverse Osmosis for Water Purification

10 MEMBRANE PROCESSES AND REVERSE OSMOSIS FOR WATER PURIFICATION 

Advances in materials have enabled the relatively recent development of membrane filtration processes for the purification of water. Increasingly applied to treatment of drinking water, specialized membrane processes are an important advance in water treatment. There are four general categories of membrane processes classified generally on the basis of the sizes and nature of substances removed (Table 5.1). Membranes are thin, typically less than 1 mm thick, and vary in their composition and the sizes of the pores through which water flows. The first three processes 

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